Thursday 28 February 2013
Closing Remarks on Ruth and Hymns with Harmony
Joyce Voysey
I have kept thinking of the ending of the book of
Ruth. All those ‘begets’. And why do the generations go back to
Pharez? Oh my goodness! Genesis 28 tells the story of his
conception: it is along similar lines to the Ruth/Naomi/Boaz story. Judah
(son of Jacob and Leah) was Pharez’ father and Tamar (Judah’s daughter-in-law)
his mother, who tricked him into a ‘begetting’ by which Pharez was
conceived. Wow! What a chapter of doings!
And Hymnal Note 132 (“I am the way, the truth, the life”): Have
you ever wondered why the hymnal has certain hymns marked “to be sung in
unison”? I have. Well here is the answer: “…the music will be
found to lack notes, in one or more of the voices, to use with all the
syllables, as here, at the end of the second brace. Some composers
recommend unison singing as more effective than most part singing, while others
feel that even a scattered filling in of the parts adds color to the
singing. Then the choice is left to the congregation.”
It is very rarely that our congregation has the luxury of one
who sings other than in unison. We treasure it when it happens.
I have kept thinking of the ending of the book of
Ruth. All those ‘begets’. And why do the generations go back to
Pharez? Oh my goodness! Genesis 28 tells the story of his
conception: it is along similar lines to the Ruth/Naomi/Boaz story. Judah
(son of Jacob and Leah) was Pharez’ father and Tamar (Judah’s daughter-in-law)
his mother, who tricked him into a ‘begetting’ by which Pharez was
conceived. Wow! What a chapter of doings!
And Hymnal Note 132 (“I am the way, the truth, the life”): Have
you ever wondered why the hymnal has certain hymns marked “to be sung in
unison”? I have. Well here is the answer: “…the music will be
found to lack notes, in one or more of the voices, to use with all the
syllables, as here, at the end of the second brace. Some composers
recommend unison singing as more effective than most part singing, while others
feel that even a scattered filling in of the parts adds color to the
singing. Then the choice is left to the congregation.”
It is very rarely that our congregation has the luxury of one
who sings other than in unison. We treasure it when it happens.
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