TRIBUTE TO A GIFTED MUSIC TEACHER AND CONDUCTOR ~ PAUL WARREN ALLEN ~ BRAHM'S "WARUM..."

We young ladies of the North Central College choir wore these and the young men wore sweat shirts that read "Sons of Levi".


UPDATE
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Uploaded at Facebook with lesser quality to fulfill their 1GB limit.
But at Facebook, the compression didn't ruin the timing of the music with visual elements, which happened at Youtube (which is below from the original post).

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Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog

As stated on the video's end, this video was uploaded numerous times at Youtube. In my software programs, the video project has transitions and text placements perfectly timed to fit the music. But each time I uploaded this video at youtube, the timing was completely off. Obviously, this is a disappointment to me after all the time spent trying to present the music and video the best that I could. But after much tested patience, determination and endurance, I had to surrender and put up a video that is not what I had done. The compression of youtube spoiled what I had attempted to do. But even so, I continue to post one song at a time of this North Central College Choir record from 1968, conducted by Paul Warren Allen and this song therefore had to go up in that effort.

Text from my youtube upload:
Warum ist das licht gegeben dem mühseligen (opus 74, 1877)
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), op. 74 no. 1 (1877) [satb], from Zwei Motetten, no. 1.

Other songs from the record uploaded are
The Eyes of All Wait Upon Thee by Jean Berger
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L22uUsS-63E
I Am the True Vine arranged by Salli Terri
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmZLk36Wqng
It's May, Robert Schumann's Art Song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOlOH1LaUzw

Source of the following is
www.cantate-choir

The imposing opening Adagio (in D minor) of this motet, is punctuated four times by the urgent cry of Warum? (wherefore?). The following sections are in flowing cannon form with a 'warm F major glow' reflecting the text. It ends with a nunc dimittis in chorale form.

About the composer
Johannes Brahms was born 7th of May in 1833 in Hamburg, Germany
Bio:
www.johannesbrahms.org and more at johannesbrahms

Johannes Brahms - (7 May 1833 in Hamburg, Germany to 3 April 1897 in Vienna, Austria)

Brahms studied piano from the age of seven and composition from thirteen. He had a lifelong interest in early music and amongst his generation he was without equal in sophisticated contrapuntal technique. He did not enjoy a meeting of minds with composers of the New German School, but his artistic kinship with Robert Schumann and his passion and veneration for Clara Schumann are well known influences on his life. Whether or not Brahms was a believer, he whole-heartedly accepted the Christain ethic and admired and embraced the literature and poetry of the Bible. His background was North German Lutheran Protestant. This inheritance gave to his choral music 'a noble human consolation' and air of hope.

His musical style was of the romantic school; his nature was introspective, reserved, logical and studious. Musicologists point to the essence of all these influences being demonstrated in the a capella motets spread over thirty years, and in his other sacred music, but most especially in the German Requiem.

Warum ist das licht gegeben dem mühseligen (opus 74, 1877)

Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; which long for death but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; which rejoice exceedingly and are glad, when they can find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? (Job 3, 20-23)

Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens (Lamentations 3, 41)

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. (James 5, 11)

With peace and joy I go forth in the will of God, my heart and mind are comforted, gentle and still. As God has promised me, death but becomes sleep to me. (Martin Luther - 1524)

Entry on Brahms ~ wikipedia

Free MP3's of Johannes Brahms~
music/Johannes+Brahms

This recording was done in Pfeiffer Hall in the spring of 1968 in Naperville, Illinois, outside of Chicago at North Central College. Three years later the college eliminated the music department. The decision was made by the college President, Arlo Schilling.

It was the year of 1971, the flourishing music department was cut out of the school. A church affiliated college with no music department.

The following is taken from the NCC website on the history of it association with churches ~
"Originally founded in 1861 by the Evangelical Association, North Central College became affiliated with the United Methodist Church (UMC) when the Association's inheritors, the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB), merged with the Methodist Church in 1968 to form the new denomination... We're proud of our association with the UMC and its deep commitment to spiritual renewal and social justice." northcentralcollege

Eighteen years later, in 1989, the music department was brought back.

The history of The Naperville Chorus ~

In the 1960's Dr. Paul Warren Allen of the North Central College Music Department melded the vocal talents of students, college personnel, and community members into a forerunner of the Naperville Chorus. The NCC-Community Chorus flourished and performed contemporary and traditional choral works until 1971, when financial cutbacks at the college eliminated the Music Department.

Read the entire article at www.napervillechorus

Virtual tour of NCC ~ virtualtour

THINGS I LOVE ~ SUNSETS, CLOUDS, OCEAN, SINGING and HEATH

and COLOR . . . imagine a world of only black and white

I LOVE BEAUTY in any form

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RAFA UPDATE:
Novak Djokovic defeated Rafa Nadal in the semifinal in Paris
Saturday, November 14, 2009
2-6, 3-6

Photo credit of all pictures here should read (if copied):
Sandra Hammel, Rhode Island, 2009

All of the photos of my front yard
were taken this afternoon,
November 15, 2009, Sunday, around 4:30 p.m.

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This is nothing special
as I didn't spend much time making the video.
Just something I shot today and wanted to share.

It is a private video at Youtube, so no one can see it there. I just posted it here.

UDATE November 16, 9:30 a.m.
Johanna, a friend I met at youtube, has informed me by her comment below that this video is not viewable here. Therefore, I learned my first thing for today.

If you want to see it (unless I decide to make it public one day), then you have to become a "youtube official friend" and I then can make it available to you. I apologize for this inconvenience. I just didn't think this video merited youtube, as it is a humble presentation of mine.

Try this link private ~ it may also allow you to see it - would someone let me know, if indeed it works?

46 people came here between approximately 11:30 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. last night and obviously couldn't see the video. And I won't know how many since 3:00 a.m. have come here until tonight at 3:00 a.m.

I added pictures of Heath from Brokeback Mountain. One of my youtube videos is available to the whole world, but restricted from the USA due to my use of Brokeback Mountain clips. (And I love that video...a shame.) So, here I used photos that I retrieved online. Disappointed that the great flash of a smile from Heath as Ennis Del Mar isn't clear. But I love Heath's smile in that photo. Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog ~ November 15, 2009

All videography and photography I took today, November 15, 2009. Pictured in Rhode Island is Aquidneck Island's Sachuest Beach and Wildlife Refuge where I love to go for my heart and soul to commune with the universe. Map Quest for this area. The photo at the end was taken this afternoon on a gray day of leaves in my yard from my Japanese red maple tree that stands at my front door.

As I said, I love to go to Sachuest Wildlife Refuge in Middletown, Rhode Island, which is ten minutes from my home. I usually take my cameras. Tonight I only took my Kodak Share camera. It isn't a great camera and mainly is for still photos, however it can be used for movies. The zoom is jerky though which means it is useless pretty much for anything other than panning. And for some reason unknown to me it alternates between clarity and fuzzy focus on the video quality.

The video and photos do not really show what it was like there tonight. There was a mist rising, more than the typical energy in the waves and the accompanying sound was bold ~ the feeling of standing "in it" with it all encompassing me was other worldly. The tide was coming in and I stood a few feet from the inmost waves splashing on the rocks. It was heavenly.

The last couple of times I have gone to Sachuest, including tonight, I have taken my recorded music, my headphones and sing along with myself. Tonight, darkness came by 5:00 p.m., while I sang facing the waves of Sachuest on the Atlantic Ocean. I had a wonderful, vibrant time. At one point, I heard something sneeze and figured it had to be a deer. Do deer sneeze? Because I was a little bit afraid, I moved to the opposite side of the refuge's building and continued to sing. When a car was driving up the hill it stopped and in the headlights beaming across the refuge field, I saw the silhouette of a deer looking my way straightaway. When I drove down the hill, I stopped by the deer I saw, actually there were three there and later on the road home two more.

I sang a couple of my favorite songs: Go 'Way from My Window written by John Jacob Niles, a blues song and Peace Will Come a song from the 1960s written by Melanie Safka. Both of the songs I have written additional parts for. I love these songs.

Here on this video is the last song that I ended the nighttime singing . . . a song that I bought at itunes as a karaoke. The song is I Don't Want to Talk About It, but I changed the words to be sung about Heath Ledger. I originally heard this song sung by Rod Stewart. But it has gotten difficult at Youtube to know what songs will be allowed, so my solution has been to buy songs as karaoke once I fall for a song.

I'm working on my confidence to sing solo in public, so it is good practice to sing by the ocean. Others have subways and streets to do their singing. I sing at Sachuest. We have no subways and Newport doesn't allow singing in the parks and on the streets.

A couple of weeks ago, I was singing at the end of the day at the same spot. The sunset was simply stunning. Just glorious! My camera's battery was dead, so I could only soak it in my feelings. That night I went to get in the car to leave and I turned to see the sunset one last time. It had changed again and got even more beautiful, so I walked back to watch some more and sing. When I turned to walk to my car for the second time, a couple was standing at their car. The man with his hand leaning on the car looking my way. The woman at the passenger door also looking my way. They had been listening to me sing (There's a Chance) Peace Will Come. The man gave me a thumbs up. It was a great feeling to know that they paused to listen before they got into their car to drive away and go home. Especially, since I am shy about singing in public and here I didn't know anyone was listening. I was just enjoying singing.

My lyrics to I Don't Want to Talk About It

Can you tell by my face

I’m aching inside for so long,

And the stars in the sky don’t mean nothin’ to you,

they’re a mirror.

I don’t want to think about it ~

how my heart is breaking

since your leaving that winter’s night

If I stay, won’t you listen to my heart?

If I stand here alone,

will the shadow hide the colors of my heart;


Blue for the tears,

black for the night’s fears.


The stars in the sky don’t mean nothin’ to you,

they’re a mirror. 


I don’t want to talk about it,

how it breaks my heart.


If I live here

just a little bit longer,


If I stay, won’t you listen

for my heart?

Oh, my heart.

Can't you tell by my eyes

I been aching inside for so long

And the stars in the sky don’t mean nothin’ to you,

they’re a mirror.

I don’t want to think about it, how my heart is broken,

How you left your mark on my heart,

If I stay here, won’t you listen for my heart,

whoa, my heart?

Oh, I miss you, please,

feel my heart.

Oh, my heart.

Can you tell by my face

I’m aching inside for so long,

And the stars in the sky don’t mean nothin’ to you,

they’re a mirror.

I don’t want to think about it how my heart is breaking,

Since your leaving that winter’s night

If I stay, won’t you listen to my heart?

If I stand here alone,

will the shadow hide the colors of my heart;


Blue for the tears,

black for the night’s fears.


The stars in the sky don’t mean nothin’ to you,

they’re a mirror. 


I don’t want to talk about it,

how it breaks my heart.


If I live here

just a little bit longer,


If I stay, won’t you listen

for my heart?

Oh, my heart.

UPDATE to this POST

November 16, 2009

12:40 a.m.

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I received this message at youtube today:

Not sure if you saw the first one, but this has more photos, and it has captions so you know what you are looking at. If you are interested in where Heath grew up, you'll enjoy this video of the stunning city of Perth!

PERTH--HEATH'S HOME-W/CAPTIONS

WATCH FULL SCREEN IN HQ! Included Heath's favorite beaches, The city where Heath's parents live and he last visited, Perth landmarks, Parks, Gardens, Cafe Strip, Fremantle, Australia Day Fireworks. The captions will tell you what you are looking at.

Uploaded by cryingforheath1

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Help us get "The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus" in our local theatres in the USA. It is our last chance to see Heath on screen in a new film. Don't let us be left out. Go to this link to Demand It

My youtube channel:
www.youtube.com/user/ilovemylifesblog

VIDEO OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND - SACHUEST WILDLIFE REFUGE, THE CLIFF WALK, BEACHES

We are visitors on this planet.
We are here for ninety or one hundred years
at the very most.
During that period,
we must try to do something good,
something useful, with our lives.
If you contribute to other peoples happiness,
You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

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Rawandan Sisters Tribute
Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog

Since 2005, I have sponsored a sister in Rwanda annually through womenforwomen We exchange pictures of ourselves and letters. The sisters get training in their rights, income-earning skills and ways to improve their families' lives, therefore improving the community, as well. My sisters live without electricity in their homes, without indoor water and oftentimes cannot afford to send their children to school. My sister this year was able to buy a goat and some chickens with the $27 a month that I provide. This has enabled her to send her children to school. This is very satisfying to me because children need to go to school. Many women are raising other women's children because the children's mothers or grandmothers were murdered.

Knowing that the world abandoned the 800,000 to one million Rwandans in 1994 who died in a genocide, I wanted to reach out to the women one-to-one and help them have a bit better lives.

I currently volunteer as a community leader trying to bring the needed attention to the Darfuri people who have had genocide by their own government on-going since 2003. The world has known this and virtually has done nothing.

The paintings in the video are by Sandra Hammel, as are the photos and video. Except for the paintings, everything in the video is of Aquidneck Island where I live. The paintings are done of photographs from Oprah's first televised trip to South Africa.

Original music: "Our Shared Breath".

The photography and video locations: Sachuest Beach and Sachuest Wildlife Refuge, Middletown, Rhode Island. The Cliff Walk, Eastons Beach, Brenton Cove all in Newport, Rhode Island.

This video is a tribute to my sisters of Rwanda who are an inspiration to me. Whenever I feel my life is not going as I want, I think of their lives, as well as the millions of Darfuri refugees who are trying to survive dire situations in the camps. It puts things in perspective immediately.

No More Empty Promises

Websites to learn about Darfur:

By a Darfuri living in the United States of America:
while we wait sudan

The basics about Darfur:
savedarfur.org/pages/primer

www.savedarfur.org

www.stopgenocidenow.org

Comments to President Obama:
www.whitehouse.gov/contact
202-456-1111
1-800-GENOCIDE

Thank you for standing for justice and peace
and being a voice for this defining issue

GENOCIDE WILL STOP WITH US

The same video at vimeo
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RWANDAN SISTERS TRIBUTE ~ WomenforWomen.org from ilovemylifesblog on Vimeo.

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BEAUTY IN THE MONTH OF MAY IN NEWPORT COUNTY RHODE ISLAND

No rhyme, no reason,

things that bring me pleasure....

Newport Beach, Newport, Rhode Island

Above pictures are views from the Cliff Walk in Newport Rhode Island May 2008
This picture is of Newport Beach

Above pictures taken at Sachuest Wildlife Refuge May 2008
This one is looking onto Sachuest Beach
Middletown, Rhode Island

12 deer were spotted at this site along the path at Sachuest along the Atlantic Ocean
in Middletown, Rhode Island in April 2008

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An die musik ~ To Music
Sung by Kathleen Ferrier. Composed by Franz Schubert.
From: lochness11

Lyrics
O gracious Art, in how many grey hours
When life's fierce orbit encompassed me,
Have you kindled my heart to warm love,
And charmed me into a better world!

Oft has a sigh, issuing from your harp,
A sweet, blessed chord of yours,
Thrown open the heaven of better times;
O gracious Art, for that I thank you!

Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden,
Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt,
Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden,
Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt!

Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf' entflossen,
Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir
Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen,
Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür!

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Children's voices sing An die Musik
From: trinitychurch
Two numbers on the video:
An die Musik (To Music) by Franz Schubert
Linden Lee by Ralph Vaughan Williams
The resident training choir of the American Boychoir and the training
and junior choirs of Chorus Angelicus

Above pictures of my yard in April and May 2008

Photos of where I live
Aquidneck Island
From my yard
Portsmouth
Middletown
Newport
Rhode Island

All of the above pictures were taken
no more than 10 minutes from my home.

Where I live:

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In the beginning there were no flowers
To learn more, visit www.pbs.org/nova/flower
From: PBS
Botanist Yin Kaipu and modern-day plant hunter Dan Hinkley stumble upon a roadside garden and find a treasure trove of famous flowers in their native birthplace.

NOVA's story about the origin of flowering plants, "First Flower" aired on PBS
NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston.

*Links and Books
*Orchid Pictures

Lake Michigan
My dad, brother and me

Childhood in Indiana

Go Newport

City of Newport

Jamestown Rhode Island ~ Conanicut Island