A Double Blessed Easter to All as We Rejoice in Our Risen Lord!
My grandfather, Raymond Michael Schneider was the organist at St. James Catholic Church in Lakewood, Ohio for many years. He had a well-respected mens' choir and a boys' choir as well. I think he would appreciate this performance of Mozart's Alleluia by young Aksel Rykkvin. I dedicate this post to him and to my grandmother, Marie Zurlinden Schneider.
Absolutely beautiful singing. I have never heard a boy soprano with the vocal range and control that this lad has. Thank you so much for introducing him. I wish you and your family a very happy and blessed Easter.
I listened to these so many times today. I felt like I was in heaven. That's what great art and great music do -- they lift our hearts to God. Mozart and Bach are my favorite composers and the Alleluia is one of my favorites. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is another.
May you and yours have a blessed Easter season as well. I love being a Catholic -- when we celebrate it goes on for a good long time. No one-day celebration for Easter!
What a small world. My father grew up in Lakewood and sang with St James Men's Choir. Many of my early Sundays were spent with my father in the choir loft at St James. I would stare out at the ceiling of the gorgeous church and ponder the beauty of the sight and the sounds of the Men's Choir with Mr. Schneider at the organ. . When I was old enough, I joined my father by singing with the Boys Choir during Christmas and Easter. There was no music more gorgeous than that of the combined Mens and Boys choirs of St James Church. . I was in my early teens when Mr Schneider died. To this day, I distinctly recall my father and several other men spontaneously at the wake sing Adore Te; and I knew that it was the end of an era and I would never see or hear music this great in church again. . My father tried to carry on in his church what he learned from Mr Schneider but by then (only a few years later) it was a pitiful copy; no more boys choir, no more Mens choir. . Growing up, our family sang all the St James songs in the car when we traveled. They are now embedded in me like DNA. My younger siblings who were too young to experience Mr Schneider's choirs at St James have no concept of what they missed; that was a church they didn't know. . At my father's funeral, we sang Mr. Schneider's "Merry, Merry Christmas" as the recessional hymn because it was a favorite of my Dad's and it captured the spirit of a time beloved yet past.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm sending the link to all my siblings to read your comment. Grandpa used to tell us wonderful stories and always brought a bag of circus "peanuts" for us kids -- you know, those awful marshmallow things shaped like giant peanuts. I hate them today, but loved them when I was a kid.
I wish I had memories of the choir. We lived in Ohio only a short time and moved to Virginia when I was ten. I never heard the choirs, just heard about them.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful singing. I have never heard a boy soprano with the vocal range and control that this lad has. Thank you so much for introducing him. I wish you and your family a very happy and blessed Easter.
I listened to these so many times today. I felt like I was in heaven. That's what great art and great music do -- they lift our hearts to God. Mozart and Bach are my favorite composers and the Alleluia is one of my favorites. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring is another.
ReplyDeleteMay you and yours have a blessed Easter season as well. I love being a Catholic -- when we celebrate it goes on for a good long time. No one-day celebration for Easter!
What a small world. My father grew up in Lakewood and sang with St James Men's Choir. Many of my early Sundays were spent with my father in the choir loft at St James. I would stare out at the ceiling of the gorgeous church and ponder the beauty of the sight and the sounds of the Men's Choir with Mr. Schneider at the organ.
ReplyDelete.
When I was old enough, I joined my father by singing with the Boys Choir during Christmas and Easter. There was no music more gorgeous than that of the combined Mens and Boys choirs of St James Church.
.
I was in my early teens when Mr Schneider died. To this day, I distinctly recall my father and several other men spontaneously at the wake sing Adore Te; and I knew that it was the end of an era and I would never see or hear music this great in church again.
.
My father tried to carry on in his church what he learned from Mr Schneider but by then (only a few years later) it was a pitiful copy; no more boys choir, no more Mens choir.
.
Growing up, our family sang all the St James songs in the car when we traveled. They are now embedded in me like DNA. My younger siblings who were too young to experience Mr Schneider's choirs at St James have no concept of what they missed; that was a church they didn't know.
.
At my father's funeral, we sang Mr. Schneider's "Merry, Merry Christmas" as the recessional hymn because it was a favorite of my Dad's and it captured the spirit of a time beloved yet past.
fRED,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this. I'm sending the link to all my siblings to read your comment. Grandpa used to tell us wonderful stories and always brought a bag of circus "peanuts" for us kids -- you know, those awful marshmallow things shaped like giant peanuts. I hate them today, but loved them when I was a kid.
I wish I had memories of the choir. We lived in Ohio only a short time and moved to Virginia when I was ten. I never heard the choirs, just heard about them.