Evendays

Yesterday afternoon I traveled with 100 other singers to a foothill valley some 30 miles from Lausanne, a place called “Romainmotier”. This medieval village has the foundations of one of Switzerland’s oldest churches, going back about 1500 years. The present church is romanesque. As a reinforcement tenor for the all high school choir, I made the trek in order to sing Handel’s “Israel in Egypt”, a moving recital of God’s deliverance of his people from Egyptian slavery. Quite hard to learn, but extremely creative, sometimes fun, and deeply meaningful. Here we are at the end of the concert, with the Lausanne Youth Conservatory Orchestra. 500 people were packed into the old church.

And here’s a picture of the outside of the church in the setting sunlight.

 

Last night, the Chorale Harmonie from Marseilles sang in the nearby mountain village of Leysin. It’s a good group, especially the tenors, and not just because one of them is Son 2 (of course, that helps). The accappella chorus sang gospels and hymns, praise and spirituals, in French and in English. The audience at the local Catholic church was very responsive and the three short messages on resurrection were well received.

10 of the group are coming down from the mountains this morning. The other 7 were at our place. This afternoon they will give a concert at the local retirement home in Lausanne, just up the street. Later this evening, they will be in Geneva for a concert at the Church of Christ.

This gives us a chance to spend some time with Son 2, but even more importantly, to reach out to a not-yet-believing world with a message communicated through song. A powerful message. A powerful means.  

When we first got to Switzerland we were young, energetic, and full of good ideas. (Now we are less young, still energetic, yet looking for new ideas!)

Wife went to the nearby retirement home (Bethanie) and asked if she could adopt some residents. Just visits and such, but the organization was very suspicious. After a bit, they suggested two ladies to visit, and that lasted a couple of years.

In the early 90’s, two or three of us would go up there after Sunday worship and visit with 3 residents without any family.

3 years ago, we met an old couple from the neighborhood who started coming to church. They were good friends of the director of Bethanie, and that opened the doors to concerts and visits to the institution by university students.

Bethanie hosts a short worship period on Friday afternoons. About 40 show up, including our neighbor friend who is now a Bethanie resident. We now organize one of the worships each month.

What impressed the residents was not the exhortation (which was marvelous) or the new songs they learned (they were great), but the fact that Sons 1 and 2 were present. They loved singing, praying and shaking hands with young Christians.

And they’re looking forward to us coming back this afternoon.

Even though there are only a million French-speakers in Switzerland, we’ve got our own national television station. One of the monthly shows brings musicians and singers from all over the world to Geneva to record before a live studio audience of several hundred music lovers.

Alain Morisod hosts the show. Last Saturday night he had Micheline Calmy-Rey as his guest and she sang “Les trois cloches” (The three bells).

Now you’re thinking: No big deal. Except that Micheline Calmy-Rey is the current president of Switzerland. The Genevoise by adoption has the top spot for a year and is the second femme president we’ve ever had.

 

The lady has guts and brains. Not known for her singing ability, and with a bit of a Cruella Deville look (the political cartoonists often depict her with a fried egg on her head, or even a bird-dropping… thus imitating her hair color), this did wonders for her popularity and the Swiss very much enjoyed seeing her on the show.

While watching the youtube.com clip, the question popped into my head: What would recent presidents / prime ministers sing if they had the chance to perform? What do you think?

Well, there was Clinton on the sax…

Sons 1 and 2 and I sang last Friday night with the regional high school chorus. The concert took place in the St. François Church in the middle of Lausanne. A fun building from the 13th century, it stands lopsided (which you only notice from the inside) having shifted over the years because of the surrounding traffic. Acoustics are still good (if the group is good).

 

We sang a requiem composed in 1946 by the Frenchman Maurice Duruflé. A lot of work for the little time it lasts, there are still some beautiful sections. (Gregorian sounding Introit and Kyrie. The Sanctus sung by the women in four parts is heavenly.)

It was the boys’ last concert with the group. Son 1 is swamped with classes at the university and Son 2 will be off to the spiritual internship next year, so neither will continue singing “reinforcement” with the tenors.

I’ve not yet decided what to do. The group of high school teachers who sing backup are tightly knit. A hard nut to crack and hard for outsiders to find their niche. And with the boys gone, most of the motivation for singing with that group has disappeared too.

They did a great job, that Marseilles chorus. On Friday afternoon they sang at the Bethany Home where 50 of the residents deeply appreciated the time of worship. And the Home laid out a great spread for the travelers. Wonderful!

The nearby Protestant church loaned us their “temple” on Friday night and between 50 and 60 listened to a beautiful concert of hymns, with a good selection of “Gospels” in the second half. The local parish was deeply blessed. And we appreciated their generosity.

I’m listening to a CD Son 2 picked up on Saturday evening from the Acappella concert in Montreux. (Think: Smoke on the Water by… some group with a color in their title.) Over 1000 folks were there and Daughter, a friend and Son 2 had a great time. A very “musical weekend”.

The Ukraine trip went well. Must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me 48 hours before flying back to Switzerland. The WC confinement took off about 8 pounds, but I was able to escape that helpful room twice to teach the scheduled lessons to the church. God was merciful. And he does answer prayer.

It’s been a whirlwind since. Sunday and Monday Christmas activities with the churches. Tuesday with the Geneva studies. Today I am preparing the Lausanne December 24 lesson. And writing my first post in a week.

Handel’s Messiah plays regularly in the background on our stereo. So many memories: McLane High School and our annual presentation with a 120 member chorus plus orchestra… Singing it again, nearly 30 years later, in a 700 year-old church here in Lausanne with Sons 1 and 2.

But my favorite Messiah memory, by far, is Daughter strolling through the house singing the opening tenor solo with such gusto: “Come for tea. Come for tea, my people.” (Boys, do NOT mention this post to her.)

Anyway, got a minute? If so, please do “come for tea”.

Much love from Lausanne…