Our church choir performed a lot of cantatas through my childhood and early adult years. Snippets of them still come to mind these day. I love the memories of those songs that told the Christmas story with freshness each year.
Two favorites of mine, though not cantatas that our Everett church performed, are among my favorite Christmas memories. One is Specially for Shepherds, a cantata by Ralph Carmichael. I was living in Japan when a cassette tape of the musical arrived it my mail. I could imagine my musical siblings singing the lead parts. The story is great, the music fun, but the nostalgia it stirred in me was the add-on that made it my favorite of all cantatas.
It was my favorite, that is, until I had the honor of directing the Warm Beach Church kids in the musical Three Wee Kings. (You end up with all kinds of opportunities when you are the church’s Children’s Ministries Director!) This was in the mid-80s and the storyline, costumes, and kids and helpers all worked together to make this, actually, one of the sweetest experiences of my life! (I found this video of a performance in 2016. I’m glad to see that it’s still out there!)
Today I praise the Lord for the wonderful music of Christmas!
So many memories with the annual cantata! I remember I couldn’t wait to be old enough to sing in one. Most of them were Ralph Carmichael in later years! I have a photo of our church choir with white cape-like robes and huge red bows that we made one year. I went on to sing in many, then direct the Christmas musicals (when “cantata” went out of style), then to write a couple. I really miss that season in my life this time of year. But many, many good memories!
You never cease to amaze me, Patti, with your broad creative experience! It sounds like that was a very special time in your life which brought great joy to you. May the Lord surprise you with some rich music experiences this COVID Christmas!
Ginger