Thanksgiving is the odd holiday. It isn’t very musical. Valentine’s, the 4th of July and Christmas all come with long approved song lists. Not Thanksgiving. I guess on Turkey day our mouths are usually full of something that’s not song.
Still, for my November Program I managed to cook up a few favorites. “Let All Things Now Living” and “We Gather Together” are both traditional Thanksgiving melodies. Actually, they are old English and Dutch tunes that, much like the founders of Thanksgiving, got new lyrics and a new tradition when they reached the new world.
On Turkey Day we needs some bird so I played the old, up tempo fiddle tune “Turkey In The Straw.” Now personally I’ve always preferred my turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce but if some people want it with straw. . .
Once I got the musical turkey, I blessed it with the beautiful arrangement of “The Lord’s Prayer” by Albert Hay Malotte. And while we were in a praying mood, I jazzed up the four part harmony of “Now Thank We All Our God” with some diminished 7ths and a rocking bass line.
“Now,” I asked, “what are we giving thanks for?” I’m thankful it’s been one year since I brought out my Christmas CD “The Sounding Joy.” It’s been long enough to recover from making it, even long enough to hear how people are enjoying it. When I performed for an annual Thanksgiving dinner, a guest told me that she bought both my CDs a year ago. “I play them every nap time for my 30 kindergartners. Everyone calms down and goes right to sleep!”
I am a far cry from a farmer (harp players don’t really do dirt under our nails) but I follow the harvest. I live in the country with cornfields on the east, west, north and south. Some years, the farmers plant soybeans and I can see for miles. This year they planted corn. I could see to my back fence. Then one afternoon of harvest dust suddenly exposed the view again. The fields remind me how something planted takes root and grows. My friends’ jokes that I make a Christmas album took root and became a CD. Songs “from the old country” are seeds of a new culture and sprout into an American tradition. People from all over the world, including my great grandparents who came through Ellis Island, plant themselves in American soil and grow into a great harvest.
“Come ye thankful people come, raise the song of harvest and home.”
I recorded the song “Simple Gifts” on my first hymn CD, “The Joy We Share.” Some of the lyrics of that song are “ ‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free, ‘tis a gift to go down where you’re supposed to be.” I know that one of the things I am supposed to do is play harp. I am grateful for everyone who has given me opportunities this year to play and to enjoy my work. You can hear my harvest on my CDs here on my website or pick up a copy on iTunes!
Happy Thanksgiving! May you have many, many reasons to give thanks.