Heavenly Sunshine. I think it was thirty-nine years ago that an interim pastor came to Maranatha in Rice Lake by the name of Carl Larson. He served between Reverend Toney and Reverend Bitner, and then after we moved to California he served again for a short time when Reverend Bitner left. Anyway, Carl Larson loved the chorus Heavenly Sunshine and decided it was something we should sing every Sunday. The problem for me was that it is written in five flats. And especially back then, I didn’t really know how to play in five flats and successfully avoided playing in, whatever key that is, most of the time. I think it takes more than ten fingers to do it successfully. ;-) Now you can transpose five flats into two sharps, but I didn’t really play beyond one sharp either. ha! Aunt Olive was the organist, but she worked every other weekend as did I, so we alternated playing on opposite Sundays, however I think I was working either evening or night shifts over that winter when she and Uncle Vern snow-birded to California, so I played every Sunday morning for a while. If memory serves me correctly, Marilyn (the pianist who was a real musician, who could play anything expertly, and really intimidated me) and I would play Heavenly Sunshine through two times while people shook hands, greeting one another. Then on the third time through it, everyone sang the words along with us. One would assume with me having to play it that many times - besides practicing it - it would have become easy. But it never did and I’d pretty much be in a panic throughout it. I remember telling Ludy, the choir director, that Marilyn should just play it by herself and he said it needed the organ to help fill in and hold notes. (He never took no for an answer! ha) As newlyweds we didn’t have an organ at home of course, so I’d have to go to that cold church during the week to practice. I should also explain that even back then I knew that I wasn’t necessarily good, but good enough when it came to musical abilities, however, the commission is simply make a joyful noise...NOISE...and that I can do! As our current pastor here in Palm Springs has said, “There are no mistakes in church - we aren’t putting on a performance.” So now that I’m 60 instead of 21, is it any easier for me to play in five flats? Well it depends...I can do it, but I rarely do. Besides, I only play for my own amusement. Anyway here is my attempt at Heavenly Sunshine in five flats, nonetheless. Hopefully the results are joyful enough...
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 14:31:24 +0000