Songs of Thanksgiving
It is November. Harvest time. Thanksgiving approaches. I found myself humming "Now Thank We All Our God" as I got ready to step into the shower this morning. The difficult intervals and the harmony mark this as a German chorale, rather than an English hymn. I have loved it all my life.
Surprisingly, I did not learn it in church. I learned it in music class in elementary school. Our music teacher, who in the early grades pushed her piano from room to room, taught us many songs associated with the various holidays. Come November, we would be sure to sing "Now Thank We All Our God." As we got closer to Thanksgiving, we would also sing "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come," which is always associated in my mind with turkeys and pilgrims and what we made of them in art class. These are probably the two most familiar hymns we associate with Thanksgiving, and I learned them both in school.
There are a couple of other songs written for Thanksgiving -- secular songs -- which we also sang in music class, but only as Thanksgiving gave way to the coming of Christmas. "Over the River and Through the Woods" and "Jingle Bells" were both written by New Englanders remembering snowy Thanksgivings long ago. Thanksgiving was the quintessential New England holiday; the Puritans had always had an uneasy relationship with Christmas.
Anyway, as we approach the holiday season, one of the things I am thankful for is the music education I received in my elementary school. It not only taught me how to sing, it gave me a heritage of songs. Indeed, it gave me songs of faith that the church did not give me, or at least I didn't pick up from it before becoming a church orphan at age eleven.
Surprisingly, I did not learn it in church. I learned it in music class in elementary school. Our music teacher, who in the early grades pushed her piano from room to room, taught us many songs associated with the various holidays. Come November, we would be sure to sing "Now Thank We All Our God." As we got closer to Thanksgiving, we would also sing "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come," which is always associated in my mind with turkeys and pilgrims and what we made of them in art class. These are probably the two most familiar hymns we associate with Thanksgiving, and I learned them both in school.
There are a couple of other songs written for Thanksgiving -- secular songs -- which we also sang in music class, but only as Thanksgiving gave way to the coming of Christmas. "Over the River and Through the Woods" and "Jingle Bells" were both written by New Englanders remembering snowy Thanksgivings long ago. Thanksgiving was the quintessential New England holiday; the Puritans had always had an uneasy relationship with Christmas.
Anyway, as we approach the holiday season, one of the things I am thankful for is the music education I received in my elementary school. It not only taught me how to sing, it gave me a heritage of songs. Indeed, it gave me songs of faith that the church did not give me, or at least I didn't pick up from it before becoming a church orphan at age eleven.