Music and Traditions

The majority of what I have played music for has been for church services. However, before I began playing music for the church where I work, I had a significant memory of playing the violin at my grandmother's funeral. My Grandma Dozer was my favorite grandparent I have ever had and I spent many summers living with her for about a month at a time. She was always very funny and very opinionated but she never said anything with negative intent for any group of people. In fact, she was a lot more progressive than the rest of my family while she was alive. My family requested that I play violin for her funeral and to play the hymn "On Eagle's Wings."

This was her favorite hymn, which made it important for me to play, but it was also the first time I ever played my violin for a funeral. I expected to be nervous, but I think I was calm because I knew it was important for me to do and that nobody would care if I made a mistake. While playing, some people began crying while I was playing which almost threw me off but I think in the end it helped me feel more connected to the music. After playing, I felt like I did a good job and felt like my violin playing made a difference to my family.

When looking for another piece I performed, my first thought was the Christmas Eve service. After thinking about it though, I realized I preferred the music for Easter. My favorite piece from Easter was Ave Verum by Mozart.

I really like the dark tone of this piece, both with the lyrics and the overall sound. The lyrics are about the death of Jesus Christ and state how he truly suffered and how blood flowed from his body. The beautiful part about this piece is how there is such a contrast with the dark feeling throughout the piece but it feels uplifting at the end of the piece. I remember thinking "This piece is so cool" when we sang it at my choir. This piece is a big contributor to why I liked singing at the Easter service so much. Many of the pieces were darker in tone which is more up my alley compared to the very happy feel of most Christmas hymns. I really like the part of this piece where there is oblique motion between the bass and the soprano line around the 48-second mark. It gives a very unsure and dark feeling to the piece. I am excited to sing again for the Easter service this year. I am now remembering that this piece was played in the anime Evangelion which is pretty cool. It was played at a very emotional scene which added a lot to the show.