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Praetorium Honoris

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Random Acts

Here I am, re-reading John Ringo's and Travis Taylor's 'Looking Glass' series (a sci-fi milfic with lots of science, provided specifically by Dr. Travis Taylor (who, apparently is a ferret in a human body)) and again came across a song.

I know, big whoop, songs in books.  Well, so far in the series, various songs and groups have been mentioned, from "March of Cambraith" to "Men of Harlech" to "Winterborn" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."  All good or great songs, and we'll get to them soon, but first, the one that just stops me.

It happens when an acquaintance of a secondary character who is enamored of one of the primary characters is trying to be supportive and understanding to the secondary character when the secondary character is sad and mopey (for good reasons) because the primary character the secondary character is in love with is now in mortal danger because said primary character is doing his highly dangerous and short-life-expectancy job of going out and poking the bear (in this case, in space, far away from Earth, on a somewhat botched together space ship made out of an Ohio-class boomer - sci fi, dontcha know.)

And the understanding and supportive part is giving the secondary character a link to a video of a song.  That is just... a heartrending song that just tears your heart apart (well, tears my heart apart.)

"Homeward Bound" by Martha Keen, not the other "Homeward Bound" done by Simon and Garfinkle.

BYU Vocal Point featuring The All-American Boys Chorus

In the quiet misty morning
When the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing And the sky is clear and red,
When the summer's ceased its gleaming When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure's lost its meaning
I'll be homeward bound in time
Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow
If you find it's me you're missing
If you're hoping I'll return,
To your thoughts I'll soon be listening, And in the road I'll stop and turn
Then the wind will set me racing
As my journey nears its end
And the path I'll be retracing
When I'm homeward bound again
Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow
Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow

Songwriters: Althouse Jay, Thompson Marta K

Really good song.  Makes me tear up every time I hear it, and once I hear it, I usually listen to it several times.


Then there's "Winterborn" by Crüxshadows, which is a Jacksonville (FL) Dark Wave and Dark Synth Pop group, whatever the heck those are.  Don't know, don't care, song's good.


Dry your eyes and quietly bear this pain with pride
For heaven shall remember the silent and the brave
And promise me they will never see, the fear within our eyes
(my eyes are closed)
We will give strength to those who still remain

So bury fear, for fate draws near
And hide the signs of pain
With noble acts, the bravest souls
Endure the heart's remains
Discard regret, that in this debt
A better world is made
That children of a newer day might remember
And avoid our fate

(I've waited all day in the pouring rain, but nobody came, no, nobody came)

And in the fury of this darkest hour
We will be your light
You've asked me for my sacrifice
And I am Winter born
Without denying, a faith is come
That I have never known
I hear the angels call my name
And I am Winter born

Hold your head up high-for there is no greater love
Think of the faces of the people you defend
(you defend)
And promise me, they will never see the tears within our eyes
(my eyes are closed)
Although we are men, with mortal sins, angels never cry

So bury fear, for fate draws near
And hide the signs of pain
With noble acts, the bravest souls
Endure the heart's remains
Discard regret, that in this debt
A better world is made
That children of a newer day might remember
And avoid our fate

And in the fury of this darkest hour
We will be your light
You've asked me for my sacrifice
And I am Winter born
Without denying, a faith in God
That I have never known

I hear the angels call my name
And I am Winter born

And in the fury of this darkest hour
I will be your light
A lifetime for this destiny
For I am Winter born
And in this moment..I will not run
It is my place to stand
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands
(bloodied hands)
And in our Dying, we're more alive-than we have ever been
I've lived for these few seconds
For I am Winter born

And in the fury of this darkest hour
We will be the light
You've asked me for my sacrifice
And I am Winter born
Without denying, a faith in man
That I have never known
I hear the angels call my name
And I am Winter born

Within this moment now
I am for you, though better men have failed
I will give my life for love
For I am Winter born
And in my dying
I'm more alive, than I have ever been
I will make this sacrifice
For I am Winter born


"March of Cambraith" is a silly song, well, to me, reminding me of bad SCA and Ren Faire filk songs. Not my cup of tea, but a lot seem to like it.  I don't.  Bleh.  Heather Alexander just doesn't do it for me.  If you want, you can look it up, but it's just a big bag of 'meh' to me.


"Men of Harloch" has been done several times here.  Love it.  Love it in the movie "Zulu."  But since it's been done so much, again, I'll let you all go find it if you wish.


Instead, how about a little "Nom Nobis" to which I was introduced to from the excellent movie adaptation of Shakespeare's play, "Henry V."


Yes, I have sung this after a nasty grungy battle full of mud and dirt and some blood, while bone weary tired and facing at least a 1.5 mile hike back, uphill, in a cold drizzling rain carrying all my kit.
And then have others join in.
To the point there were about a hundred of us singing.
And some male high tenor took the high part, and it transcended this mortal plain.
We all hugged and laughed and trudged together back to our various camps and cars.
One of those special moments.

Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomine, Tuo da gloriam.
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.

Pretty simple, no?  Sung properly it will make your hairs lift your gambeson right off your filthy body and soul.


And to end it all off, well, how about a little pipe organ action, from the master of the pipe organ, Johann Sebastian Bach himself.  The Little Fugue in G.  My personal favorite of all of my favorite Bach pieces.



Who doesn't love a little organ action?


Told you all in the title that this was gonna be some random acts.  Random music acts.  I just don't listen to ELO, yaknow.

Next time I music all y'all up, I'll hit it with the emotion music...

31 comments:

  1. Gotta give it to Koopman for his organ playing, but, IMHO, no one did Bach on the pipe organ like E. Power Biggs. (RIP)

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  2. Many, Many decades ago, when I was a very young freshman in a very regimented nursing program at college, I chose to have a music minor as something completely different then being neck deep in nursing all day long. This little up-state college also had a great music program.
    So, as lower classmen are the serfs of upper classmen, I was assigned to work with a senior who was designing, learning, and practicing his recital material. This Fugue in G minor was the last of 3 pieces he chose to play. I was nominated to be the page turner.
    As a result I spent many, many hours listening to this piece during practice. And, again during the recital, which went very smoothly.
    But I spent many hours reading my nursing texts while this was playing in the background up in the chapel, which was where the organ was.

    Thank you Beans for the lovely walk down memory lane!!

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    1. You are welcome.

      My last two years of high screwl (as Rush Limbaugh would say) my best friend was studying the organ (good enough he got a scholarship to a noted small music college) and so we'd listen to Bach and Bach and some more Bach while playing wargames. And then he'd play Bach (on an electric organ because no room or money for pipe organ) and it was amazing. Got to see him work a 4 manual organ over in Orlando once, and it was amazing.

      Worst part is, my fingers can span more than an octave (Used to be able to go a full 13" but now old so only 12.5") and I could work two manuals on one hand. But with the elegance and grace of a bad drug user on a serious withdrawal case (well, I was taking some serious allergy meds, like 2-4 times the normal dose of Sudafed) while he had these stubby little runty hands... He'd get so pissed at me for being klutzy.

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  3. Man.....Cruxshadows before 7AM, that'll get the blood flowing in the veins. Alt codes not working this morning.

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    1. And so Mrs. Andrew is reading the same books and so we went to bed listening to "Stand My Ground" from Within Temptation. Whose lead singer is the purest soprano voice we've heard in a long time. So it's dig through the interwebs to see what else the group has done.

      That's me. Always 20 years or more behind the latest musical trends...

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  4. If yo're gonna do organ music, why not go with the BIG one:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7S9UsLhGkQ&ab_channel=WanamakerOrganVideos

    largest musical instrument in the world!!!

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    Replies
    1. Wow, whodathunk I'd have organ envy... That is rather big. OMG, that's a big vibrating organ.

      I've always loved being in a room that has an actual pipe organ going, as the vibrations from the lower pipes are just something to feel.

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  5. I pulled up the video from "Zulu" and listened again to "Men of Harlech." It gives me the tingles.

    Good post and a thoughtful start to my day.

    I thought the "Looking Glass" series was free of the "John Ringo No" moments that were in the "Ghost" series.
    Time permitting, aye, there's the rub, I need to reread "Looking Glass."

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    1. The "Looking Glass" is definitely free of the JR NO moments. Some graphic violence. Lots of death. With more death. And a huge steaming side order of death. But not the 'NO' moments.

      It's just the "Paladin of Shadows" as the publisher/he/someone calls the "Ghost" series. What's funny is his stuff is tame compared to some 'female liturature' I've read or had sections read to me.

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  6. John Ringo's taste in music is epic. I have a couple playlists based on his books. When the Devil Dances and Under a Graveyard Sky. I read somewhere he relies on his daughters for the more modern stuff. Good music. Thanks for posting.

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    1. I never listened, except to "Homeward Bound," to the music from his books. But Mrs. Andrew is reading them, and she's been 'forcing' me to listen to all the recommended pieces. I am very impressed.

      Glad to post.

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  7. I agree with brewvet
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv4oXL1a2BI
    compare 'em

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    1. Thing is, from the time of high school, I knew who EPB was. Just, well, my age-addled brain had forgotten those initials until brewvet reminded me and now I'm kicking myself internally for being so stupid as to forget EPB. Dangit.

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  8. There is something very impressive about a good pipe organ well played.

    It is interesting - most books do not incorporate songs into them. Tolkien did, which is (yet) another reason that I appreciate him. The Fall of Gil-Galad is one of my favorites. And I thought that the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit movies had some nice interpretations of them.

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    1. Most fiction writers can't write music worth a darned. Thus you get Anne McCaffrey trying to write music in her Pern books and failing miserably, with everything coming out like a bad renfaire song.

      But Tolkien did as usual, made things work really well. Probably due to his Scandinavian research, as a lot of the Sagas sound better when canted or at least read in a sing-song manner.

      Ringo understands the connection between music and emotion better than a lot of other writers. Sure, some mention music, but few actually recommend a playlist like he does.

      And, yes, to hear, feel and see a big pipe organ well played is a joy. Wish more people would experience it, might expand their souls.

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    2. Perhaps as many musicians are not authors, so many authors are perhaps not musicians.

      Agreed with the Tolkien assessment - but then, based on his works, they were meant to all be much more heroic like the Sagas.

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    3. Our local concert hall has a 4-manual mechanical pipe organ by Fisk and we used to have seats close enough to see the manuals and the stop panels.. During a performance we could SEE the stops move!

      Seeing the organist hit the "everything+kitchen sink" preset and ALL the stops popping out was a lot of fun. We knew to hold on for the ride (grin)!

      It is rare you get to see the literal version of a common saying.

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    4. Yeah, the whole sound-so-deep-you-feel-it-in-your-guts is a great feeling.

      And it's something old churches do far better than modern concert halls. Build a building where the voice from the pulpit area reaches the farthest corner without amplification. Those are the places that pipe organs rule.

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  9. https://youtu.be/IkdJTBEK9Ps
    speaking of Simon and Garfunkel, this song haunted me for much of my youth, and occassionally I love to hear it on the loop even today

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    1. Nice cover. The original is still great and rather haunting, as you said. Lots of good stuff in the Simon and Garfunkel catalogue.

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  10. "March of Cambraith" struck me as an interesting idea...poorly executed and sung with a less-than-stellar voice. A better composer and singer could have done something with it. I guess the same could be said of a number of songs.

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    1. I, unfortunately, hear near-perfect pitch. So, well, most SCA and Ren Faire singers who can't ever select less than 3 keys to sing in at the same time rather bother me. So, yes, too much... stupidity and infantile lyrics. So it's a no-go.

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  11. Since we are on a musical vein, I sang for many years in a church choir (started as a boy soprano, graduated to tenor eventually) and then in junior and senior high school choir (tenor to baritone), and the church had a very nice pipe organ. I thought it was great, and it was, but I finally got to a big cathedral with a big pipe organ and what a difference!
    Lately I've been enjoying the heck out of The Charismatic Voice on YouTube - Elizabeth Zharoff is a vocal coach who reacts to and analyzes the vocals of many other songs on YouTube - from Pavarotti to heavy metal. Oh yeah, she's an opera singer who was in the finals of a very prestigious European competition - the power in her voice is awesome - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UjrWnxEQS8 which was her final, very difficult aria in that competition and sung right after she sang several other pieces. When you remember that opera singers have to have enough power to be herad well over the orchestra without using amplification, as well as act the part of the character in the opera, it's damned impressive. Oh yeah, the fact that she is really cute on her YouTube channel and is very expressive in her reactions makes her easy to watch as well.

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    1. A bit late to the party... But I second the recommendation of The Charismatic Voice. Elizabeth is enjoyable to listen to and learn from.

      I do not know much about music, beyond what I like. However, Elizabeth has taught me a few things, not the least of which is - when to be impressed by a singer and when not to.

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  12. Big Badger HUZZAH! for J S Bach!

    Some of the loudest ship honkers are made by Tyfon,in Sweden. The organ in the Bach video seems to have a Tyfon pedal!

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  13. His son, PDQ Bach, has his moments, too!

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  14. @ Badger/ "His son, PDQ Bach..."

    DID HE EVER! A fan too, eh, Badger? :)

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  15. Let us not overlook I'm Henry the Eighth I am by Herman's Hermits
    Music that lifts your soul.

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