I wonder how many other people across North America played a few Tony Bennet tunes on Friday night. I did. Hearing of his death at the age of 96, I hit play on a CD I have of his. His luscious voice crooned out song after song and I took a mental trip down memory lane.
Tony Bennet’s was a life filled with ups and downs – to the extreme. He rode the wave of fame, lost popularity, and hit the skids of alcohol, drug abuse and financial ruin. Then, with help from his sons he put his life back together and once again rode waves of popularity and fame. His music was loved by people of different generations and in later years he made a cd of duets with singers more than half his age.
Just before I settled in to write this blog I was planning and revising the service for next Sunday. A couple of months ago I asked people in the congregation to suggest some topics they might like to hear as a sermon over these summer Sundays. One request was a service focusing on the hymns we sing with a bit of history about the writer of the hymn. This coming week we will be peppering our service with hymns and I am doing research on the history of each hymn that we will sing. I am looking forward to it.
Music in church moves us both spiritually and emotionally. It takes us to that place of deep vulnerability and some hymns can move us to tears as they resonate so deeply in sentiment or emotion.
Music is such an integral part of our daily experience. From jingles we might hear in commercials on the radio or television, to movie scores, to symphonies, to rock, folk, gospel, and on and on. The passing of someone like Tony Bennet reminds us how important music is in the expression of our changing moods and in the way music undergirds so much of our emotional well being.
This morning our organist played a version of ‘Jesu, Joy of Our Desiring’. I could feel myself sink into the music. Knowing the tune allowed me to anticipate each movement of the notes as he beautifully presented this piece written by J.S.Bach in 1723. Think of that. From 1723 to 2023 – over those centuries, people have been listening to and feeling the nuance of that piece of music.
Music takes us to places. Through memory it takes us to dances, to church services, to concerts, to choir practice, to funerals, to weddings, to precious moments with loved ones. Music transports us and touches us at an emotional level.
Right now, as I type, I am listening to Tony Bennet singing a duet with Barbra Streisand. They are singing, “Smile“. And it makes me do just that … smile!
What’s a CD?
Hi, Nancy … I loved this blog on many points. Tony Bennett was a special person and he could make the notes and words of a song really sing to our hearts. You mentioned, ‘Smile’ which is a very special song loaded with good advice. I was singing it once after a very sad event in my live and I had to stop singing and just play it. The audience didn’t pick up on it but my heart was breaking and the words were just too difficult for that particular moment. We get strength, memories, inspiration and love from songs sung by such people as Tony Bennett. However, we get our hearts soothed by our beloved Church Hymns that we’ve sung forever. Thank God for music that enriches our lives. Your blogs are beautiful … thank you for your thoughts and inspiration.