A year or two ago, I wrote a column about the lack of Easter music, especially compared to Christmas.\u00a0 I heard a number of comments from readers who enjoyed my perspective on the subject.\u00a0 Well, the purpose of this column is not to rehash what I said back then, but to offer you a solution and option during this time leading up to Easter Sunday.\u00a0Christians call it Holy Week.<\/p>\n
Easter, like Christmas, is a religious holiday.\u00a0 It seems as though Easter has not been commercialized as much as Christmas, although many argue they have both received too much commercialization.\u00a0 We certainly know about the Easter Bunny and the eggs (s)he hides.\u00a0 Who didn\u2019t like looking for Easter eggs and receiving a basket of candy and goodies as a child?\u00a0 Some remember songs about Easter parades and Easter bonnets.\u00a0I actually would long for those days again, but we don\u2019t really hear much of that anymore.\u00a0And when it comes to the music of each holiday, Christmas must outnumber Easter 10-1 at least!<\/p>\n
I would guess the \u201cJingle Bells\u201d of Easter would likely be \u201cHere Comes Peter Cottontail.\u201d\u00a0 Not a bad song at all.\u00a0 But just as we know that \u201cJingle Bells\u201d really has nothing to do with Christmas, \u201cPeter Cottontail\u201d really has very little to do with Easter.<\/p>\n
The real meaning of Easter is told in music that describes not only the resurrection of Christ, but also the events leading up to that day.\u00a0 As I said, it is called Holy Week.\u00a0 Maundy Thursday is when Jesus was betrayed and arrested.\u00a0Then on Friday (Good Friday), Jesus was crucified, died and was buried.\u00a0Saturday was a day of mourning.\u00a0Then Easter morning is when the resurrection occurred and when Christians believe sin was forever defeated.\u00a0What a day of celebration!<\/p>\n
The Seven Last Words of Christ<\/em> is one of the most dramatic works of music ever composed describing these events.\u00a0French composer Theodore Dubois wrote this sacred, dramatic work of music in 1899 for soli soprano, tenor, baritone and choir.\u00a0 It is not performed all that often, but you will have the opportunity to hear it this Friday night (Good Friday) at 7 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Van Wert.\u00a0The soloists are Mary Ann Falk, soprano, and Jake Wilder, tenor, both from Van Wert; and Eric Durre, a baritone from Hicksville.\u00a0The choir is predominantly my Senior Choir at First Church with a few other singers from the area joining in the chorus.\u00a0 Gloria Wendel will accompany on organ, with Annette Hoverman adding musical color on the keyboard harp setting.<\/p>\n The music is very dramatic and extremely pensive and reflective.\u00a0I believe the composer, Dubois, captured the mood of the days leading up to Easter better than anyone I have ever heard.\u00a0 You will hear the angry mob singing vehemently, \u201cCrucify Him!\u201d\u00a0 You will hear Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane to His Father to let this cup pass if possible. You will hear Jesus cry out from the cross in anguish for water to quench his thirst.\u00a0Ultimately, you will experience His death and finally the musical work culminates in one of the most beautiful chorales I think I have ever heard, \u201cChrist, We Do All Adore Thee.\u201d<\/p>\n It is certainly not \u201cHere Comes Peter Cottontail\u201d or \u201cEaster Parade\u201d, but it will move you emotionally with the true meaning of the Easter season.<\/p>\n Go to the church of your choice Easter Sunday and celebrate the triumphal conclusion to what we will offer on Good Friday night.\u00a0 Once again, it starts at 7 p.m. this Friday in the First U.M. Church sanctuary and is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A year or two ago, I wrote a column about the lack of Easter music, especially compared to Christmas.\u00a0 I heard a number of comments from readers who enjoyed my perspective on the subject.\u00a0 Well, the purpose of this column is not to rehash what I said back then, but to offer you a solution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-30 22:48:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36565\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}