Neta Maughan's 70th

We attended a wonderful evening in Hunter's Hill [Sydney] on 9th August, 2008, which was a surprise party to celebrate Neta Maughan's 70th birthday. Neta has taught some amazing students over the past 40 years or so, even including us. [Not that we are amazing in any way.]

The concert featured sensational performances by Neta's daughter Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Simon Tedeschi, Reomi Mito, Kathryn Lambert and others and also featured a whimsical parody of Tea for Two by Stephen Healey, a friend of ours from our days at Newcastle Conservatorium, but whom we had not seen since. Thirty-four years ago.

What was special about Stephen's song was that it was all about Miss Maughan's weekly visits to Newcastle which most people at the celebration would not have known anything about. And when Stephen talked about students he remembered from back then, Joan got a mention.

It was fun talking with him during the mealbreak, and hearing him introduce Joan as "Joan Sims." She hadn't heard anyone do that in over 34 years! But I'm glad she shares my name and didn't stick with the old one.

Sneak Preview

If you click on the link above, locate the hypertext word here, and right click on it, you can save and then listen to a track from Zoe Black and Daniel McKay's new violin and guitar duo cd, which will be shortly available from MOVE records. You can also read about it at the above location.

We think the released track is terrific, but we would say that, wouldn't we?

Wrong number

I was trying to ring a friend to confirm a dinner date and accidentally rang the number of someone else I know, or more correctly, know of, completely randomly.

No, I won't tell you Andrew McKeich's mobile number, but I will tell you he has been a producer of some of Australia's most lovely recordings, including some terrific CDs of Tamara Anna Cislowska, Roger Woodward, Gareth Koch, Emma Matthews and others.

This is the first time I've stumbled on the phone number of someone I revere: it's usually just someone who lives round the corner.

You can purchase Tamara Anna's CDs at the ABC shop, repackaged and at an amazingly cheap price.

With his boots on

I listened occasionally to John Cargher's Singers of Renown and enjoyed it every time I listened. Producing a program for 42 years continuously is a great effort. We have people in Bathurst who have produced programs for 30 years on 2MCE-FM, the station where Jacinta Tynan, Andrew Denton and several other distinguished Aussie broadcasters began, but I don't know of anyone else who has kept it up as long as John.

The one program I remember is one in which he passionately promoted Phantom of the Opera, the then new opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber. A ninety minute trip from Katoomba to Parramatta passed very quickly.

Luther's Tavern Songs

In the interesting Briefing focussing on singing in church, Gordon Cheng cited the myth that Martin Luther appropriated drinking songs for Christian hymns. As far as can be known, Luther once used a secular tune for his hymn "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come" but later rejected it because of its worldly associations. But the origin of this very popular and persistent notion seems to be based on a misunderstanding of the musical form known as the "bar tune." Many Lutheran chorales are in the form AAB, which is called "bar form." It has nothing to do with taverns, but means the song has two sections using the same musical phrase, ending with a second tune. Richard Lammert, Concordia Theological Seminary librarian explains this in his article Did Luther Use A Drinking Song as the Basis for A Mighty Fortress is our God?


If anyone knows a way of dispelling this myth forever, do it, do it, do it!

Larry Norman at 60

This article by Philip Cooney is well worth reading. If you have heard of Larry Norman, you have just confirmed my suspicions: you are a fellow oldie! If you haven't, reading Phil's article will whet your appetite for listening to his great songs, I hope.

I got my first Larry Norman LP on loan from Maxine McKew's second cousin, Laura, who was one of my guitar students in Brisbane. [Yes, I know I can hardly play the guitar, but I got away with it for a few years while eking out an existence at Kenmore Christian College i the late 70s.]

The remastered version of the LP is fabulous and includes quite a few extra tracks, all interesting.

Phil's article is in the online version of The Briefing called The Longing.

Ten Great Hymns Every Christian Should Know

Here are ten great hymns I think every Christian should know:
He Who Would Valiant Be
Words: Dearmer, after John Bunyan, in The English Hymnal, 1906
Music: Monks Gate, arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams
accessed from Australian Churches of Christ Hymn Book, 458

Jesus is All the World to Me
also known as
He's My Friend
Words and music by Will Thompson, 1904
accessed from A C C H B, 114

All People That On Earth do Dwell
Words ascribed to William Kethe
Tune: The Old Hundredth
Music: Louis Bourgeois
[from Four Score and Seven Psalms of David, published in Geneva, Switzerland, 1561, or 1551]
accessed from The New Church Hymnal, published by Lexicon, 1976, 277

I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
Words: Horatius Bonar, 1846
Music: Vox Dilecti by John B Dykes, 1868
[wonderful tune, which changes mode from minor to major as we get to the second half of each verse, wonderfully creating a musical picture of the change Jesus makes when we come to him]
Alternative tune: Kingsfold, folksong collected and arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906

What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Words: Joseph M Scriven, 1855
Music: Charles C Converse, 1868
Alternative tune: Blaenwern by William P Rowlands, 1905
accessed from Churches of Christ Hymn Book, 429

Soldiers of Christ Arise
Words: Charles Wesley, 1741 [in Character of a Methodist]
Tune: From Strength to Strength, by E W Naylor
accessed from A C C H B, 444

My Song is Love Unknown
Words: Samuel Crossman in The Young Man' Meditation, 1664
Tune: Love Unknown, John Ireland, 1918
accessed from Together in Song, 341
alternative tune: Calkin [also known as St John] by John Calkin, 1887
accessed from A C C H B, 135

Jesus, Lover of my Soul
Words: Charles Wesley, 1740
Tune: Aberystwyth [also known as Parry], Joseph Parry, 1879
Words accessed from A C C H B, 315
Music accessed from Together in Song, 211

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
Words: John Newton, 1779 from Olney Hymns, which he co-authored with William Cowper [pronounced Cooper]
Music: St Peter [also known as Reinagle] by Alexander Reinagle, 1836
accessed from A C C H B,440

Be Thou My Vision
Words: Dallan Forgaill, 8th century AD in Ireland, translated by Mary Byrne, 1905 and versified by Eleanor Hull, 1912.
Tune: Slane, of Irish folk origin, harmonised by David Evans, 1927
accessed from Together in Song, 547

If you are able to read music, it is wonderful to be able to sing [and play, if you can] through some of the old hymns which have stood the test of time.
You can find more information about these hymns at Cyber Hymnal