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NOTABLE - Bob Morrison
After church one Sunday a few years ago, a gentleman approached me at the organ bench with a suggestion for communion music. He identified himself as a retired school/church musician who had inherited a Radio Shack synthesizer from his dad.
These keyboards offer a variety of musical sounds plus drum beats and even some weird effects. Ron Hill demonstrated his device for me and said that, using the harpsichord effect would provide a gentle tinkling offering - just perfect for meditative moments. (One word of caution: pushing the 'demo' button releases a rock and roll excerpt quite out of character for a devotional service.)
Well, I had never heard of such an idea. I've always been a bit conflicted about what to do musically during communion. A robust choral anthem doesn't lend itself to contemplation, and asking the congregation to sing a hymn seems strange since the people are coming and going from the chancel, so I've usually played quiet hymns on a soft organ stop.
But here was a novel idea, so I told Ron to go for it. He researched works of Baroque masters who wrote especially for the harpsichord, and it turned out to be charming. He also assisted at the piano for hymns and once, as a prelude, accompanied himself singing a Gospel song. His charming wife Peg kept me informed of his health and availability, and as time went on these issues limited his appearance with us. He once told me that he and Peg "had found God here at St. Mark's" - what a kindly and encouraging thought.
As his health declined he said he'd like to give that synthesizer to St. Mark's, which made me quite happy. One memorable usage of it was for Natalie Sleeth's lovely anthem "Feed My Lambs" which calls for two flutes. In the past, I've had two flautists do these parts, but I wondered if we might substitute the keyboard for the live players, and I asked Bruce Schutrum to work this out - and work it out he did. Using a special technique that divides the keyboard into two different sounds, he found two flute effects, one like a conventional flute and the other more like an end-blown recorder - two differing sounds from the same keyboard - and it was just perfect.
More recently Sally Little has done both harpsichord and flute styles and we're working on a hymn with a jazz flavor by Teresa Wilhelmi for piano and synthesizer (suggested by the parish musician at Trinity UCC, Anthony Montagno.)
God called Ron to His heavenly home a short while ago. Thanks to Dr. Gary Giammarco and Gracie I was able to attend the memorial service at a church in Hartville which Ron also attended.
So, now, every time we use that device, I want to list it as "The Ron Hill Synthesizer." Such a blessing!
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