Ise Oluwa

I often write about those beautiful little moments in life that catch you unawares.
I guess it's the drama queen in me 
My recent encounter with a kindness inside St. Asaph Cathedral was one I shall remember for quite some time but tonight's experience will rank a close second in that memory bank of moving moments.
In choir tonight we learned the Nigerian song Ise Oluwa -sing for water
And after a bit of a struggle we nailed it!!!!

Before we finished practice Jamie our eleven year old choir master asked us to sing it again, but this time very Gently and as we did he disappeared and turned off the lights of the little Welsh village hall.
In almost absolute darkness over fifty people sang without the chains of sight and competition and self consciousness and the noise we produced was simply magical.
And the silence after we had finished proved that we all had been moved in the same lovely way
This choir has nourished me 



65 comments:

  1. Beautiful music and beautiful moments are gifts we can treasure forever.

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  2. And what a precious deposit in your memory bank.

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  3. So now I am crying. Good crying. Your 11 year old choir master turned off the lights. That boy should go far. Amazing.

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  4. Wonderful! That is a powerful, that he turned down the lights to make it come from the heart. I love those kind of moments. Similarly, last night our choir director stood in tears as we sang our best practice so far, she just stood there welling up in the silence after the music faded off.

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  5. i would have loved to be there!

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  6. Something you will keep forever.
    This choir is a KEEPER!! So good for the soul.

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  7. What a beautiful moment John....and that choirmaster is a keeper. x

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    1. I emailed him a week or so ago explaining my situation and he was so supportive ...he's quite a delight

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    2. Anonymous9:58 pm

      He is not really 11 years old? Is he?

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    3. He's probably 30 but has a 28 inch waist

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  8. Oh, that sounds wonderful!

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  9. What a wonderful experience, one to be treasured for sure. Just listening to that music had me welling up.

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  10. Perhaps that ought to happen on performance night? Or even just candlelight. A beautiful moment. xx

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  11. That's a hell of a village hall.

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  12. There could be nothing more healing than being a part of a choir singing for the pure ethereal joy of it.

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  13. Is he really only 11...???

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  14. That's so lovely, John. Thank you for sharing it with us, I think we could all use a moment of beauty. Xoxox

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  15. MaggieB10:48 pm

    Welsh choir singing west African song. Magical combination. MaggieB

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  16. A moment captured in all your hearts forever ❤️ Clever choirmaster.

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  17. Barbara Anne10:50 pm

    How marvelously ethereal and magical.

    As a choir member, you're also nourishing yourself, my friend. Long may it be so.

    Hugs!

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  18. I'm glad you are getting so much from choir. Good move.

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  19. Lovely post, John. I particularly enjoyed the video.

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  20. There are more and more eleven year olds out in the working world each year it seems. It is very strange.

    Voices lifted together can be very moving. Such beauty flowing from the human body...no tools, no instruments.

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  21. Cheryl11:26 pm

    Just beautiful, thanks for sharing.

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  22. Wonderful and lovely comments.
    I was tearing up.

    cheers, parsnip and badger

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  23. The choir is like medicine to ease the pain of severance.

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  24. When I was a youngster the only Christmas songs I liked were the peppy ones ('Here Comes Santa Claus' comes to mind). Then, at the age of ten I stopped into the church in town and heard the choir singing 'Silent Night.' The lights were off and one candle was burning and I sat on the floor and wept. Every time I hear it (some 52 years later) I remember how I felt way back then....and I weep.

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  25. That's a wonderful video.

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  26. Jamie may be young but I suspect he has the understanding of an old soul. I am so glad you joined that choir. Music can be healing.

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  27. I occasionally felt like that, singing in the cathedral when I was at school. Spiritual.

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  28. I am so glad you have discovered the joy of singing with other people. It's a thing that happens in church but if you're not a church goer (fair enough!!) and you love a good harmony then this is the life. Big hugs. From a long time alto xo

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  29. You have made my scalp prickle......

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  30. Uplifting and beautiful.

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  31. That sounds wonderful. Wish I'd been there.

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  32. Magical. Choirs have changed lives x

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  33. How beautiful. That’s quite a clever 11-year-old.

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  34. What a wonderful moment maybe suggest that the lights are turned of for the concert as well. Glad that your enjoying the choir John.

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  35. Moved me to tears John. What a perceptive eleven year old your choir master must be and how very musical. My son is a musician and teaches music - I shall point him in the direction of your post so that he can hear it too.
    Glad the choir is helping too.

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    1. He. Only looks11....he's in his late
      Twenties

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    2. Anonymous8:31 pm

      You said he was 32 in a reply a bit higher up. ...So, 11, 32, late twenties... Is he a time traveller?

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    3. I'm guessing don't get your knickers in a twist

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  36. Now that sounds like a moment . . .
    Beautiful

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  37. what a beautiful song- ubuntu!

    all regards from across the pond-
    barb in texas

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  38. That's a shared, healing moment.Thanks for sharing it with us. All the best,John.

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  39. oh John, I was thinking yesterday about how you became an integral part of the village in a way the Prof never did.

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  40. I don't cry easily, but this brought the tears. It was a God moment for sure. If what I'm reading is correct in the comments on youtube, Ise Oluwa is Yoruba meaning "the work of God." Thank you so very much for this, John. Being in that chorus is bringing blessings into your life - and ours!!

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  41. Here are the translated words of the song:
    https://lesleyscoble.com/2016/05/10/iseoluwa-traditional-yoroba-spiritual/

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  42. Lovely...this music penetrates the soul.

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  43. Wow....this is such powerful music. Thank you for the beauty.

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  44. The Loveny MV Choir from Cornwall used to sing an African Trilogy - it affected every member of the audience/congregation whenever they sang it. Because I was a regular follower, I got to know all the words of the African National Anthem - wow! what a rousing, inspiring and skin-tingling sound. I hope your choirmaster discovers it . . .

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  45. Absolutely beautiful! Thank you.

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  46. Wonderful song and the timing couldn’t have been more appropriate. We have had our first rain in 6 months in my part of California. Hallelujah! Fire season is ending!

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  48. John, don't know if you see comments on older blog posts, but this one sparked a lovely memory for me...

    In late high school and the first couple of years of college I was a counselor at a Girl Scout camp. Lots of singing all the time.

    There was this one three part round that sounded like church bells.

    Two friends and I were standing in the Main Camp area after a summer season was over, finishing up closing down the camp. As we stood there, in the cathedral of trees, we sang this song - probably for a good five minutes.

    It was magical!

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    Replies
    1. I do read them.....it sounds as though we had the same experience xx

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