What does it mean to light a candle for someone who died?
The ritual of lighting a candle to pay tribute to a life passed has long been a part of our culture. Keeping a light burning in remembrance signifies that the memory still lives on and burns bright. It is a ritual that promotes reflection and signifies remembrance.
This past weekend has been focused on All Saints and All Souls—several churches here in the islands held commemorative services, and I can’t forget that it was four years ago that we presented the Duruflé Requiem in memory of Carl Crosier. You noticed I used the light of burning candles on the front cover of the program.
Last night I attended a special All Saints/All Souls Vespers (“Mourning into Dancing”) at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu, and the part of the service which I thought was the most moving was when we were invited to bring lit candles to the front in memory of someone who died. I was one of the first people to carry a candle, and I placed it directly into the center, right on the crease in the tablecloth, thinking that would be where Carl would have put it.
The quiet procession was accompanied by the singing of the motet, “Funeral Ikos” by John Taverner (a suggestion given to director Scott Fikse by my organ partner, Jieun Kim Newland!)
Here is a performance by the National Youth Choir of Australia of this solemn piece:
It is at once spooky, and incredibly sad, don’t you agree?
It was also bittersweet to hear Peter Hallock’s “Phoenix”—the last time I heard that piece was at his funeral, I believe. Scott Fikse conducted the choir, with Megan Bledsoe Ward on harp and Tugce Bryant on cello.
In addition to Saturday’s Early Music Hawaii with the fantastic Baltimore Consort, yesterday a number of us also attended the farewell recital by Dan Werning at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Kailua, which I enjoyed very much. Dan played a program of organ chorale preludes by composers with whom he either had taken lessons or were close friends. He opened the program with “A Festive Prelude on ‘Come Holy Ghost’ ” by Charles Ore, Dan’s teacher at Concordia University in Nebraska. It was short but extremely effective.
I also enjoyed the three settings of “For all the Saints,” “If you but trust in God to guide you,” and “Now rest beneath night’s shadow” by Victor Freudenberg.
Dan even presented one of his own compositions on “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice,” which was quite inventive in its use of counterpoint. He promised to give me a copy!
A word from Dan:
How did my association with St. Christopher’s start, anyway? When I was considering where to move after I decided to leave Alaska in 1998, Terry Hew (eventually Werning), suggested that if I moved to Hawaii, I could meet her, and she was a member at a great church with a pipe organ in Kailua! She told me about about Mark Wong, the church’s great organist, the wonderful pipe organ, and why I should move here. So I did. I remember walking around in a T-shirt remarking how warm it was in Hawaii while everyone else was freezing and wearing sweaters in the 60-deg temperatures.
As it turned out, Mark was happy to take a few months off from his organ duties in 199-2000 as he developed his computer business, and I was very happy to play the organ!
Over the years, I have moved into, and out of, and back into the community of St. Christopher’s, and feel it has been the best 20 years of my life being involved with this warm and delightful church.
As I now move into a totally unanticipated and surprising phase of my life, I can only say that God, as always, must have his hand in things. He brought me here for a reason, I have been specially involved here for the last 5 years for a reason, and now I am moving to Thailand and a new life for a reason.
Dan, we wish you well!
