Mennonite Hour

I found a site that provides free downloads of some of the classic Mennonite recordings I listened to as a youngster.

My dad seemed pretty "strict" back in the day, not actually forbidding, but not encouraging in the slightest, recordings that featured a sort of Southern Gospel/Country Western one octave singing. These were trendy among my friends and I could only imagine how wonderful it would be to have a whole shelf full of tapes picturing Beachy men in matching sweater vests, their women in shiny dresses with outrageously puffy sleeves. (Think "Lawrence Welk Show" if you have no idea about conservative Mennonite Fashion).

What dad did provide, in abundance, was good quality choral music as well as classic quartet and other music. Classical music sat on the top shelf, despite the fact that our church specifically forbade listening to musical instruments. Foster tunes were another favorite of his.

I'm glad for the sensible example he showed. I can avoid most pop music today without a problem, but am always delighted when I discover an actually good song. Gwen Stephanie and Justin Timberlake are two that surprised me in the last year. Once a small time rapper named tyco caught my ear. I bought a copy of his rap song for $5.00. I had to wait a week til he actually recorded it.

Back to the old favorites. The Mennonite Hour was recorded at Eastern Mennonite College, beginning in 1952. The music has a distinct tone, an emphasis on diction and a remarkable straightforwardness, few alterations or special arrangements. The songs were recorded in a converted chicken house and were recorded with one microphone. My favorite song was "The Star and The Wise Men, a men's chorus with guest Audrey Shank singing the descant. I was able to read when I realized that voice was not my mom.

With an archive of 900 songs, I look forward to the new CD series being issued, drawn from the original master recordings.