Making Melody / fy “Rcuifo/i gautocAaet I t is good to be home! While the Osaka Christian Crusade was an ex perience I shall long cherish, never theless, I repeat again, it is good to be home. I am sure you have been hearing reports from various view points, but perhaps you would enjoy a little different slant from the eyes of a minister of music. thrills of my life was this giant re hearsal and after we had sung the “Hallelujah Chorus” there was no place to go but up. The singers in the choir approach their music with great seriousness and enthusiasm and the musicians in the orchestra are of the highest caliber. They are employed by the city government of Kyoto and
A n Unusual 16MM . Film THE LAND T IME FORGOT
The M o st Mysterious and Fascinating Land in the world. N E W G U I N E A
Ralph Carmichael enjoys a visit with the Mayor of Kyoto
work with the symphony eight hours a day. This is obviously all they do. Their lives are given over completely to a career of music. The mayor of Kyoto, a Christian, made a gift of the services of this , symphony for our Christian Crusade and what a sight it was to see this orchestra which is mostly all Buddists sit night after night through the entire service — and by the end of the Crusade they were singing the invitation, too. The Gospel The music program, being a spec tacle, could have been given undue emphasis and may have become an obstacle rather than a help in this great evangelistic effort. However, Dr. Pierce and his associates displayed great wisdom in maintaining proper balance. Nightly, God’s Word was given the place of prominence and all other program devices took their proper place. While the music was thoroughly enjoyed and surely pre pared the hearts of the audience to receive the spoken word it was clearly understood by all that the music was only a means to an end. — that being to make the claims of Christ known to each one in attendance. Since I have returned, every mail delivery brings another letter from a precious Japanese in which there is a note of thanksgiving for the blessings of the Osaka Christian Crusade. And 1 should like to add my thanksgiving to God for the privilege of participating in this wonderful event.
The M u sic Each night in the crusade we pre sented a package of sacred music con sisting of five or six selections. The various elements were as follows: the 600 voice choir, a 75 piece symphony, Charles Magnuson, pianist, Lorin Whitney, organist, Jack Connor, ma rimba, vibes and chimes, Gary Moore, baritone, Norman Nelson, tenor and Fague Springmann, bass. I sent the choir arrangements to Japan about three months in advance and they were duplicated and put in book form with the English lyrics translated into Japanese. Under the leadership of a fine music committee the choir was o r g a n i z e d f r o m various sections throughout the Kansai area. Each choir had its own director and then a gentlemen known as the ‘Robert Shaw’ of Japan came down from Tokyo and supervised the first two weeks of rehearsals. What a pleasure to stand in front of these choirs and find that they not only knew their parts but had spent many fruitful hours work ing on pitch, rhythmics, and tone production. During the week prior to the opening of the meetings we rehearsed daily with the Kyoto Sym phony and nightly with a different choir in a different section of the Kansai area. Then the night before the opening we had a dress rehearsal for the combined choir and the sym phony. With the symphony situated on the stage, the entire lower floor of the Festival Hall was given over to the choir singers. One of the greatest
Am azing “ Bird of Paradise“ People
Primitive Tribes Am idst Jungle Splendor
Open Fields For Evangelism
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"C h r is t in the Tabernacle " SET OF TWO STRIPS WITH GUIDE — $10.00 Film Department THE BIBLE IN ST ITUTE OF LOS ANGELES P.O. BOX 9 • PHONE FA. 1-3278 GARDENA, CALIFORNIA
AUGUST, 1959
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