Something Strange

So, I was working at the Distribution Center Saturday night and got one of the biggest laughs of my life!

Being a church-owned place, we play music from the Tabernacle Choir over the PA system. Saturday night, they played a CD from the "Legacy Series" (meaning OLD, LOL) called This is Christmas from 1990. I was working one of the cash registers along the wall and the closing manager commented at one point, "Oh, this is the COOL Twelve Days of Christmas." I had a hard time hearing the familiar tune, but eventually picked it up. Then after awhile I thought it must be over because all of a sudden "Stars and Stripes Forever" was playing and I thought, "What on earth is Stars and Stripes Forever doing on a Christmas CD?" when all of a sudden I heard, "And a partri-idge in a peeeear treeeeeee." ?!?! Shortly after that I was in the back closing my till down and two of the other managers there were as baffled as I was. It turned into the biggest mock session!! I was like, "Is it OKAY for church employees to mock the Tabernacle Choir?" :) One them asked if Mack Wilburg did that arrangement, and if he did he must have had a little drinking problem back then. They then found the CD jacket and read the title and description. Here is what it said:

A MUSICOLOGICAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Music and Text: Craig Courtenay (My comment here is okay, so Mack Wilburg is off the hook for this one)

Commissioned by the Columbus Symphony Chorus for their 1990 Holiday Pops Concert, Courtenay's piece takes the venerable Christmas song through a sampling of musical style periods beginning with Gregorian chant and progressing to the turn of the century in America. As the music and listener move from one day to the next, the parody becomes more and more evident until there is nothing to do but become immersed in the humor and craftsmanship of the composition.

As Karla was reading this out loud, Joy (another manager) kept interjecting, "But it's a musicological journey!" I have not laughed so hard in a group of people for a very long time. When Karla got to the end where it says "there is nothing to do but become immersed in the humor and craftsmanship" I told her I thought she was going to read "absurdity" instead of "craftsmanship."

This piece lasts for about 11 minutes. I bought the CD so I could remember this night of laughter and that real people work for the Church. Also because the piece is so mockable, and there is nothing Brittany and I love more than a good mock session sans Gilmore Girls. This gave us some great material and I had Brittany laughing so hard we had tears streaming down our faces. Really.

We thought it was so funny that we played it for Kelly after church. He was furious. It made me wonder if the 1990 Columbus Symphony Chorus was furious, too! It really is the strangest thing I've ever heard.