Ewa Maria Slaska
We went to New York to concert of Singing Men of Texas (120 of them!) in Carnegie Hall! Strange!
Me in Carnegie Hall. Strange! (Foto Iwona)
120 singing men. Strange!
Everything I saw last days in America reminded me an all American movies I’ve ever seen and all American book I’ve ever read.
The farmer in a red pic up, weather-beaten dude, but handsome, in red plaid shirt.
High school kids singing Sunday morning between booths on farmers market.
Suburb train taking every morning all the kings men to work in Manhattan.
Midget waiter in an Italian Trattoria where we have our pre theater dinner serving cold water and wine. At the table near to us two families, behind us a very young and pretty woman with a wrath of red flowers looking like Frida Kahlo.
Very nice but in the same time a somewhat spooky pastor who forget to comb his hair and his curly red haired women born in Poland, singing soprano in a church.
Very handsome, very black, very tall intellectual with squared glasses better looking than almost any other men in the whole Hall.
And so on.
They singed gospel in Carnegie Hall. 120 white men and one black pastor.
They also sang that sweet song of Mosie Lister, I am feeling fine. O yeah, I am feeling mighty fine.
A great star of Gospel music, Steve Green, was singing with them. I was not very fond of him, though I had to admit, he had really mighty voice. But then he sang a capella Martin Luthers Mighty Fortress, and I thought I have never heard that song singed so mighty…
It is one of the best known hymns by the German reformer Martin Luther. He wrote the words, a paraphrase of Psalm 46, and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529. It has been translated into English at least seventy times and also into many other languages.
| A Mighty Fortress XXX A mighty fortress is our God A bulwark never failing Our helper He amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe His craft and power are great And armed with cruel hate On Earth is not his equal Did we in our own strength confide Our striving would be losing Were not the right man on our side The man of God’s own choosing You ask who that may be Christ Jesus, it is He Lord Saboth His name From age to age the same And he must win the battle XXX And through this world with devils filled Should threaten to undo us We will not fear For God hath willed His truth to Triumph through us The prince of darkness grim We tremble not for him, his rage we can endure For lo, his doom is sure One little word shall fell him XXX That word above all earthly powers No thanks to them, Abideth The spirit and the gifts are ours Through Him who with us sideth Let goods and kindred go This mortal life also The body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still His kingdom is forever His kingdom is forever His kingdom is forever His kingdom is forever and ever XXX Translated by Steve Green |
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott XXX Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, ein gute Wehr und Waffen. Er hilft uns frei aus aller Not, die uns jetzt hat betroffen. Der alt böse Feind mit Ernst er’s jetzt meint, groß Macht und viel List sein grausam Rüstung ist, auf Erd ist nicht seins gleichen. XXX Mit unsrer Macht ist nichts getan, wir sind gar bald verloren; es streit’ für uns der rechte Mann, den Gott hat selbst erkoren. Fragst du, wer der ist? Er heißt Jesus Christ, der Herr Zebaoth, und ist kein andrer Gott, das Feld muss er behalten. XXX Und wenn die Welt voll Teufel wär und wollt uns gar verschlingen, so fürchten wir uns nicht so sehr, es soll uns doch gelingen. Der Fürst dieser Welt, wie sau’r er sich stellt, tut er uns doch nicht; das macht, er ist gericht’: ein Wörtlein kann ihn fällen. XXX Das Wort sie sollen lassen stahn und kein’ Dank dazu haben; er ist bei uns wohl auf dem Plan mit seinem Geist und Gaben. Nehmen sie den Leib, Gut, Ehr, Kind und Weib: lass fahren dahin, sie haben’s kein’ Gewinn, das Reich muss uns doch bleiben. |
PS. For those who do not know (I did not):
Mosie Lister (1921 – 2015) was an American singer and Baptist minister. He was best known for writing the Gospel songs “Where No One Stands Alone”, “Till the Storm Passes By”, “Then I Met the Master” and “How Long Has It Been?” As a singer, he was an original member in The Statesmen Quartet, the Sunny South Quartet, and the Melody Masters. In 1976 Lister was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Southern Gospel Music Association in 1997. His songs have been recorded by nearly every Southern Gospel artist. And not only. Elvis Presley recorded three of his songs in the 60s: “Where No One Stands Alone” “He Knows Just What I Need” and “His Hand in Mine”.
Ewa Maria and Friends 
Jetzt weiss ich endlich, dass ich von dem diners an der Ecke zum time`s square, gegenüber vom Lyceum die Carnegie Hall gesehen habe; damals habe ich mich gefragt, wie das Theater heissen könne, vor dem die Leute Schlange standen.
Leider waren wir nur im Apollo in Harlem u. anschließend im Soulfood-Restaurant gegenüber.
Anne