PANGE LINGUA GLORIOSI: SING, MY TONGUE, THE SAVIOR'S GLORY

Then there was this. 

Wikipedia gets us started:

"Pange lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium" (Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈpandʒe ˈliŋɡwa ɡloriˈosi ˈkorporis miˈsteri.um]) is a Medieval Latin hymn written by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) for the Feast of Corpus Christi. It is also sung on Maundy Thursday during the procession from the church to the place where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday. The last two stanzas (called, separately, Tantum ergo) are sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The hymn expresses the doctrine that the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist.

It is often sung in English as the hymn "Of the Glorious Body Telling" to the same tune as the Latin.

The opening words recall another famous Latin sequence from which this hymn is derived: Pange lingua gloriosi proelium certaminis by Venantius Fortunatus.

I am keeping the font size of the text below small so that you can read the English translation side by side with the Latin. 

There are many English translations, of varying rhyme scheme and metre. The following has the Latin text with a doxology in the first column, and an English translation by Edward Caswall in the second.[1] The third column is a more literal rendering.

Pange, lingua, gloriósi Córporis mystérium, Sanguinísque pretiósi, Quem in mundi prétium Fructus ventris generósi Rex effúdit géntium. Nobis datus, nobis natus Ex intácta Vírgine, Et in mundo conversátus, Sparso verbi sémine, Sui moras incolátus Miro clausit órdine. In suprémæ nocte coenæ Recúmbens cum frátribus Observáta lege plene Cibis in legálibus, Cibum turbæ duodénæ Se dat suis mánibus. Verbum caro, panem verum Verbo carnem éfficit: Fitque sanguis Christi merum, Et si sensus déficit, Ad firmándum cor sincérum Sola fides súfficit. Tantum ergo sacraméntum Venerémur cérnui: Et antíquum documéntum Novo cedat rítui: Præstet fides suppleméntum Sénsuum deféctui. Genitóri, Genitóque Laus et jubilátio, Salus, honor, virtus quoque Sit et benedíctio: Procedénti ab utróque Compar sit laudátio. Amen. Alleluja

Sing, my tongue, the Saviour's glory, Of His Flesh, the mystery sing; Of the Blood, all price exceeding, Shed by our Immortal King, Destined, for the world's redemption, From a noble Womb to spring. Of a pure and spotless Virgin Born for us on earth below, He, as Man, with man conversing, Stayed, the seeds of truth to sow; Then He closed in solemn order Wondrously His Life of woe. On the night of that Last Supper, Seated with His chosen band, He, the Paschal Victim eating, First fulfils the Law's command; Then as Food to all his brethren Gives Himself with His own Hand. Word-made-Flesh, the bread of nature By His Word to Flesh He turns; Wine into His Blood He changes: What though sense no change discerns. Only be the heart in earnest, Faith her lesson quickly learns. Down in adoration falling, Lo, the sacred Host we hail, Lo, o'er ancient forms departing Newer rites of grace prevail: Faith for all defects supplying, When the feeble senses fail. To the Everlasting Father And the Son who comes on high With the Holy Ghost proceeding Forth from each eternally, Be salvation, honor, blessing, Might and endless majesty. Amen. Alleluia.

PSALM 53 SUNG IN ARAMAIC BY GEORGIAN MONK

Psalm 53 sung in Aramaic by Georgian monk and assistant for Pope Francis. This is stunning.  Some recordings of this have over 3 million views or audits.  This was performed back in 2016, but I offer it up here for Easter 2020 during this abominable COVID-19, government lockdown.  Slate explains that 

The [holy] performance in this video features the choir of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and took place in the Church of St. Simon the Tanner in Tbilisi, Georgia, when Pope Francis visited Sept. 30. While there, he offered a plea for peace for the persecuted and the victims of war—in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere.

The choir was made up of people from Syrian and Iraqi families and was led by their Friar Seraphim. It’s the well-known Psalm 53, “Our Father,” but sung in Aramaic. 

Here is Psalm 53.  Biblical verses, if nothing else, have the power to humble man.  I don't like it.  LOL.

53 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.  

² God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

³ Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

⁴ Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.

⁵ There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.

⁶ Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

TEENAGE OLYMPIC VISIONS

I was enjoying the views of our old Duarte backyard [here and here] and recalled the love and joy of growing up in the Walgenbach family.  Looking at the photos above, I am reminded of the multiplied and epic hours of play in that backyard with everything from swimming in a doughboy pool to playing football or pickle with Tom and Joe to me stringing a rope between the Elm Tree and the peach tree to see how high I could jump. I so badly wanted to be a qualifying high-jumper in track. The big name in those days was Dwight Stones.  Years later, between 2008-2013, I used to play basketball at Cameron Park in West Covina with his cousin, Chris, who had terrific speed and leaping ability in his own right as he shot those 20-foot baseline jumpers with 75% accuracy.  

Sports were a big deal to me growing up, mainly because my dad made sports an integral part of growing up.  When the family would go to Lacy Park in San Marino, it wasn't just to picnic, but a football scrimmage would form or 2-on-2 over-the-line would emerge.  And since my dad was an avid Notre Dame Football fan, it was impossible to escape the competitive rivalries of the Irish or the coaching legacies or the Heisman Trophy winners.  Whether it was watching Notre Dame on a Saturday morning play their rival Purdue or Michigan or Michigan State, it was always like watching some epic battle.  Sunday mornings were an extended part of the Saturday ritual that would start out at Santa Teresita's St. Joseph's Chapel at 5:45am, then to Bob's Big Boy on Foothill in Monrovia where I'd study Joe Theisman's stats and later Joe Montana's percentages from the Herald Examiner, compare the passing and rushing yards of each team, and check the quarters and imagine the tensions of the game.  Outside of this obsession with Notre Dame Football, my dad instilled a love for the Los Angeles Dodgers much earlier than the one for Notre Dame.  The Dodgers of the glory years, 1959-1965, were formative for me.  On my handheld transistor radio, I used to listen to the storied voice of Vin Scully call the play-by-play from the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, or from Baltimore, cities that because they belonged in the American League were almost the equivalent of Confederate states.  The black and white diamonds that I'd seen on television colored what I'd imagined what Baltimore looked like.

So it was no surprise that I would take part in the Presidential Physical Fitness Test of 1969 when I was 12 and in the 7th grade.  I remember doing sit-ups on the lawn just north of the Northview Jr. High gym, on the perimeter of "the big field." The numbers of the Test were an important goal to me.  It was akin to earning a Varsity or JV Letter in track, cross country, or basketball.  Without a doubt, the biggest sports influence on me growing up was my brother, Chuck, who ran Cross Country in his senior year of high school and then earned a starting position of wide receiver for the Citrus Owls football where his speed, pass reception percentage, and play-making out-foxed every opponent, often multiple opponents. His speed used to burn the defensive backs and safety to their envy.  I recall that the best I did in high school was earning a JV Letter in Cross Country. But it was in the 9th-grade year that my coach and teammates honored me, not so much for my speed, but for my heart, tenacity, and perseverance.  I earned a trophy for the Most-Improved.  And why not? My initial race times were so bad, close to 20 minutes, that there was nowhere for me to go but up. The end-of-the-year awards banquet was held at the elegant, smorgasbord of Griswold's in Claremont. I will never forget the night that Dad drove me out to Griswold's in Claremont to attend the Cross Country Awards ceremony.  I felt so honored by the trophy and ribboned medal, the recognition from my teammates, an honor made all the more meaningful by my dad's presence at my side. He waited patiently for the awards to be dished out and to hear my name called.  Once I received the trophy and the medal with ribbon, Dad says to me, "Let's go," and we did.  I could not have been happier. 

In addition to those sports in the backyard, we played croquet, badminton, volleyball, and boxed with Tom and Joe. Sally bought me a catcher's mitt one year and I loved thinking I was Tom Haller of the Dodgers. Dad bought me a pitchback from Sears. He loved sports, and I guess I knew which topics could appeal to his generosity. I miss that house. I miss those 60s and 70s when I grew up and lived with my older brothers and sisters and Mom and Dad.

There were some great Olympic moments back in the 1972 Munich Olympics, the shootings aside, one was Dave Wottle's Gold Medal 800-Meter run.  Race announcer, the famed Jim McKay, called it the "Wottle Kick," but Dave's sprints in the stretch earned him other names, like "The Head Waiter" and "Wottle the Throttle."  

The 1972 Olympic Games were filled with record-breaking and very memorable highlights.  Wikipedia provides a decent summary of a few of them.  One was of the unforgettable Mark Spitz.  Will never forget his dominance in each race, his speed, his power, his will, and the fact that he won 7 gold medals while setting world records in many of the events.  What I did not know is that he finished last in a butterfly event at Mexico City in 1968.  Talk about your vindication.

Mark Spitz set a world record when he won 7 gold medals (while on the way to setting a new world record for each of his seven gold medals) in a single Olympics, bringing his lifetime total to nine (he had won two golds in Mexico City's Games four years earlier). Being Jewish, Spitz was asked to leave Munich before the closing ceremonies for his own protection, after fears arose that he would be an additional target of those responsible for the Munich massacre. Spitz's record stood until 2008, when it was beaten by Michael Phelps who won eight gold medals in the pool. 

A high-school classmate, Rick Stevens, was a swimmer during high school, and he told me once on our way to a cross country event that he was only a second or two off of Mark Spitz's record for one type of race.  

Then there was the darling, Olga Korbut. 

Olga Korbut, a Soviet gymnast, became a media star after winning a gold medal in the team competition event, failing to win in the individual all-around after a fall (she was beaten by teammate Lyudmilla Turischeva), and finally winning two gold medals in the Balance Beam and the floor exercise events.  

Prefontaine, 1951-1975, was such a running idol in those days, a heroic figure for so many young American runners and athletes.  In this 1972 Olympic 5,000 meter race (3.10685596 miles), he finishes 4th but what a race he ran.  And perhaps the race that I looked for more than any other was the marathon, where Frank Shorter, born in West Germany, ended up winning it.  And I'll never forget the imposter that ran onto the course pretending to be the leader for a few seconds of faded glory.

Not sure which documentary I had here.  But here is a decent one.  Fire on the Track: The Steve Prefontaine Story, hosted by Jim Muchmore, posted on April 12, 2020.  This documentary on Steve Prefontaine aired on June 4, 1995.

 

1972 Olympics, Munich, Germany.

This documentary on Steve Prefontaine is good too, Steve Prefontaine Fire on the Track, posted by Joe Fuller on October 26, 2013. 

Be sure to watch the bonus video given by his roommate, Pat Tyson, who is now a running coach at Gonzaga. 

 

And perhaps the race that I looked for more than any other was the marathon, where Frank Shorter, born in West Germany, ended up winning it.  And I'll never forget the imposter that ran onto the course pretending to be the leader for a few seconds of faded glory.  Here is an audio interview, no video.  But most of the YouTube videos are truncated with very low resolution. 

Wikipedia reminds us,

American Frank Shorter, who was born in Munich, became the first from his country in 64 years to win the Olympic marathon. As Shorter was nearing the stadium, German student Norbert Sudhaus entered the stadium wearing a track uniform, joined the race and ran the last kilometre; thinking he was the winner, the crowd began cheering him before officials realized the hoax and security escorted Sudhaus off the track. Arriving seconds later, Shorter was understandably perplexed to see someone ahead of him and to hear the boos and catcalls meant for Sudhaus. This was the third time in Olympic history that an American had won the marathon (after Thomas Hicks 1904 and Johnny Hayes 1908) — and in none of those three instances did the winner enter the stadium first.   

Roger Bannister, an Englishman, was the first to run the mile in under 4 minutes.  He accomplished this on May 6, 1954, in 3:59.4 seconds.  Don Bowden was the first American to run the mile in under 4 minutes on June 1, 1957, he clocked a 3:58:7 mile, setting a new American record.  Jim Ryun was the second American to set a one-mile record on July 17, 1966, at 3:51.3,  He did it at age 19, the youngest to ever set a world record in running.  He beat his own record of 3:51:03 on June 23, 1967, at 3:51:01, a record that stood for 8 years.  

But unmatched is the current world record-holder, Hichame El Guerrouj, who clocked a mile at 3:43:13 July 7, 1999.  His record has stood for over 20 years. 

My other favorite runner of the period was Bill Rodgers from Boston.  Wikipedia reminds us that, 

Rodgers is best known for his 4 victories in both the Boston Marathons, including three straight 1978-1980 and the New York City Marathon between 1976 and 1980.  I remember him for these Boston Marathons.  Though Wikipedia calls him an Olympian, yes, he did compete in the Olympic Trials both in Montreal in 1976 and in Los Angeles in 1984.  But he completed only one Olympic Marathon in 1976, the Montreal Olympics, where he came in 40th place.  I guess did not qualify for the LA Marathon.  

I remember watching this race on television.  I must say that after learning what Bill Rodgers did with Frank Shorter in the 1975 Virginia Marathon, crossing the finish line holding hands in a tie, was a bit disturbing.  So his politics make me nauseous.  

"GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY: A COWBOY LEGEND" (1948)

A Facebook acquaintance posted the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" (1948) written by Stan Jones but sung by Johnny Cash, a well-known voice called on to sing legends and ballads.  Stan Jones, by the way, was quite a prolific songwriter in for Hollywood movies and western television series.  Wikipedia explains that he

wrote almost entirely Western music. He composed songs for several Western movies by Ford and others producers, including The Searchers and Rio Grande. He also played small parts in several westerns.

In 1955 Jones began writing for Disney Studios. He was co-writer of the theme song for the television series Cheyenne, and Jones wrote again for John Ford's Civil War film The Horse Soldiers, in which he made an uncredited appearance as Ulysses S. Grant in the opening scene. The theme song "I Left My Love" was featured throughout the film. The following year, he returned to working for Disney Studios.

But Cash's version of the song is not my favorite.  Though I will say that this version by Cash, when he was younger and his voice more vigorous, is better.   

No, that prize goes to two contending stars: Kay Starr and Marty Robins.  I even liked Peggy Lee's version of the song better than Cash's older voice.  

Check out this version of Marty Robbins'.  You might like the western images a little better.  Maybe not. The lyrics are embedded in the show notes on this video.  I did not know that the song was first sung by Burl Ives, but it makes sense given all of the recordings of this song by him on the internet. 

Marty Robbins is famous for his song, "El Paso." 

Here is Kay Starr's version.  She's got a powerful voice, and for this song, she needs one.  

Like I said, I even liked Peggy Lee's version better than Johnny Cash, and believe me, I know how sacrilegious that sounds but Cash's voice just doesn't capture the ominous tone that that song should convey.  Vaughn Monroe sang it to great acclaim in 1949.   

Vaughn Monroe sang it to great acclaim in 1949.  Still, my favorites so far are Marty Robbins and Kay Starr.

Then, of course, there is the 1961 instrumental version by the Scorpions.

 

This is certainly a howling version by the Die Playboys. 

From Music & Musings, we get renditions of the song from Gene Autry, Debrah Harry, and the Ventures.  He makes great points, too, about the song and its origins.  

Stan Jones, western actor and songwriter, wrote “Ghost Riders In The Sky” in 1948.  The song is based on the tune of “Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya”, a traditional English [first published in London in 1867] melody that also begat “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”. Since then it has been performed by many of the great acts in the music world. I have over 50 versions of the song in my iTunes collection from the country greats like Johnny Cash, Gene Autry, Slim Whitman, Willie Nelson, and The Highwaymen, the great guitar players like Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, Roy, Clark and Glen Campbell, the sublime like Burl Ives, Debby Harry, and Marty Robbins, to the ridiculous (Spike Lee, The Trashmen & Na Sha Sha).  

So the song derives from the 1863 Civil War song, “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again.”  

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Runnin' Down a Dream (2007)

I posted this video because Tom Petty relays beautifully how he took chances, acted on opportunities that turned out successful, which turned into subsequent successes.  He was a very ambitious but very ethical businessman.  I think that's why his fans and his bandmates were so loyal to him.  I don't know whether he and others in his circles understood the southern influence of rock at the time, but the years 1969-1977 were considered the years of southern rock revival in the United States at the time.  Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers formed in 1976; his first band formed in Gainsville, Florida, 1974, was called Mudcrutch.  Maybe, Petty knew an opportunity when he saw it. 

The southern rock era was essentially between the years of 1969, when The Allman Brothers Band released their first album, until 1977 when a tragic airplane crash took the lives of members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. 

But it wasn't just his southern origins of Gainsville, Florida that brought about his success.  It was the fact that his voice sounded like Bob Dylan, that whiny, rebellious, defiant tone of a defiant poet.  But if you listen to some of Petty's lyrics, the last thing that he is doing is lamenting.  In songs like "Don't Come Around Here No More" (1985) and "No, I Won't Back Down," (1989), "Here Comes My Girl," (1979), and "Refugee" (1980). Or maybe it was a case that he knew his own talent and knew how coordinate the time and value of others in the achievement of a recording contract or an album or a big-time concert opening for a big name or pulling in a large crowd.  He achieved all of it.  He ended up playing with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and other greats. 

But the thing that set Petty apart was his music writing talents.  He could put together a bar, a phrase , and a lyric in short order and it would be a hit.  He did this over and ivee again, and it built great loyalty frim his bandmates who were the beneficiaries of his talents.  

AFTER THE FIRE, THE FIRE STILL BURNS

Before Keith came along, a drummer was just a guy who sat in the back and kept the beat, and he really was the first person--first drummer--to become a frontman.  Pamela Des Barres

Ringo Starr was a great drummer.  Charlie Watts was a great drummer.  Keith Moon was an octopus.  He was all over the place and 'til this day is still the best rock'n'roll drummer of all time.  Alice Cooper

I don't know whether it was that my 3-day fever from bronchitis broke last night or me reviewing my youthful adventures tagged to the late '70s, 1978 and the loss of Keith Moon (1946-1978) specifically, that I found myself tearing up as I watched the following biography on him.  Tears came at the loss of youth, at the loss of a raging talent of a man who could very well be the best rock'n'roll drummer.  

   

Toward the end of it, Pete Townsend commented that 

There is something about being in the public's eye and wanting people to love you, and wanting them to respond to you, to the things that you do and say and think.  When you lose that, you suddenly wake up one day and say I don't care anymore that people laugh at me, or I don't care whether they clap.  I think that's what happened to Keith, and he just let go.

That's about how I felt with teaching. Watching that biography only made me weep for my former life of the mid-to-late-70s.  It made me think of the astounding comfort and love of the album store, Music+, in Azusa, where I bought my first Elton John record.  I miss the optimism of my life back then. I miss the days of driving up Hwy 2, Angeles Crest Hwy with Dannette Martinez who went to Bishop Amat with Sean Moore. She lived in La Puent and worked part-time at Burger King in Baldwin Park.  I visited her one time and she gave me a free meal--Whopper, fries, and Coke.  I miss those days.

Toward the end of the video, the song "After the Fire" plays, a tune written by Townsend but sung by Daltrey and released in 1985 as a tribute to their mate, Keith Moon.  Wikipedia cites the writers of the song were Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend.  That's just Pete Townshend's full name.  The strange thing about that biography documentary is that it focuses on Keith Moon's recklessness.  But if you listen to a lot of the studio albums, you don't hear a wild, incompetent performer; quite the contrary.  He is a standard studio musician.  He wouldn't be a member if weren't producing according to specifications.  

There are a handful of mini-documentaries at YouTube on Keith Moon's life.  Clearly, he was well-loved.  What I liked about this biography is a segment where Larry Hagman, co-star of I Dream of Jeannie and leading star of Dallas, tells the story of how he was friends with Keith and his girlfriend.  In fact, Hagman helped Keith find some rehab help in Santa Monica at St. John's Health Center.  The list of celebrities treated at the health center is a formidable one.  It's a list of entertaining giants.  

the loss of open-ended days and fantastic vistas of the San Gabriel Valley from its peak there in Duarte and along the San Gabriel foothills that I found myself weeping. 

Here are the lyrics if you'd like them . . . if you need them.  

nothing's / Gonna stop this gang going wild. 

After the fire, the fire still burns
The heart grows older
But never, ever learns
The memories smolder
And the soul always yearns
After the fire, the fire still burns

I heard a voice asking
"What happens after the fire"?
And then the sound of a
Breaking window and
The scream of a tire

And then the sound of a distant gun

And the cry of a hungry child

The night is hot but nothing's

Gonna stop this gang going wild. 

After the fire, the fire still burns
The heart grows older but never ever learns
The memories smolder and the soul always yearns
After the fire, the fire still burns.

I saw Matt Dillon in black and white 
there ain't no color in memories
He rode his brother's Harley across the TV,
While I was laughing at Dom DeLuise.

Now I'm cycling all my videotapes, and I'm cryin' and I'm jokin'
I've gotta stop drinking
I've gotta stop thinking
I've gotta stop smoking

After the fire, the fire still burns
The heart grows older but never ever learns
The memories smolder and the soul always yearns
After the fire, the fire still burns.

Raging through the pain, 
Blackening the promises the tears and the rain,
The fire still burns
'Til the wind begins to turn
And it all begins again.  

After the fire, the fire still burns
The heart grows older but never ever learns
The memories smolder and the soul always yearns
After the fire, the fire still burns.  . . . fire still burns . . . .

After the fire, the fire still burns
The heart grows older but never ever learns
The memories smolder and the soul always yearns
After the fire, the fire still burns.

The Who By Numbers gave me hours of listening pleasure from 1975 onward.  

Anyone reading this post might scoff at the claim that Keith Moon was the best rock'n'roll drummer of all time.  So the case has to be made, what makes a great rock'n'roll drummer?  That's hard for me to say since I am no musician, nor can I read music, or have any kind of a trained ear.  But opinions persist.  So it would hurt to look at the qualities or techniques that might form the skills of a great rock-and-roll drummer.  This gal helps us with a tribute to Ringo Starr.  Certainly, Neil Peart of Rush, who recently passed maybe my top nomination.  

Lists are selective and not complete, not even accurate or fair.  But lists do provide the curious with a start to begin thinking about a subject or topic.  They help orient the student.  Here is a "Top 10 List of Rock Drummers."  

1.  John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.

2.  Keith Moon of The Who.

3.  Neil Peart of Rush. 

4.  Dave Grohl, Nirvana.

5.  Stewart Copeland of The Police.

6.  Ginger Baker, Cream. 

7.  Mitch Mitchell, the Jimmy Hendrix Experience.

8.  Nick Mason of Pink Floyd.

9.  Ringo Starr of The Beatles. 

10.  Phil Collins of Genesis.

These are all rock-and-roll drummers, but are they the best?  What about drummers from other categories?  The following producer listed another "Top 10 Greatest Drummers of All Time."  Okay, but in no particular order.  He leaves that up to the viewer or listener.  So I put them in an order that I think he meant, but I do not know how he can place Neil Peart 7th in an all-time list.  

1.  Buddy Rich.

2.  Jojo Mayer.

3.  Dave Weckl. 

4.  Chad Wackerman.

5.  Kenny Aronoff.

6.  Stephen Perkins.  

7.  Neil Peart. 

8.  Tommy Aldridge.

9.  Cozy Powell. 

10.  Bobby Rondinelli.