"River in Judea" by Linda Marcus & Jack Feldman, Arr. John Leavitt Performed by the Rockford Chorale, Mandy Mikita Scott, Director Filmed at the RHS Choirs Fall Concert, Oct. 7, 2014
My mom picked this song to be sung at her funeral. We had no idea she had arranged that with the church choir director several years ago. Then she unexpectedly passed away earlier this month. Brings tears to my eyes. I’m sure she loved the little jazzy piano part. I can see her singing along with it now. Love you mom ❤
When I was in 10th grade my school choir sang this and our teacher (who I didn't realize then cause I was still a kid, was actually still a really young man, he was maybe 24) had us sing this song. There was a day when he told us that he sang this in his high school choir and that there had been a student in his class who struggled with depression, and had committed suicide shortly before they performed this song, so he wanted his class to sing it in honor of that kid. He stopped talking for a second and we all got worried about him and he excused himself to his office, we all knew he was crying. When he came back out we all told him that we loved him and this song was really meaningful when we finally sing it at our concert because we understood how much it meant to our teacher.
Dear God this music brings back memories. At the end of the school year my choir would perform a concert in one of our local parks and no matter what the theme of the concert we'd always sing this song last. It was especially emotional because it was the last hurrah for the senior choir music and alumni were allowed to come up and sing with the choir.
Carlisle the Cinephile this is the same at my school. This is my first year singing it and my brother (who is graduated an living life as an adult) is coming up on stage and will be singing it with us. Every time I sing it for some odd reason I tear up.
omg my school does the exact same thing every year. Sadly, I remember this song also as we sang this at a class mate's funeral, she was in our choir and this was her favorite song. Today marks 5 years of her passing :( RIP Alyssa
That is the near the reason I looked up this song. I'm 33 and my childhood in a confusing blur. I find myself trying to connect to my childhood lately more than ever, trying to reconcile what feels like two different beings into one.
@@thetiredworker4922 ive been lucky enough to find almost every single video of my chorus concerts as a child on RU-vid because im fairly young, only just graduated 2021, I've got a whole playlist setup too. it still stinks not being able to find the time we sang this song
@@sootierpluto Isn't it crazy, the amazing difference from my childhood to yours in only 10-15 years difference!? Society changes so drastically these days, even in one's own lifetime. I'm happy you have the videos you do. Hope your Summer ends well. My Winter will begin with my third child and first baby girl. 😉
Of all the chorals "River In Judea" has been my favorite since hearing our choir sing it in March, 1996. The Rockford Chorale put on a 5-star performance! Thanks 10,000-fold for sharing this video. One of the many benefits from the Internet is being able to listen to beautiful music as often as you wish.
This brings back a memory of the last few days of my freshman year in college. Finals were being administered and we'd done our last performance of the year in choir...so when we had to meet for that last choir rehearsal of the year, there were a lot of us who were cross and tired and just wanted to get it over with so we could get outta there because some of them had other things to do. Buuuuut....our choir director wanted to try out some pieces of music on us that we were gonna be doing the next semester. So, before and after every song he trotted out, there were moans and groans and complaints. Well, as I recall it, the last song he ran us through was "River in Judea"...and that changed the whole mood in there! As our accompanist leaned in and dug into that bass line, somebody called out something like: "Go ahead, Mrs. Wright!!! GO, GIRL!!!" I think it was my friend Greg. And we sang that song and got happy and when it was finished, Greg, who I think had been complaining pretty much the most that day, was like: "Uh...Mr. Dunlap? Can we sing that again???" Mr. Dunlap asked if we wanted to sing it again and I don't recall getting ANY objections!!! And away we went, into the song again!!!
Oftentimes I dream of music, Of the river that freely flows. And it sings a song sweeter than honey, One everybody knows. Late at night, I hear it singing. Then again when I wake at dawn. And it fills me up with hope and goodwill, The will to go on, Go on. (Chorus) There is a river in Judea That I heard of long ago. And it's a singing, ringing river That my soul cries out To know. I believe it keeps on trav'lin' But it rests on the Sabbath day. And the time when it pauses in stillness, I almost hear it pray. When I'm weary and downhearted, How I long for the song it sings, For the calm within its gentle blue, The peace that it brings, it brings. (Chorus) There is a river in Judea That I heard of long ago. And it's a singing, ringing river That my soul cries out To know. May the time not be too distant When we meet by the river (meet by the) shore. 'Til then dream of that wonderful day As we sing once more, once more: (Chorus) There is a river in Judea (hallelu) That I heard of long ago (hallelu), It's a singing, ringing river That my soul cries out (my soul cries out) To the river in Judea. (optional repeat) Hallelujah!!! source: www.lyricsondemand.com/f/feldmanjacklyrics/riverinjudealyrics.html
I sang this in high school choir in the year 2000. one of my favourites for sure. such a great song I don't know if spirituals are frowned on these days in secular schools now or not but it's a shame such great songs are being scrapped for content.
i’m singing this song tonight for a choir concert, and i love the parts so much. i’m going the alto part and then he “ooh” for the tenor/bass part. it’s so beautiful and i love it
the harmonies between all the sections during the chorus and the lighthearted music being played by the piano and the background singing by the counterparts and the way the chorus is being impacted ugh it just makes the song soooo much more beautiful
We sang this in my 7th drade chorus, honestly, we did alright, but we were taught to say "off-en" not "off-ten" we weren't supposed to pronounce the "T" in it.
It's called prosody. "Prosody" says, basically, "sing it like you'd say it." If there's any sort of (aural) speed bump, and that speed bump gets in the way of the music, then it needs attention. The thing is, though, every director has their own interpretation. So it ends up being sort of a moving target, or a target defined by all possible opinions. There's no _right_ way. _You can please some of the people some of the time._
The “T” in often is silent whether you are speaking or singing the word. Very few people educate themselves enough to know that that is true. So the correct pronunciation of often is “offen”.
I watched the girl I wanted to marry sing this at music camp when I was in high school. This brought back some wonderful memories. Moving song and a great performance. No, she didn't marry me.
an amazing song. personal favorite of my current choir songs. my only problem was, I was trying to hear the Tenor's part and an alto voice kept drowning parts of it out.
www.allthelyrics.com/lyrics/feldman_jack/river_in_judea-lyrics-906906.html#ixzz4OgaYTrsP Often times I dream of music, Of the river that freely flows. And it sings a song sweeter than honey, One everybody knows. Late at night, I hear it singing. Then again when I wake at dawn. And it fills me up with hope and goodwill, The will to go on, Go on. (Chorus) There is a river in Judea That I heard of long ago. And it's a singing, ringing river That my soul cries out To know. I believe it keeps on trav'lin' But it rests on the Sabbath day. And the time when it pauses in stillness, I almost hear it pray. When I'm weary and downhearted, How I long for the song it sings, For the calm within its gentle blue, The peace that it brings, it brings. (Chorus) There is a river in Judea That I heard of long ago. And it's a singing, ringing river That my soul cries out, To know. May the time not be too distant When we meet by the river (meet by the) shore. 'Til then dream of that wonderful day As we sing once more, once more: (Chorus) There is a river in Judea (hallelu) That I heard of long ago (hallelu), It's a singing, ringing river That my soul cries out (my soul cries out) To the river in Judea.
Actually, Arec Cera, there is a reason why he was not singing. I was at this particular concert, as a guest conductor for a piece that I composed. I took him aside and asked if I could speak with him on this particular matter. He was performing in this concert, just after burying his beloved father the week before. He was still going through the grieving process, and he performed as much as he could without crying. I was also told that this particular song was performed at his father's memorial service.
this is bs really I did this song from 4th-6th grade it was broken down too the 1st verse is the guys part, then the 2nd one was the girls part, then we all start singing at the same time for the 3rd verse
