(MUSIC)
GK: It's spring in New York, a beautiful time of year, and one lovely aspect of spring, is the invasion of choirs from all over to sing in concert at Carnegie Hall. They rent the hall and come and sing, the National Youth Choir on Sunday, National Choral Festival on Monday, the Masterworks Festival Choruses, the Manhattan Chorale,the New York Choral Society, the Crane Chorus, the Choral Convergence, the Cecilia Chorus, National Children's Chorus, and more coming in May, which means that in midtown Manhattan and around Columbus Circle, you're often in the midst of singers, and you don't know it, until one day you're on an elevator with fifteen other people (SFX) and it stops between floors and sits there and there are strange grinding noises (SFX) and then a woman steps forward.
CHRISTINE D: HEY! HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE WANT TO SING A ROUND?
SHE SINGS, AND IS JOINED BY OTHERS IN A ROUND.
Here in New York, though strangers we may be
Still we raise our voices in sweet harmony.
Though now and then, we have to stop and wait,
Nonetheless we know that we will elevate.
CD: COME ON EVERYBODY, SING!
If we all sing and try to harmonize,
The power of our singing it will help us rise.
So let us raise our voices in sweet harmony
And just wait and see how happy we will be.
(BRIDGE)
GK: In New York, a large percentage of people do not attend church, and so they're not used to being in the midst of singing, unless they go to Irish pubs after midnight, so it can make them a little bit uneasy. You're on a plane on its final approach to LaGuardia and (JET INTERIOR, CREAKING, BUMPING) the approach is rough and the plane is very still and then ----
ALL:
----- Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.
If our pilot fails us suddenly,
O Lord, take charge, it's an emergency. (JET LANDS)
Amen. (BRIDGE)
GK: It happens a lot on the Broadway local, the No. 1 train, that stops at 59th Street, a couple blocks from Carnegie Hall. (SFX. BRAKES, DOOR OPEN.) and you step into the crowded car packed with people----- Excuse me, sorry, pardon me----- (SFX. UNINTELLIGIBLE ANNCMENT, DOORS CLOSE. RUMBLE) and you realize you're with choir singers because they have identical cologne. You stand among them and feel the warmth of humanity. A sense of brotherhood.
(GETTING MARRIED IN THE MORNING)
ALL:
We're from the state of Minnesota.
Known for its Ten Thousand Lakes,
Where Old Man River
Starts as a sliver,
And the snow doesn't melt til May.
Please don't confuse us with Wisconsin,
That would be terribly dumb.
We're more progressive
And there are less of
Cheese curds where we come from.
CD: It's very funny. Ha ha ha ha.
Some people think we resemble Iowa.
ALL: Hear of A Prairie Home Companion.
GK: Yes, I have, once or twice.
VOICE 1: He is a liar.
VOICE 2: Pants are on fire.
VOICE 3: Our state is rather nice.
CD: We're not all ignorant Norwegians,
Some are Italians or Danes.
VOICE 1: And just like this city
VOICE 2: There's electricity
And sewer lines and water mains.
CD: But if you listen to that show,
You'd think that it was fifty years ago. (THEY HUM INTO BRIDGE)
GK: And when the train stops between stations and it sits there. And sits. And eventually the conductor makes an announcement (UNINTELLIGIBLE P.A.) and everyone is feeling a little jittery. During April, choral month in New York, you may hear humming around you and feel the fellowship of a choir.
ALL:
When you sing in a choir
You're among your friends
You can feel them all around
Just sing on pitch
Make your voices blend
To produce a good choral sound.
Don't bellow or screech
Don't rumble and roar
And don't glance at your cellphone
And though you feel a little bit odd
You will not be alone
You never sing alone
GK: It's a great subway line. You pick up some singers at Columbus Circle and then Juilliard at 66th and Columbia at 116th and Union Theological Seminary and Manhattan School of Music at 125th ---- and by then, you've got a choir in your car. All they need is a little encouragement.
My country tis of thee
Sweet land of harmony,
Of thee I sing.
And we feel unified
On every train we ride
Up and down the Old West Side
Let music ring.