Howard Don Small - Stories and Reminiscences II
July 18, 2007
from Susan Barksdale
“How can I keep from singing?”
NOTE: I wrote this article for Soundings, the newspaper for the Diocese of
Minnesota, on the occasion of Don Small's retirement from St. Mark's
Cathedral in 1998. The tenses are different now, etc, but it still holds true.
Here goes:
Worship is many things to many people, but for many the making of music
for the glory of God is not a part of our worship, but it IS our worship. For the
past 27 years, Howard Don Small has been a pastor for worshipping
musicians at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark and around the diocese.
Don has been mentor and friend to scores of church musicians. Those he
has taught and helped now serve on organ benches in churches and
cathedrals throughout the country. He has been unselfish in giving young
musicians the chance to try their wings.
Although Don and I Came to Minnesota in the same year, our paths did not
cross until a few years later, when I walked into St. Mark’s on a Sunday
morning in the spring, blithely unaware of the ministry that was in store for
me for the next 20-plus years.
And what a ministry it has been! We have toiled, laughed, cried, prayed,
argued a bit, and offered up our best to honor our Creator. I can no longer
imagine sitting anyplace in church other than next to the console, passing
hymnals, turning pages, and, above all, singing to the glory of God — in fact,
I don’t think I should have any idea of what to do if I found myself in a
“regular” pew.
If Don Small has been a mentor, then Emma Small has been a mother,
sister, counselor — you name it! Teacher and coach to countless singers
(even putting up with me for a wonderful but all too short a time), she has
loved us, nurtured us, encouraged us, interceded for us, and somehow
managed to cajole out of us that extra little bit of vocal strength that we didn’t
know we had.
It was once said that the pews at St. Mark’s are full of people who have
“sought music and found God.” And it is true. Almost every year the line of
those being confirmed or received includes choir members or other
musicians. I joined that that line in 1979 and have never regretted it.
Evangelism can take many forms. What the Smalls have done at St. Mark’s
is outreach of the most gracious and generous kind, a true “giving up of
themselves to God’s service.”
I am proud to have served and sung with Don and Emma, and honored
beyond measure to have called them friends.
You can read Susan's article in its entirety on The Episcopal Diocese of
Minnesota's web site - go there by clicking here.
from Susan Barksdale
“How can I keep from singing?”
NOTE: I wrote this article for Soundings, the newspaper for the Diocese of
Minnesota, on the occasion of Don Small's retirement from St. Mark's
Cathedral in 1998. The tenses are different now, etc, but it still holds true.
Here goes:
Worship is many things to many people, but for many the making of music
for the glory of God is not a part of our worship, but it IS our worship. For the
past 27 years, Howard Don Small has been a pastor for worshipping
musicians at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark and around the diocese.
Don has been mentor and friend to scores of church musicians. Those he
has taught and helped now serve on organ benches in churches and
cathedrals throughout the country. He has been unselfish in giving young
musicians the chance to try their wings.
Although Don and I Came to Minnesota in the same year, our paths did not
cross until a few years later, when I walked into St. Mark’s on a Sunday
morning in the spring, blithely unaware of the ministry that was in store for
me for the next 20-plus years.
And what a ministry it has been! We have toiled, laughed, cried, prayed,
argued a bit, and offered up our best to honor our Creator. I can no longer
imagine sitting anyplace in church other than next to the console, passing
hymnals, turning pages, and, above all, singing to the glory of God — in fact,
I don’t think I should have any idea of what to do if I found myself in a
“regular” pew.
If Don Small has been a mentor, then Emma Small has been a mother,
sister, counselor — you name it! Teacher and coach to countless singers
(even putting up with me for a wonderful but all too short a time), she has
loved us, nurtured us, encouraged us, interceded for us, and somehow
managed to cajole out of us that extra little bit of vocal strength that we didn’t
know we had.
It was once said that the pews at St. Mark’s are full of people who have
“sought music and found God.” And it is true. Almost every year the line of
those being confirmed or received includes choir members or other
musicians. I joined that that line in 1979 and have never regretted it.
Evangelism can take many forms. What the Smalls have done at St. Mark’s
is outreach of the most gracious and generous kind, a true “giving up of
themselves to God’s service.”
I am proud to have served and sung with Don and Emma, and honored
beyond measure to have called them friends.
You can read Susan's article in its entirety on The Episcopal Diocese of
Minnesota's web site - go there by clicking here.
July 18, 2007
from Oliver Nicholson
He was a good and kind man, the quiet centre of a most remarkable group.
I am grateful for his unfailingly high standards and his natural authority. Also
for so much music I will never forget, especially the Monteverdi Vespers and
the Howells Hymnus Paradisus and the W.F. Allbright / Christopher Smart:
Determined Dared and Done, with all those deans in the audience.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory. In Paradisum deducant
angeli.......
from Oliver Nicholson
He was a good and kind man, the quiet centre of a most remarkable group.
I am grateful for his unfailingly high standards and his natural authority. Also
for so much music I will never forget, especially the Monteverdi Vespers and
the Howells Hymnus Paradisus and the W.F. Allbright / Christopher Smart:
Determined Dared and Done, with all those deans in the audience.
May he rest in peace and rise in glory. In Paradisum deducant
angeli.......
July 18, 2007
from C. J. Liu
We have lost our battle to keep Don on earth yet a little longer. And the
loneliness after his departure will be with us.
Yet he is triumphant. He had given so many of us memories of harmonious
sound, moments of the sweetest silence, and of singing a joyful song. We
will not forget his call and his patience for us to follow.
Now he is in a Kingdom forever green, where a host of lotus welcomes him
with melodious smiles., a new arrival in the Kingdom which he had taught
so many to sing praises of its glory.
The space he left empty will not be filled, yet what he had led us to fill the air
with gladness resounding will last long, very long.
from C. J. Liu
We have lost our battle to keep Don on earth yet a little longer. And the
loneliness after his departure will be with us.
Yet he is triumphant. He had given so many of us memories of harmonious
sound, moments of the sweetest silence, and of singing a joyful song. We
will not forget his call and his patience for us to follow.
Now he is in a Kingdom forever green, where a host of lotus welcomes him
with melodious smiles., a new arrival in the Kingdom which he had taught
so many to sing praises of its glory.
The space he left empty will not be filled, yet what he had led us to fill the air
with gladness resounding will last long, very long.
July 19, 2007
from John Wall
I learned so much from Don about choir work and a lot of repertory. I was
touched when Don came to sing "When the Christ Child Came" Clokey with
my choir in my first music position at Good Samaritan United Methodist
Church in Edina. Don was my organ teacher for a while. This summer at St.
John's University, I mentioned to Kim Kasling who had just played the Alain
"Litanies" that Don Small had taught me the piece.
As we prepare to once again have the America Guild of Organists'
Convention in the Cities, Don has been in my thoughts. I can't help but recall
that splendid 1980 convention so well organized that it even made a profit
that enabled us to grow as a local chapter thanks to Don's level headed
leadership. Both you and Don and your many musical gifts have deeply
enriched our musical life in the Twin Cities and especially the Episcopal
Church. I am glad you chose to come and a spend a good part of you
lifetime with us!
from John Wall
I learned so much from Don about choir work and a lot of repertory. I was
touched when Don came to sing "When the Christ Child Came" Clokey with
my choir in my first music position at Good Samaritan United Methodist
Church in Edina. Don was my organ teacher for a while. This summer at St.
John's University, I mentioned to Kim Kasling who had just played the Alain
"Litanies" that Don Small had taught me the piece.
As we prepare to once again have the America Guild of Organists'
Convention in the Cities, Don has been in my thoughts. I can't help but recall
that splendid 1980 convention so well organized that it even made a profit
that enabled us to grow as a local chapter thanks to Don's level headed
leadership. Both you and Don and your many musical gifts have deeply
enriched our musical life in the Twin Cities and especially the Episcopal
Church. I am glad you chose to come and a spend a good part of you
lifetime with us!
July 19, 2007
from Ursula Warth
My heartfelt thoughts are with you, dear Emma. Being in the choir at the
hardest time in my life kept me afloat. The warmth from you both was
infectious and deeply appreciated.
from Ursula Warth
My heartfelt thoughts are with you, dear Emma. Being in the choir at the
hardest time in my life kept me afloat. The warmth from you both was
infectious and deeply appreciated.
July 20, 2007
from J Michael Compton
On an autumn afternoon in 1982, I was hurrying down LaSalle Avenue on my
way to work at Dayton’s, when I realized that Howard Don Small was walking
just ahead of me. As I overtook him, I greeted him and introduced myself. I
told him that I sang in The Gregorian Singers, whereupon he asked where I
was on Sunday mornings. He invited me to sing (without audition!) in the
Cathedral Choir, and suggested that I join following All Saints’ Sunday. He
said I would enjoy the fellowship and he was correct; at my first rehearsal I
was warmly welcomed into the first bass section. Don introduced me by
saying that I had been singing in the “Evening Choir” and now would be
singing in the “Morning Choir” at St. Mark’s.
Singing in the Cathedral Choir was one of the happiest and most thrilling
experiences of my life. Shortly after joining, I was privileged to take part in
the recording sessions for the LP. One of my favorite pieces on that LP is
Healey Willan’s “Sing alleluia forth in duteous praise.” During one of the
“takes” of this piece, Don forgot to press a piston and we had to start all
over. As irritated as he was with himself, it seemed to me simply another
opportunity to sing it again.
Then came the wonderful Advent season, with Lessons and Carols, and
Christmas Eve. We had no snow that December, and while rehearsing “In
the bleak midwinter” Don said we should be singing “brown on brown.” Don
asked me and another singer to sing in the alto section for the Christmas
Eve anthem, a Tudor piece (by Weelkes?). The seating arrangement that
night called for tenors and basses on the Dean’s side of the chancel, and
sopranos and altos opposite. I asked Don for permission to sit with the
altos for the entire service and, as I took my place, Rosemary Barenz said
“Are you going to be a LADY tonight?”
In January, I began organ studies with Don. I had played for services in
several churches, but was self-taught and lacked for technique. At my first
lesson, he asked me to play a hymn and I chose “Lord, who throughout
these forty days.” Don’s reaction, always the diplomat, said “well, surely,
anybody could sing to that but . . .” In the coming months, Don taught me
pedal technique and gave me confidence to play without watching my feet all
the time. I had the great privilege to practice the organ at St. Mark’s every
morning, just after Morning Prayer.
In October of 1983, Don recommended me for a position in a parish which I
still hold, nearly twenty-four years later. Though I had been at St. Mark’s only
a short time, Don’s leadership, his musicianship and his churchmanship
had a powerful effect on me. If music at my parish church is anything at all, it’
s largely due to the magnificent example set before me by the Canon
Musician Emeritus.
An ENDLESS ALLELUIA to you, Don!
from J Michael Compton
On an autumn afternoon in 1982, I was hurrying down LaSalle Avenue on my
way to work at Dayton’s, when I realized that Howard Don Small was walking
just ahead of me. As I overtook him, I greeted him and introduced myself. I
told him that I sang in The Gregorian Singers, whereupon he asked where I
was on Sunday mornings. He invited me to sing (without audition!) in the
Cathedral Choir, and suggested that I join following All Saints’ Sunday. He
said I would enjoy the fellowship and he was correct; at my first rehearsal I
was warmly welcomed into the first bass section. Don introduced me by
saying that I had been singing in the “Evening Choir” and now would be
singing in the “Morning Choir” at St. Mark’s.
Singing in the Cathedral Choir was one of the happiest and most thrilling
experiences of my life. Shortly after joining, I was privileged to take part in
the recording sessions for the LP. One of my favorite pieces on that LP is
Healey Willan’s “Sing alleluia forth in duteous praise.” During one of the
“takes” of this piece, Don forgot to press a piston and we had to start all
over. As irritated as he was with himself, it seemed to me simply another
opportunity to sing it again.
Then came the wonderful Advent season, with Lessons and Carols, and
Christmas Eve. We had no snow that December, and while rehearsing “In
the bleak midwinter” Don said we should be singing “brown on brown.” Don
asked me and another singer to sing in the alto section for the Christmas
Eve anthem, a Tudor piece (by Weelkes?). The seating arrangement that
night called for tenors and basses on the Dean’s side of the chancel, and
sopranos and altos opposite. I asked Don for permission to sit with the
altos for the entire service and, as I took my place, Rosemary Barenz said
“Are you going to be a LADY tonight?”
In January, I began organ studies with Don. I had played for services in
several churches, but was self-taught and lacked for technique. At my first
lesson, he asked me to play a hymn and I chose “Lord, who throughout
these forty days.” Don’s reaction, always the diplomat, said “well, surely,
anybody could sing to that but . . .” In the coming months, Don taught me
pedal technique and gave me confidence to play without watching my feet all
the time. I had the great privilege to practice the organ at St. Mark’s every
morning, just after Morning Prayer.
In October of 1983, Don recommended me for a position in a parish which I
still hold, nearly twenty-four years later. Though I had been at St. Mark’s only
a short time, Don’s leadership, his musicianship and his churchmanship
had a powerful effect on me. If music at my parish church is anything at all, it’
s largely due to the magnificent example set before me by the Canon
Musician Emeritus.
An ENDLESS ALLELUIA to you, Don!
July 20, 2007
from J. Michael Barone
Host of National Public Radio’s Pipe Dreams, Barone sent this message on
learning of Don Small’s passing:
He was a patrician musician and a significant contributor of the highest
quality to our community musical culture. Perhaps his memorial could be
the words of Christopher Smart in the last hymn from the Bill Albright cantata
[A Song to David] that Don commissioned and premiered:
Thou at stupendous truth believ’d;
And now the matchless deed’s achiev’d,
DETERMIN’D, DAR’D, AND DONE.
I'd say ‘R.I.P., Don!’ but I wonder whether he might not prefer to be in the
midst of a heavenly joyful noise....
from J. Michael Barone
Host of National Public Radio’s Pipe Dreams, Barone sent this message on
learning of Don Small’s passing:
He was a patrician musician and a significant contributor of the highest
quality to our community musical culture. Perhaps his memorial could be
the words of Christopher Smart in the last hymn from the Bill Albright cantata
[A Song to David] that Don commissioned and premiered:
Thou at stupendous truth believ’d;
And now the matchless deed’s achiev’d,
DETERMIN’D, DAR’D, AND DONE.
I'd say ‘R.I.P., Don!’ but I wonder whether he might not prefer to be in the
midst of a heavenly joyful noise....
July 23, 2007
from Jane Eschweiler
How much music would we have learned if not for Don Small and his
beloved Emma?
When they first joined us they decided to help one section with coaching;
and we, the altos, won the prize of several Saturday morning sessions with
Emma, There we learned of breath control and all that "other stuff" that is
important to singers. That was one of the most wonderful gifts of my life.
I was enabled to sing in a growing healthy choir community that, under
Don's leadership, seemed to be able to conquer any music set before it.
What a tremendous education we were afforded. We not only learned
masterworks, but liturgy.
Thank you Don Small for all of your years of teaching and playing and
inspiration. Our lives on earth were able to touch a bit of heaven.
Deo gracias
from Jane Eschweiler
How much music would we have learned if not for Don Small and his
beloved Emma?
When they first joined us they decided to help one section with coaching;
and we, the altos, won the prize of several Saturday morning sessions with
Emma, There we learned of breath control and all that "other stuff" that is
important to singers. That was one of the most wonderful gifts of my life.
I was enabled to sing in a growing healthy choir community that, under
Don's leadership, seemed to be able to conquer any music set before it.
What a tremendous education we were afforded. We not only learned
masterworks, but liturgy.
Thank you Don Small for all of your years of teaching and playing and
inspiration. Our lives on earth were able to touch a bit of heaven.
Deo gracias
July 23, 2007
from John C. Legeros
Many thanks for honoring Don Small through this website. I'm sorry I cannot
attend the memorial service, but I moved here to Winston Salem NC, in Aug.
'05. My sympathies to Emma and Margaret, and to all of Don's friends.
from John C. Legeros
Many thanks for honoring Don Small through this website. I'm sorry I cannot
attend the memorial service, but I moved here to Winston Salem NC, in Aug.
'05. My sympathies to Emma and Margaret, and to all of Don's friends.
July 24, 2007
from Lisa Roetzel
I was very much saddened to hear about Don's passing. He was a great
man, and I will never forget him.
I will never forget meeting Don Small for the first time. I had visited St. Mark's
and decided to audition for the choir. Following a superb organ postlude that
shook the rafters, I screwed up my courage to approach him, and ask him
for an audition. To my utter horror, he said he would like to audition me right
then, and led me to a room with a piano, where I managed swallow hard,
then sing, and (miracle of miracles) made it into the choir.
What followed were several years of utter choral bliss under his able
direction. I have sung in many choirs, but have rarely encountered
musicianship like Don's. As a conductor, Don had beautiful hands...his
directions were always clear and easy to follow. He could be the kindest and
funniest of directors, once admonishing us sopranos to think like a boy's
choir, not like valkyries-- and he didn't mean august Norse goddesses! With
great generosity, Don and Emma formed the center of a choral family that
embraced a diverse group of singers. What a privilege it was to be part of
that high-spirited fellowship that welcomed one and all.
But most importantly Don chose a wide variety of music that brought joy and
worship to all of us. I will never forget singing the Rutter Gloria with the choir,
nor the beauty of plainsong, chant, and other traditional forms. I want to
share a quotation from Robert Shaw, written to his chorus in 1972. He's
referring to a performance of Beethoven's 9th, which we never sang at St.
Mark's-- at least when I was there-- but I think still applies. As others have
also said, Don had a gift for making the word flesh through music, or as
Shaw writes:
"I am amazed again and again at how the mastery of successive minute
technical details releases floods of spiritual understanding. This must be
particularly true of Beethoven, and of this work which demands such
daemonic dexterity. In every vocal convulsion some truth is struggling to be
born. In every diversion or avoidance of the 'natural' (which downgrades so
quickly from the 'familiar' to the 'easy' to the 'ho-hum') the supernatural finds
a voice. At every instance wherein we achieve this exact balance, or that
unequivocal intonation, or yea rhythmic meshing, or an absolute precision of
enunciation, or an unassailable propriety of vocal color the miracle
happens---the Flesh is made Word, and dwells among us. We put in
muscle and blood and brains and breath---and out comes a holy spirit."
Choral singing can be the physical manifestation of the spiritual,
and Don had a gift for that choral alchemy that transforms the
everyday into something holy.
Thank you Don, for sharing your extraordinary talent with us. We will miss
you greatly. God bless you, and rest in peace.
from Lisa Roetzel
I was very much saddened to hear about Don's passing. He was a great
man, and I will never forget him.
I will never forget meeting Don Small for the first time. I had visited St. Mark's
and decided to audition for the choir. Following a superb organ postlude that
shook the rafters, I screwed up my courage to approach him, and ask him
for an audition. To my utter horror, he said he would like to audition me right
then, and led me to a room with a piano, where I managed swallow hard,
then sing, and (miracle of miracles) made it into the choir.
What followed were several years of utter choral bliss under his able
direction. I have sung in many choirs, but have rarely encountered
musicianship like Don's. As a conductor, Don had beautiful hands...his
directions were always clear and easy to follow. He could be the kindest and
funniest of directors, once admonishing us sopranos to think like a boy's
choir, not like valkyries-- and he didn't mean august Norse goddesses! With
great generosity, Don and Emma formed the center of a choral family that
embraced a diverse group of singers. What a privilege it was to be part of
that high-spirited fellowship that welcomed one and all.
But most importantly Don chose a wide variety of music that brought joy and
worship to all of us. I will never forget singing the Rutter Gloria with the choir,
nor the beauty of plainsong, chant, and other traditional forms. I want to
share a quotation from Robert Shaw, written to his chorus in 1972. He's
referring to a performance of Beethoven's 9th, which we never sang at St.
Mark's-- at least when I was there-- but I think still applies. As others have
also said, Don had a gift for making the word flesh through music, or as
Shaw writes:
"I am amazed again and again at how the mastery of successive minute
technical details releases floods of spiritual understanding. This must be
particularly true of Beethoven, and of this work which demands such
daemonic dexterity. In every vocal convulsion some truth is struggling to be
born. In every diversion or avoidance of the 'natural' (which downgrades so
quickly from the 'familiar' to the 'easy' to the 'ho-hum') the supernatural finds
a voice. At every instance wherein we achieve this exact balance, or that
unequivocal intonation, or yea rhythmic meshing, or an absolute precision of
enunciation, or an unassailable propriety of vocal color the miracle
happens---the Flesh is made Word, and dwells among us. We put in
muscle and blood and brains and breath---and out comes a holy spirit."
Choral singing can be the physical manifestation of the spiritual,
and Don had a gift for that choral alchemy that transforms the
everyday into something holy.
Thank you Don, for sharing your extraordinary talent with us. We will miss
you greatly. God bless you, and rest in peace.
July 23, 2007
from David Chatfield
The St. Mark's choir under Don was a remarkable group. I'll never forget the
blessing of the household appliances (during one of our retreats) or the
choir parties, nor of course the fine parties at the Small's. I had no idea what
education I was getting in the English choral tradition at the time. I'd never
sung Anglican chant before St. Mark's. So wet behind the ears .... The
center about which all orbited, and without which it would never have
coalesced, was of course Don.
from David Chatfield
The St. Mark's choir under Don was a remarkable group. I'll never forget the
blessing of the household appliances (during one of our retreats) or the
choir parties, nor of course the fine parties at the Small's. I had no idea what
education I was getting in the English choral tradition at the time. I'd never
sung Anglican chant before St. Mark's. So wet behind the ears .... The
center about which all orbited, and without which it would never have
coalesced, was of course Don.
August 2, 2007
from Emma's sister-in-law Dorothy
I am sad to hear of Manong Don's passing. I know he is no longer in pain
and is in a good place.
Here in Hawaii, is Obon Season. This senior class session , I'm taking up
Japanese dance (Bon Dance). Will be joining the Kaneohe Seniors at
Waipahu for Obon. So, tonight I dedicate this Obon to Manong Don. I will
dance my heart out in his memory.
Manong will surely be missed. God Bless and take care.
Love,
Dorothy
(Obon is a memorial festival honors deceased relatives. The purpose is to
keep the memories of the ancestors alive)
note from Emma: "Manong" in my culture is a term of respect for someone
older.
from Emma's sister-in-law Dorothy
I am sad to hear of Manong Don's passing. I know he is no longer in pain
and is in a good place.
Here in Hawaii, is Obon Season. This senior class session , I'm taking up
Japanese dance (Bon Dance). Will be joining the Kaneohe Seniors at
Waipahu for Obon. So, tonight I dedicate this Obon to Manong Don. I will
dance my heart out in his memory.
Manong will surely be missed. God Bless and take care.
Love,
Dorothy
(Obon is a memorial festival honors deceased relatives. The purpose is to
keep the memories of the ancestors alive)
note from Emma: "Manong" in my culture is a term of respect for someone
older.
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