Good morning Choralist members -

Finally - here is the compilation of thank you song possibilities.
We ended up using something from our repertoire Ssimple Gifts) - just
ran out of time to line up something else - but there are some
wonderful suggestions on the list. Thanks to:
Guy A. Lynch
Sharon Igoe
Nicholas Petersen
Eduardo Azzati
John W. Leeger
Larry Brown
Ray Rhoads
Jonathan Veenker
Steven A. Russell
Kirin Nielsen
Monica Maddern
Joan Yakkey
Lisa M. Fredenburgh
Fred Ford
Greg Lapp
Paul Mark

The original post was:
"I'm a member of a small choir traveling to Italy this summer. We
eat a number of meals together, and I'm wondering if any of you have
experience with using a "thank you song" - something to be sung to
the staff, etc. after a meal, a great tour, or a particular
kindness. Any advice (even to please don't do this-what a terrible
idea!) from your collective experience would be welcomed. Thanks in
advance."

And the advice was:

How 'bout
"For health and strength and daily food we give our thanks to Thee"
It's a canon in even quarter notes:
sol | sol sol sol fa | mi mi mi re | do do do ti | do.

My choir likes "Thank You Very Much" from the musical "Scrooge."
It's in parts, but can be sung in unison and acapella as the
situation warrants. It's a lilting, fun piece to singAnd the
main idea is "thank you very much, that's the nicest thing that
anyone's ever done for me." We often sing at restaurants-usually,
the restaurateur enjoys it and so does the clientele. Good luck on
your tour!

When I was in my college's Touring Choir, we sang a thank you song
when hosts provided meals for us as a choir. Grove City College is a
religious school, so the thank you song says at the end "May God's
grace and love be with you in all you do." I assume that you teach at
a public school and would have to deal with all sorts of church state
issues if you used that line, but with a little creativity you can
change the words. Get in touch with Dr. Douglas Browne at Grove City
College for a copy of the song. I'll include his e-mail at the end. I
hope that this helps!

Nothing comes to mind, sorry, but since you are also polling on the
quality of the idea I want to say that I think it's a great
one...thoughtful and a great way to teach young people that we should
always be thankful and appreciative for what others do for us and for
the abundance we have received. Good luck finding the right song.
It would be great if you find something with a simple Italian text as
well.

I don't know if it's still available, but in the past I've done Vito
Mason's "Burst of Applause" on occasion. It's a fun piece where the
choir applauds the audience. Directions for the choir include
clapping with the fingertips, whole hand, dynamics, etc. I have the
publisher as Presser with stock number B-201. Have fun.

There is an old Jester Hairston song which would work-problem is, I'm
not sure of the title-"good-bye song" or 'Thank You Song" Or?

When I have gone on tour before. We sang thank yous if we were all
together for a dinner before a concert or something. More often than
not, we sang one of our acapella numbers from our program although we
would also sing anything anywhere, in a group of 60 we once all stood
at and sang the hallelujah chorus out of the blue. But as for a
specific number for thanks, I couldn't say.

The Bethel Choir used to sing an old Swedish song "Tak fur matten"
(sp?). We would sing it in Swedish and then in English. The English
went something like,
"Thanks for the food, thanks for the food, it was very good.
( "B" section- da da da da daaaa da da da da da da daaaaa da da)
Thanks for the food, thanks for the food, it was very good."
I can remember the tune but not the words. If you can't find anything
I could sketch it out quick and track down an alumnus who knows it.

When I was in high school we sang a thank you song in such
situations. It was written by our director. When I was in college at
Concordia, in Moorhead, MN, we sang a thank you song on tour. It was
written by two choir members way back in the 60s. Larry Flemming was
one of the writers. So, get out Finale and have a blast! :)

I think this is a very nice idea. When in similar situations we have
just sung one or two short unaccompanied pieces from our tour
program. Have a great time in Italywish I were going!

I have an old carol-like arrangement of "Now We Thank You One and
All" which is a simple round with a four part chorus ending. My
Madrigals always end their gigs with this number.

I live in Italy, you can do anything you want here, absolutely
anything, sing a song, do a dance, maybe you should ask the
proprietors first, out of respect; as long as you show courtesy and
try to say a few words in Italian to the local people, Italians are
very amiable. The "ugly american" (if you understand what this is -
superiority etc?) is definitely NOT the case at this very moment - -
a low profile, a big smile and good international relations would be
very welcome to the Italians, ALL of whom are thankful to the WWII
generation armies that liberated italy but are now ALL against the
usa war in Iraq and against the actual usa politics. A lot are
against the Italian politics too! This is the truth, so just keep any
adolescents you might be traveling with in good order, no shouting,
no getting drunk and rowdy etc. I see so much of this sort of tourism
on the part of USA school trips that I get so ashamed of my fellow
countrymen.

I am a Luther College grad, and we had a great Thank you song, Danke
Danke Dir Gott. Can't remember all the words, and I have been
looking for years through my papers to find it for my choir to sing
at just such an occasion. Alas, I have lost the paper. You could
find a round from the Renaissance or Medieval (there are books and
books of them) and write your own lyric? Just an idea.

The song itself is the thank you pick something from your
repertoire that is easy to sing and sincere. We used to offer "My
Lord What a Morning" on a couple of European trips.

This is a round I wrote and have used with my school choirs. It works
very well for such things. There is no charge for this piece. Just
check out my website and order something in the future if you like
it. www.brosscum.com

Sorry to take so long to reply, but "A ROUND OF THANKS" by John Biggs
would fit your
request to a "T"! It's for either two soloists (man and woman) or two
part chorus of men and women. Easy ranges so anyone can sing it.
Catchy, brief, easily memorized, and to the point. A big hit at
receptions, or before saying good bye.


Best wishes,
Mike Ellingsen
Vocal Music and Drama
Blue Earth Area High School
1125 Highway 169 North
Blue Earth MN 56013-2307
(507) 526-3201 x506
mellingsen(a)blueearth.k12.mn.us