I led the singing at a congregation in Kentucky for several years. Each Christmas season, on a Sunday afternoon, I would take a group of teenagers around to sing carols at the area assisted living, and nursing facilities. While people were very appreciative every place we sang, there is one gentleman who stands out in my mind. There is a very nice facility in Owensboro, Kentucky that is dedicated to serving Alzheimer's patients. The first year it opened we didn't know what to expect as we barged into the lobby. It took the very patient staff a few minutes to get the residents to the room where we sang. These people weren't nearly as old as those we had had sung for earlier in the nursing facilities. Most were wearing their street clothes. Some had relatives visiting. Most didn't. Some needed a bit of coaching from the staff in order to understand what was about to happen. A wonderful thing happened as we started singing. People who had moments before looked confused or just vacant, suddenly lit up with a look of recognition in their eyes, and many began to sing along. Several people smiled and swayed as they sang. When we began singing Silent Night, a well-groomed gentleman standing near me joined in . He had a lovely tenor voice. He closed his eyes as he sang and, as the song went on, tears ran down his cheeks. When we were done, he shook my hand and introduced himself by name. His son later came over to me and, with tears in his eyes, sincerely thanked us for coming. He told me that his father had been confused and agitated for days, not able to remember his own, or his family's names. Yet, he was able to remember every word of Silent Night and several Christmas carols! The man said that this was the first real glimpse of his father that he'd had in months. I never cease to be amazed at the power given simple rhyming words when they are united with a fitting melody and harmonies. Anytime anybody wants to go caroling, call me.

Roger,

What a great story! Thanks for sharing.
What was the word you used about the magic of combining words with the right music?

I was talking about "prosody." When applied to music, it's the study of how melody, harmony, chord structure, inflection, the timbre of the voice, pitch, vibrato, and myriad other variables combine to convey the feeling of the words and music.