Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy Frederic Hand’s ‘A Psalm of Thanksgiving’

In the U.S., Thursday November 23 is Thanksgiving Day, a holiday for most, a time to reflect on the things we are thankful for in life, a time to get together with family and/or friends if possible, perhaps enjoy a special meal, leave our cares behind.

This piece by American composer Frederic Hand was not written for the Thanksgiving holiday per se; rather it was inspired by Psalm 100 from the Old Testament. But certainly the spirit of the day and the piece come from a similar place, so I thought it might a nice, calm interlude in your day, wherever you are, whatever you believe. Hand wrote the piece for guitar and flute (you can purchase the music from Sheet Music Plus and also listen to a recording by Hand and flautist Jayna Nelson (from Hand’s wonderful Odyssey album) here.

The version in this video is a bit different. Tetsuo Isono plays guitar, but instead of flute, we have Masumi Suzuki on chromatic harmonica; an interesting choice! We wish you all peace and love.  —Blair Jackson


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