Oooh, a thread I can participate in!
So Near, So Dear is definitely one of my favorites. I had one opportunity to go to a Province Day (pre-Formal Petition), and the other girls from my school and I got to sing with the initiated sisters—except for the Chorale, of course—and So Near, So Dear was my favorite song that we got to sing that day. I also really like The Whistle Song—that was another that was sung at the Province Day.
Anyway, when we had our MiT ceremony in April, the ladies from our 'assisting chapter' that were there sang Pan In Canon and The Scale of SAI for us, and then taught us the Chorale.
Now, in a choral setting I'm usually most comfortable as a First Alto, but our group is so weighted with altos that for the sake of balance I'm singing Soprano (2nd if divided further) for divided pieces, but when we were learning it I definitely sang along when just the alto part was being covered.
It was such an emotional feeling to
finally get to sing such a wonderful song after all that time. (Suffice it to say that the Province Day I attended took place some time ago…I still have the program from it, too!
)