A friend called earlier this evening to pass the word that Martin had died this afternoon. Martin would have been 97 next month. When I joined my church choir 16 years ago, he was already one of the longest-serving members and was often the entire bass section. (Ours is a small group.) Born in the Austro-Hungarian empire, he grew up speaking German, Hungarian and at least one or two other languages. He subsequently acquired enough English to serve as a translator to the US Army after WWII, and later worked for the Supreme Court, translating German.
Whenever we'd sing a hymn that had been translated from German, he'd always oblige me with a verse or two of the original. Physically small, his voice was quite strong until a few years ago. There was one hymn we used to sing for the first Sunday in Advent that had a declamatory introduction. That intro was the only solo Martin would ever sing, but he always made it compelling.
We'll miss him, but I'm sure the basses in the angel choir welcomed him with open arms.
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