Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
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- Habakkuk
- biogardener
- biogardener
- H2O
- biogardener
- H2O
- biogardener
- biogardener
- H2O
- biogardener
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» Habakkuk - Re: What a treat
In response to What a treat posted by biogardener:About a month ago or so. He had several antique instruments which he used in the musical pieces - harpsichord, trumpet, recorder, violin, and a strange trumpet with a long sliding mouthpiece which allowed him to change octaves(or registers, or whatever you call them) without replacing the mouthpiece.
Only God knows what I did with the program, but I was particularly taken by a selection for two violas which he did with the violist in the string quartet. They faced each other and they made sure everyone knew that each was playing his best.
The French Horn player was kinda running the show. He told "Bach" that a recording of his Brandenburg Concertos had been placed in a space capsule and fired off into space so that if in the future little green men ever recovered the capsule, they'd know what kind of music we had on earth - but that some people were opposed to the idea because they reckoned the aliens would figure we were bragging.
The guy is an original. Shortly before he retired, he bought a small farmstead and all by himself made a par 3 golf course(with sand greens) for he and his friends to putt around on. He built a studio by the house with his own hands. He flys his own plane.
We can only thank God for these faithful servants and the gifts He has given them.
-- posted by Habakkuk
» biogardener - Squabbles
I am glad he included the squabble with the French horn player. Bach had plenty of problems with players who wanted to be stars, just like Handel did with his opera prima donnas.-- posted by biogardener
» biogardener - Glorious Funeral
Today I attented a most glorious funeral. Donald Hadfield was one of Winnipeg's best-known music educators in schools and in churches. His All Saints Anglican Boys all male choir (SATB, boys & men only) in the British tradition was the best in the history of Manitoba music. One summer they replaced the most famous all male SATB choir in King's College Chapel in Cambridge.I was fortunate to have been able to sing with Don after he retired from that choir to server in a smaller church. Don was a very private person, but he always had one close friend at a time, and while I knew him, I was that close friend to him, and I treasure the memories. While he was at our church, he burned his lungs when he poured two different chemicals into his plugged kitchen drain. After years of suffering, his death at age 79 was a deliverance.
The funeral chapel was packed with musicians, especially with Don's former choir boys some of whom he had trained from age 4. We all sang harmony for the hymns, except for the first stanza, as is the Anglican tradition. I knew almost everyone present. The minister who conducted the funeral was Lutheran, and he had never heard such glorious booming singing from a congregation. He just stood there with his mouth open.
At the reception he asked me if there were other organists present. There sure were, and they weren't all Anglican either. There were also lots of music teachers present and of course, lots of Anglican priests under whom he had served and who are used to singing the liturgy. The rest of the attendees were all current and former members of some church choir.
It was almost like being in heaven, and I was imagining Don to be playing the organ for us rather than the minister's wife playing the piano. Her piano playing was great, but Don only played the piano for rehearsals. Fortunately, our singing drowned out her playing, so it was easy for me to fill in the organ sounds in my imagination.
I hope that Don gets to know my dad in heaven. They would make a perfect team, Don playing the organ and my dad conducting a male choir.
-- posted by biogardener
» H2O - Re: Glorious Funeral
In response to Glorious Funeral posted by biogardener:Traute, I would offer my condolences but I know from previous posts that you celebrate a fellow believer's death as a celebration of new life in Christ. We will all join together at the great Resurrection Reunion.
I had to pause when you said Don was 79. Wasn't Johnny Carson also 79? I wonder which had a more lasting influence on people? My money is on your friend Don.
John
-- posted by H2O
» biogardener - Bearing his sheaves with him . . .
Well, my friend Don is going to march into heaven bearing his sheaves with him. Their music is going to fill the vaults of heaven as it filled the vaults of Gothic cathedrals in North America and Europe. What is Johhny Carson going to carry in his hands when he faces his judge?You haven't lived until you have heard heavenly music in the exquisite accoustic marvel of a Gothic cathedral. Here are two of my most remarkable memories: I heard the Regensburger Domspatzen, also a boys and men cathedral choir, in their home church, the Regensburger Dom (late Gothic). I also heard the organist practicing in the Freiburger Münster (early Gothic). Both times, I felt as though I was floating in an ocean of pure sound.
You don't want to be listening to a sermon in those buildings unless they have been equipped with a modern sound system. They were created for the language of heaven, music.
-- posted by biogardener
» H2O - Re: Bearing his sheaves with him . . .
In response to Bearing his sheaves with him . . . posted by biogardener:I well remember my freshman year in college when we took a trip to the University of Chicago to tour the Oriental Museum for the Religion-History course. This was the first course I had that taught the Bible in an historical context, i.e., what world events were happening when the Bible events took place. Anyway, we toured the "chapel" (they called it; it looked like a large church) at the U of C. Someone was practicing at the organ there and Professor Franzmann asked if he could play "A Mighty Fortress." Well, this skilled organist pulled out all the stops and I heard the best presentation of "Ein Feste Berg" (or is it "burg?" "Berg" is mountain and "burg" is city, so I would assume that Luther would refer to a mountain as a fort rather than a city) I have ever heard. Yes, church architecture does affect the quality of the spoken and sung Word.
I wonder what the acoustics in heaven will be like? Those clouds could deaden the sound.
John
-- posted by H2O
» biogardener - Ein' feste Burg and the Holy City
In the British tradition, a "chapel" is a large Gothic church associated with a university, and the old American universities have followed suit.You have to look at Luther's life to understand his use of "feste Burg." King David lifted his eyes up to the mountains from whence came his help. Luther got no help from mountains. When he was a target for bounty hunters, he got whisked away in the dead of night and hidden in a Fortress (=Burg, fortified castle, i.e. the Wartburg). The German "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott" is translated quite literally into "A mighty fortress is our God."
Actually, the adjective "fest" comes from the same Indogermanic root as "fortress," and another German word for fortress is "Festung." So literally, "ein feste Burg" means "a fortified fortress."
I wouldn't worry about clouds deadening the sound in the seventh heaven. They only exist in the first heaven, i.e. the atmosphere. The Holy City has a good architect. He should be able to at least match the acoustics of Gothic architects. 
-- posted by biogardener
» biogardener - New Program Produced by Prairie Public TV
Prairie Public TV just today premiered their newest production, "Soulful Sound," featuring the music of the Germans from Russia. The music was taped in North Dakota and Manitoba. They talk a little bit about the differences of music coming from different denominations, because in Russia, each community was settled by adherents of just one denomination.The program will be available to other PBS stations, and I imagine that they might be showing it during a fund-raising campaign. So watch for the title "Soulful Sounds."
-- posted by biogardener
» H2O - Re: New Program Produced by Prairie Public TV
In response to New Program Produced by Prairie Public TV posted by biogardener:Thanks for the "heads up," Traute. Last Sunday I attended a Bach concert in Milwaukee at a church raising funds to repair their ceiling. It was wonderful! They even played "A Lover's COncerto" . Infortunately, even though it was a Lutheran church, no "Coffee Cantata." 
John
-- posted by H2O
» biogardener - Bach Cantatas
I have only heard the Caffee Cantata once when it was performed by the girls' school which I attended. I was in grade 8 at the time and sang in the chorus. One of my friends in grade 10 sang the soprano solo.On May 7, the Anglican church which has a German Lutheran music director is putting on Bach's Ascension Oratorio. I have never sung in it, and I don't even remember hearing it before.
-- posted by biogardener
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