Author: william

Scenes from Childhood (Selections) R. Schumann (1810-1856) Of Foreign Lands and Places Knight of the Rocking Horse Dreaming Child Falling Asleep The Poet Speaks Chorale Prelude on "The Lord's My Shepherd I'll Not Want" Andante Clara Schumann (1819-1896) Robert Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He…

La Misterieuse (The Mysterious One) La Muse Victorieuse (The Victorious Muse) F. Couperin (1668–1733) Chorale Prelude on "The Church's One Foundation" Psalm 116 W. Zeitler Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876) was an English organist and composer who wrote the hymn tune 'Aurelia' (to which we sing "The Church's One Foundation"). Born in London, he was the…

The Bible says remarkably little about Heaven, but the tacit assumption is that we’ll all get nice shiny new 25-year-old bodies, with no receding hairlines or sagging anything. But the Gospel appointed for today – the well-known story of ‘Doubting Thomas’ – puts a different spin on that assumption. Because the Resurrected Christ still has…

“The King of Love My Shepherd Is” [PIANO, lack of composer is deliberate] “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” Improvisation In a Christian adult-ed class once upon a time in a galaxy far away, we were asked to write a paraphrase of Psalm 23. Below you’ll find mine. By the way, in my humble opinion…

Jean-Baptiste Faure (1830-1914) was no relation to the better known composer Gabriel Fauré (notice that J.-B. Faure’s name does not have an accent over the last ‘e’ so it is pronounced "for", whereas G. Fauré’s has the accent and is therefore pronounced "forAY"). Faure was born into a house of modest means at best, and when…

Sonata in Am (K310) W. Mozart (1756-1791) Chorale Prelude on 'Breathe on me Breath of God" W. Zeitler Toccata in Dm 'Dorian' J.S.Bach (1685-1750) It’s hard to translate the value of money in centuries past to its equivalent in modern times. But by all appearances, Mozart did O.K. financially overall. To be sure it was…

Adagio for Strings Samuel Barber (1910 –1981) Fantasia Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) Samuel Barber (1910 –1981) is one of America’s most distinguished composers – he won the Pulitzer Prize in music twice. Very much the child prodigy, Barber was admitted to the Curtis School of Music (almost as famous as Julliard) at 14. He wrote classical…

"A Leaf in the Wind" W. Zeitler Chorale Prelude on "If Thou But Suffer God to Guide Thee" W. Zeitler Chaconne D. Buxtehude (1638-1707) In last week’s Music Box I wrote about Paradox – the idea that many (most?) Important Truths are paradoxical in nature. "The last will be first", "lose your life to save…

Fugue in Em (BWV 548) "The Wedge" J.S.Bach (1685-1750) Chorale Prelude on "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" W. Zeitler Gavotte in Gm G.F.Handel (1685-1757) One of the bullet points of Luther’s theology was that many Important Truths are paradoxical in nature. "Three, yet one", "fully God and fully human", "the last will be first", "lose…

'Andante' from Organ Concerto Op.6 No.4 G.Handel (1685-1759) — organ One Sunday, having attended church in the country, Handel asked the organist to permit him to 'play the people out' (the postlude), and the organist agreed. Handel began to play in such a masterly fashion, however, that he attracted the attention of the whole congregation,…