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As anyone who has tried meditation can tell you, or has paid attention to their own consciousness, we have an inner dialog that just won’t stop. We just talk talk talk to ourselves inside of our heads. This has its place — talking to ourselves is how we engage in discursive thinking, and talking in…

Near as I can tell, if you ask three people who meditate about their practice, you’ll get four different answers! So here’s a fifth point of view… If ‘prayer’ is ’me talking to God’, am I doing all the talking and not doing any listening? To me that’s where ‘meditation’ comes in – setting aside…

In traditional Judaism you’re not supposed to say the name of God ’YHWH’ because it is too sacred. When they read their Scriptures and come across “The Name” (that is, ’YHWH’), they say ’Adonai’ (’Master’) instead. Indeed, in their Scriptures they print YHWH without the vowel points — there’s no point! In some forms of…

Sarabande & Variations G. Handel (1685-1757) [HARPSICHORD] Recently I discussed meditation in a Music Box. This week I have another thought for you on that topic… As anyone who has tried meditation can tell you, or has paid attention to their own consciousness, we have an inner dialog that just won’t stop. We just talk…

Aria (Op. 51) Flor Peeters (1903-1986) [ORGAN] Improvisation [ORGAN] Flor Peeters, a Belgian, was a significant composer and performer for organ in the 20th century. After stellar organ studies he was appointed assistant organist at Cathedral of St. Rombout in Mechelen (age 20), and became head organist at age 22. His long career was evenly…

"Of Foreign Lands & Places"     R. Schumann (1810-1856) [PIANO] "In Christ There Is No East or West"  Improvisation John Oxenham is one of the pen names for businessman William J. Dunkerly (1852-1941). He trained for his career in business at Victoria University, Manchester, and traveled extensively to Europe, the United States and South America,…

Concerto in C         Prince Johann Ernst of Weimar (1696-1715, arr. J.S.Bach) "God of Grace and God of Glory" Improvisation In 1703 a 17-year-old Bach was ready to make his own way in the world. He already had quite a reputation as an organist, but he needed a ‘temp job’ to feed…

Chaconne in Dm    D. Buxtehude (1637-1707) "In Christ There Is No East or West" Improvisation In traditional Judaism you’re not supposed to say the name of God ’YHWH’ because it is too sacred. When they read their Scriptures and come across "The Name" (that is, ’YHWH’), they say ’Adonai’ (’Master’) instead. Indeed, in their…

Sonata in G for Flute & Harpsichord    G. Telemann (1681-1767) Susan Addington, Flute "Oh God, In A Mysterious Way" Improvisation The German composer, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), belonged to a family that had long been connected with the Lutheran Church. His father was a clergyman, his mother the daughter of a clergyman, and his…

Sonata in Dm D. Scarlatti (1685-1757) “How Firm a Foundation” Improvisation One of the tropes of the 60’s was that a good drug trip depends on “set and setting” — one’s mindset and physical setting. If you think about it, that means goodness in one’s interior world, and goodness in one’s exterior world, which covers…