Category: Uncategorized

Allegretto, Sonata No. 17 L. Beethoven (1770-1827) “Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley” Andante R. Lithgow (1605-1666) In 1802, 32 years old, the inescapable reality of his deafness finally silently crashing in on him (in an era before hearing aids, lip-reading or sign language*), Beethoven wrote a letter to his two brothers: “Oh, you who think…

“A Leaf in the Wind” W. Zeitler “There’s a Longing” Interlude D. Pole (1692-1751) Most questions in Life, the Universe and Everything don’t fall into simple True/False categories. As much as I would have liked all my school exams to be entirely True/False questions, my teachers were too smart for that! But Science claims it…

Prelude in Bb minor, from the Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 J.S. Bach Improvisation on “Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days” Involuntary B. Peppe What we listen for in music has changed substantially down through the ages. During Bach’s day (the Baroque era), what marked a good composer was his capacity for ‘invention’ — that…

Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming J. Brahms (1833–1897) Chorale Prelude on “What Child is This” Allegro Burton (1878-1917) There have been various approaches to Advent/Christmas down through the ages: in our culture we more or less start Christmas on Black Friday (if not much earlier) — a month plus of too many gifts and…

Les Pèlerines (The Pilgrims) F. Couperin (1668–1733) March La Caristade (Almsgiving) Le Remerciement (Thanksgiving) Chorale Prelude on “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” Mein Hoffnung, Trost und Zuversicht (My Hope, Trust and Confidence) J. Cruger (1598-1662) Last week we considered Martin Rinkart (1586–1649) — the Lutheran pastor who wrote the words to “Now Thank We All…

“We Thank Thee Lord”                     S. Karg-Elert (1877-1933) [ORGAN] Hymn Measured in terms of the percentage of the population (military and civilian) that were casualties of the war and its effects (like famine and disease), the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was by far the worst in Western…

Sonata Op. 14 No. 2 L. Beethoven (1770-1827) Chorale Prelude on “Sleepers, Awake!” Fantasia F. Ambrosias (1729-1826) When Beethoven was young and unknown, he happened to meet at the house of Prince Lobkowitz (who would become a long term patron). In the course of conversation with guests there, Beethoven said he would gladly find someone…

“The Eremite’s Desire” W. Zeitler On YouTube Who has trouble coping with happiness? The challenge is what to do with adversity — when difficulty or calamity befalls, or we see an injustice we are called to address. One classic approach was articulated by the Stoics, a philosophic school founded in Athens approximately three centuries before…

Harmony of the Birth of the World – 7 Variations on an Unstated (invisible) Theme W. Zeitler Chorale Prelude on “Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise” Fantasia J. Pachelbel (1653–1706) This coming Wednesday is the Universe’s 6018th birthday — at least according to the famous calculations made by Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656) who determined the first…

Bureaucratic Sonatina E. Satie (1866–1925)  Narrator: Pat Morris [Text] He walks merrily to his office, full of himself. Contentedly he wags his head. He loves a pretty, most elegant lady. He also loves his penholder, his green lustrous cuffs, and his chines cap. He takes long strides; he hurries to the stairs and mounts them…