Author: william

Andante con Espressione    Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847)  Fanny Mendelssohn was the oldest of four children, her younger brother being the famous Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). Fanny received her first piano instruction from her mother, who had been a student of Johann Kirnberger (1721–1783), who was himself a student of J.S. Bach (1685-1750). As a thirteen year old,…

Prelude in C (BWV 547) J.S. Bach (1685-1750) A couple Sundays ago Sandy discussed Jesus’ divinity vs. humanity, how this conundrum was at the top of the agenda at the Council of Nicea in 325 CE, and how they resolved that Jesus was “both fully human and fully divine.” Although that doctrinal question may have been…

Symphony 6, mvt. 1 “Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the countryside”  L. Beethoven (1770-1826) Canticle of the Sun      W. Zeitler “Blue Danube” Waltz Op.314           J. Strauss II (1825–1899) It’s a commonplace in Christian thinking that God reveals Herself in ‘the Book of Scripture’ (the Bible) and…

Richard Rohr, a contemporary Christian writer and teacher, says that the Spiritual Path is a race between 'Enlightenment' and dementia. Too true! And sometimes the music box is a race between my own 'clarity' and the submission deadline! So with your indulgence I'd like to clarify a point I was trying make badly last week……

Sonata No. 4, 1st mvmt.    L.Beethoven (1770-1826) Down through the aeons, various ways of structuring a piece of music have come in and out of fashion. Currently by far the most popular form is verse/chorus, verse/chorus,  rinse and repeat — namely, most every popular song written in the last 100 years. In other ages, other…

Sonata in Am K310     W.A. Mozart (1756-1791) At three o’clock in the afternoon of December 6, 1791, the body of Mozart received the final benediction in the transept chapel on the north side of St. Stephen’s Church in Vienna. A violent storm of snow and rain was raging, and five friends — including Salieri,…

“Moonlight Sonata” 1st mvmt.   L. Beethoven (1770-1826) The “Moonlight Sonata” has become standard fare for beginning piano students (including yours truly) so we’ve all heard it played — um — less than skillfully. I thought you might enjoy hearing it played well. In this piece it never ceases to amaze me how Ludwig uses such simple…

“A Little Harmonic Labyrinth” Bach? Heinichen? Bacon? Fugue on “B A C H” J.S.Bach (1685-1750) Gavotte in Gm G.F.Handel (1685-1757) A new feature here at our church is our labyrinth: in a ‘labyrinth’ you don’t have any choices — there’s only one path, whereas in a ‘maze’ you have choices along the way. Mythology tells…

Passacaglia in Cm (BWV 582) J.S.Bach (1685-1750) ORGAN “The Glory of these Forty Days” (No postlude) There is no question that the scientific method is one of the great cognitive inventions of humanity. But then there’s Scientific Materialism (arguably the dominant ‘civil religion’ of our day), which believes that the Scientific Method is the ONLY…

“The Cuckoo”      L.C. D’Aquin (1694-1772) This Sunday is the last Sunday before Lent. Tuesday is Mardi Gras, which means “Fat Tuesday” in French, so I suppose this Sunday could be “Fat Sunday.” For the occasion I thought something plain-olde fun would be fun — within the bounds of proper-Presbyterianism and the “frozen chosen,”…