While talking with my son Philip his son Andrew could be heard playing on the piano. It reminded me of a picture we received last week of the boys. One picture showed Andrew helping the youngest, Matthew, practice for his first concert. Could it be that Matthew has learned to read music before learning to play? By the way, Andrew is playing rea
l well.
Not too long along Grandpa received a wonderful gift of a book titled, The Gift of Music, written by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. It is a book of short stories of “Great Composers and Their Influence.” Music Appreciation was one of the courses you had to take in the sixth grade in Brooklyn, New York, where Grandpa grew up. The last day of the year we had to come together in the Assembly room and take a test where you listened to parts of one hundred classical pieces and write from where it was taken. I believe it was a yearly thing when the sixth graders laughed when the lower grade students heard the tune of the William Tell Overture and they blurted out, “the Lone Ranger.” Grandpa may not have learned to play an instrument, but his ears have always enjoyed great music.
Back to the book; two examples of composers who remind us of the great gifts that God has given to men are seen in George Frideric Handel and Franz Joseph Haydn. The authors write of Handel, “He said little of himself in his lifetime. The central fact of his life was his music. He would be happy to know of the joy and pleasure his music, particularly Messiah, gives to so many people” Acknowledging that his gift was from God, this example is given, “When Handel was writing Messiah, which he put down on paper in twenty-four days without once leaving his house, his servant brought him food, which Handel often left untouched. While Handel worked on the ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ his servant found him with tears in his eyes. Handel exclaimed, ‘I did think I did see all haven before me and the great God Himself!’”
Franz Joseph Haydn wrote, “God gave me a cheerful heart, so He will surely forgive me if I serve Him cheerfully.” Haydn “respected God and the order of His creation. He saw beyond the momentary excitement of violently changing the present political, religious, and educational systems without putting into the void a real base—found only in true Christianity. Those who deny the truth of Scripture never find freedom.” One of his best known works is called the Surprise Symphony. “The title comes from the andante movement where there is a surprise chord to wake up the audience. Haydn said that it would make all the women scream. Such jokes came naturally to Haydn because of his inherent good nature.” Two of my favorites are mentioned, The Clock Symphony and La Poule (Chicken), which “received its name from a peculiar cluck in the second theme. The first theme sounds like a rooster chasing a hen, and in the last movement of the fugue, a prize egg is laid. Cheerful and childlike, Haydn wanted to make people smile, to relieve their hardships and troubles.” Haydn also wrote The Creation, “inspired as a result of Haydn hearing a mighty performance of Handel’s Messiah. He was stunned and thrilled with the music and the words and awed at the way it was received by the audience with absolute storms of applause. Haydn told his biographer that while composing The Creation, ‘daily I fell on my knees and asked God for strength.’ The words are taken from John Milton’s writings and from the Bible. One of the sublime moments is the climax of the chorus, ‘And There Was Light,’ with its unforgettable, overwhelming fortissimo.”
Our Creator has given much to his Creation, granting wonderful and beautiful gifts to man, both male and female. Even his glory shines through those who deny him. Accept each gift as special and unique, given that we may glorify him and enjoy him in every area of our lives, forever and ever.
l well.Not too long along Grandpa received a wonderful gift of a book titled, The Gift of Music, written by Jane Stuart Smith and Betty Carlson. It is a book of short stories of “Great Composers and Their Influence.” Music Appreciation was one of the courses you had to take in the sixth grade in Brooklyn, New York, where Grandpa grew up. The last day of the year we had to come together in the Assembly room and take a test where you listened to parts of one hundred classical pieces and write from where it was taken. I believe it was a yearly thing when the sixth graders laughed when the lower grade students heard the tune of the William Tell Overture and they blurted out, “the Lone Ranger.” Grandpa may not have learned to play an instrument, but his ears have always enjoyed great music.
Back to the book; two examples of composers who remind us of the great gifts that God has given to men are seen in George Frideric Handel and Franz Joseph Haydn. The authors write of Handel, “He said little of himself in his lifetime. The central fact of his life was his music. He would be happy to know of the joy and pleasure his music, particularly Messiah, gives to so many people” Acknowledging that his gift was from God, this example is given, “When Handel was writing Messiah, which he put down on paper in twenty-four days without once leaving his house, his servant brought him food, which Handel often left untouched. While Handel worked on the ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ his servant found him with tears in his eyes. Handel exclaimed, ‘I did think I did see all haven before me and the great God Himself!’”
Franz Joseph Haydn wrote, “God gave me a cheerful heart, so He will surely forgive me if I serve Him cheerfully.” Haydn “respected God and the order of His creation. He saw beyond the momentary excitement of violently changing the present political, religious, and educational systems without putting into the void a real base—found only in true Christianity. Those who deny the truth of Scripture never find freedom.” One of his best known works is called the Surprise Symphony. “The title comes from the andante movement where there is a surprise chord to wake up the audience. Haydn said that it would make all the women scream. Such jokes came naturally to Haydn because of his inherent good nature.” Two of my favorites are mentioned, The Clock Symphony and La Poule (Chicken), which “received its name from a peculiar cluck in the second theme. The first theme sounds like a rooster chasing a hen, and in the last movement of the fugue, a prize egg is laid. Cheerful and childlike, Haydn wanted to make people smile, to relieve their hardships and troubles.” Haydn also wrote The Creation, “inspired as a result of Haydn hearing a mighty performance of Handel’s Messiah. He was stunned and thrilled with the music and the words and awed at the way it was received by the audience with absolute storms of applause. Haydn told his biographer that while composing The Creation, ‘daily I fell on my knees and asked God for strength.’ The words are taken from John Milton’s writings and from the Bible. One of the sublime moments is the climax of the chorus, ‘And There Was Light,’ with its unforgettable, overwhelming fortissimo.”
Our Creator has given much to his Creation, granting wonderful and beautiful gifts to man, both male and female. Even his glory shines through those who deny him. Accept each gift as special and unique, given that we may glorify him and enjoy him in every area of our lives, forever and ever.
