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January 21, 2006
I recognize that music...
Listening to Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz tonight on the way home, I recognized what sounded like the music to Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. It turns out it wasn't just my imagination--the pianist was Johnny Costa, composer of the theme of that program and also musical director of the same. Interesting how you can pick out themes and styles without even trying and turn out to be right. My husband and I like to play a game of guessing the composer. It's a fun way to listen to music and sharpen your musical senses. My oldest son Benjamin, 3, has a head start on his composers. The other day he heard and recognized a Bach prelude on the radio. We've been working on him!
I'm fascinated with jazz technique. How do they do that? I want to be like that! I missed out on improvisation lessons in my musical training, regrettably. Seems like a pretty important component of musical education, but it didn't fit in my teachers' model. I missed so much! Maybe I'll make a habit of listening to McPartland's program when I'm able so I can develop some of that.
Posted by lhyink at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2006
Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers
From "Morning Hymn"
O glorious Father of the light,
From whose effulgence, calm and bright,
Soon as the hours of night are fled,
The brilliance of the dawn is shed:
Thou art the dark world's truer ray:
No radiance of that lesser day,
That heralds, in the morn begun,
The advent of our darker sun:
But, brighter than its noontide gleam,
Thyself full daylight's fullest beam,
The inmost mansions of our breast
Thou by Thy grace illuminest.
--Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers
Yesterday was the day honoring the quoted hymnwriter, known as the "Athanasius of the West" for his "steadfast confession and powerful defence of the orthodox faith" (Schaff, History of the Christian Church) in the fight against Arianism in the fourth century. Interestingly, especially to me as a musician, he was, according to Jerome, the first hymn writer of the Latin church. He was banished to Phrygia for his stand against the errant Arians and there became familiar with the Arian hymnology. He responded to that by writing his own hymns in defense of Athanasian beliefs. Sadly, many of them have been lost.
Posted by lhyink at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)