Music Recently | The Magnificent Calliope

 I have been enjoying this Calliope music recently. Calliope's are such a festive, jolly musical instrument. This music really puts a pep in my step. The gentleman who plays in this video is so talented. He has made several videos of his music. If you could use a little pep in your step, a little sizzle in your stride, a little gaiety in your gait have a listen to this music!

Music Recently | Hurdy Gurdy

I have been obsessing over Hurdy Gurdy music lately. I recently was reading a book where the Hurdy Gurdy was mentioned. I had always thought that the Hurdy Gurdy was a Grinder Organ. You know, the kind worn on a strap by a street performer with a monkey companion. But, no, while a Grinder Organ and a Hurdy Gurdy both have a crank handle to turn, that is where the similarities end. 

I feel as though I have been living under a rock to just be learning accurately about a Hurdy Gurdy at 32 years old. They are fascinating! They sound like several instruments playing together all at once. Here you can hear for yourself:

Lymington Fair 

Swipping Maisie

Sussex Cotillion

Kesteven Processional 

Homage to Hearth

Angels We Have Heard On High

It sounds like a blend of Bag Pipes, Violin, and Reeds, with some kind of percussion. 

The way they work is by several strings riding up against the wheel that turns by the crank. The wheel is like a round violin bow. There is a box with keys that press against some strings to shorten them and make the different notes. There is also a string that can rattle when the crank is jolted quickly. And there are drone strings that constantly hum.

The Hurdy Gurdy was invented over a thousand years ago and was first used to help people sing in Church before the Organ was a thing.

 I am probably out numbered here. I assume you know more about it than I did. 

 It has been difficult for me to find much Hurdy Gurdy music that I really like. A lot of the Hurdy Gurdy music that I found on YouTube was too heavy for my taste or too middle eastern. That is not the way I want to say that, but I don't know the right words to describe what I talking about. I think by calling what I mean "middle eastern" you will imagine the right tones. It's a high wailing kind of sound that is not exactly minor but has dissonance of some kind. 

 The videos I have shared here are some of my favorite Hurdy Gurdy songs that I found by hours of combing through videos on YouTube. If you don't like these, try looking up other styles of Hurdy Gurdy music. They are pretty neat instruments!

J.S.Bach

"The aim and final reason of all music should be none else but the glory of God

 and refreshing the soul. 

Where this is not observed there will be no music but only a devilish hubbub."

 - Johann Sebastian Bach 

I never knew a whole lot about Bach or his music, although, there are a few pieces of Bach's music that I have loved over the years. I, also, had heard a little of his testimony as a Christian, which endeared me to learn more about his works.

I recently have listened to a series of lectures from The Great Courses by professor Robert Greenberg. I also listened to and audio version of Johann Sebastian Bach by Rich Marschall. What information I am going to share in this blog post is based on what I can remember of this course and book.

Johann Sebastian Bach lived from 1685 to 1750. He composed a massive amount of music. His compositions were in the highly ornamented baroque style. Most of his works were for church services. Bach was a devoted Lutheran. He lived in Germany his whole life and never traveled over 300 miles from his place of birth.

His Bible has been discovered and preserved. It is a German Bible translated by Luther. Bach made notes in the margins of his Bible so historians are able to get an idea of how personal his faith was to him.

At the top of the page of a vast majority of his compositions he wrote Jesus, juva meaning Jesus, help me. And at the conclusion of his pieces he wrote the abbreviation for to God alone be the glory in Latin: S.D.G.

Not only did Bach write religious music he also wrote music for birthdays, weddings, and entertainment. One of my favorite pieces of his compositions (Sheep May Safely Graze) was written for some important person's birthday.

Bach was born into a musical family, which no doubt contributed to his skill, but there is no denying that he had a special musical genius. He was truly gifted by God. His music transcends time and language. Those who hear the beauty in his music can hardly help themselves from thinking of their Creator, regardless of personal faith or religious beliefs. At least that is what I see in the comment section of Bach performances on YouTube. And that is how I feel about many of his most famous pieces. Bach strove to glorify God and I think he was supernaturally blessed to be able to make music that lives on after himself and points the listeners to a Being greater than themselves, the only Being possessing the power to create life and all things lovely: God Almighty.

Bach was a devoted father and by all accounts lead a happy family. The Bach family was very large. His first wife, Barbara, gave birth to 7 children. After Barbara's early death Bach married Anna Magdalena. Anna had 13 children. Sadly, infant mortality being what it was in those days only 10 Bach children survived to adulthood. Bach taught his children music and how to play the organ and maybe other instruments that I can't remember. Bach's wives and children helped him to make hand copies of music to pass out to the all singers and musicians every week. There were no copy machines back then!

About a hundred years after Bach's death someone cataloged what works of his that could be found. (This is still an ongoing project.) Much of his music is lost to time, but well over a thousand compositions remain to this day.

Random facts:

>Bach was big fan of coffee.

>When renovations were done on the Church where Bach's body had been inturned they measured his skeleton and said he must have been about 5'7" tall and had a large head.

>Bach's music has been sent to outer space. The Voyager space craft carries a golden record to represent mankind's best musical art and three of Bach's compositions were included.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces of music by Bach. Please tell me if you have any Bach favorites in the comment section!

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
This is a part of Cantata BWV 147 
This is the song that I walked down the aisle to during our wedding ceremony.

This is an arrangement for guitar and cello.

Sheep May Safely Graze
This is a part of Cantata BWV 208
This song was also played at my wedding!

This is an arrangement for piano.

Prelude from Cello Suite No.1 in Major BWV 1007

This is only the prelude. The whole suite runs about 18 minutes. The prelude is so pleasant. It makes me think of all the beautiful things in the world; the people who I love, babies being born, sunsets and mountain peaks, the sound of the ocean, green leaves unfurling, and the way fresh clean air feels in your nostrils.

Cantata BWV 140 also known as Sleepers Awake

I was introduced to this song by the lecture series. At first my favorite part was movement 4, and then I really liked movement 6, too, and then I listened to the whole thing and decided that I like the whole thing altogether. This cantata was written to be sang during a church service. The scripture reading for the particular Sunday was the story of the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom to come. The words of the Cantata parallel the message from the ten virgins story. All the words are in German but I was able to find a video with the English translation written on the screen. After reading the translation the vocal music seemed to come alive for me, even though I still can't understand exactly what they are saying. I am able to catch on to the spirit of what they are singing.

Movement 4

The whole Cantata BWV 140

Camille Saint Saen's The Swan

I have been loving Camille Saint Saen's The Swan recently. Something about that piece of music really resonates with me. I just can't get enough of it! It is so peaceful and dreamlike.

While learning about this piece of music I found out that The Swan is just one part of Camille Saint Saen's Carnival of the Animals.

I watched a really informative video on YouTube where I learned about each piece included in Carnival of the Animals. The suite is made up of 14 movements:

1. Introduction and March of the Lions

2. Hens and Roosters

3. Wild Donkeys Swift Animals

4. Tortoises

5. The Elephant

6. Kangaroos

7. Aquarium

8. Characters with Long Ears

9. The Cuckoo

10. Aviary

11. Pianists

12. Fossils

13. The Swan

14. Finale

The funny part is that Camille Saint Saen wrote Carnival of the Animals as a joke. It wasn't a serious work, but it became his most famous musical accomplishment. He lived at a time when a lot of musical innovation was happening. Music was rapidly evolving, or, in Camille Saint Saen's opinion rapidly devolving. I have only read briefly about the composer, but the impression I have is that he was a stickler for 'proper,' tried and true, old-fashioned music techniques and theory. You know, the way music was taught when he was a youngster at conservatory. Doesn't every generation say something like that? 

Anyway, how ironic that his least serious music became just about the only music that he is remembered by.

I have been listening to Carnival of the Animals on SoundCloud and becoming familiar with each part. My favorite's are The Swan and Fossils. My 8 year old likes Aquarium and March of the Lions the most.

A trick that works for me to be able to listen to music on SoundCloud advertisement free is, that I go to the SoundCloud website in my mobile browser. I don't sign in to any account. I use the search tool to search for specific music that I am looking for, sometimes by title, sometimes by composer. I can play the music in the background or while my phone screen in off. The only trouble is that sometimes the next song that plays automatically is not my choice, and I have to get back on the page and turn it off.

When I am absent mindedly listening to the whole Carnival of the Animals suite and The Swan comes on and I think to myself, "Boy, this music is so nice!" And then I pay attention and I realize, "Oh, this is The Swan, of course, I think it is so nice!" And I chuckle to myself. 

Are you familiar with The Swan by Camille Saint Saen? If not, I encourage you to give it a listen and let me know what you think!

Here is the YouTube video that I found to be so informative:

 (in case the link doesn't work the title is, "Listener's Guide to Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint Saen," on the YouTube channel Odd Quartet.)

I have no control over suggested videos or advertising.

Praise!

 Hebrews 13:15
By him therefore let us offer 
the sacrifice of praise to God continually, 
that is, the fruit of our lips 
giving thanks to his name.

This phrase stood out to me, "sacrifice of praise." Praising God is a New Testament sacrifice. Does that not give so much more purpose and meaning to singing hymns of praise?

I love music and I love to sing. In some ways I have wondered if I should feel any kind of guilt for the attention I receive for really putting my all into the singing service at Church. It does stroke my ego to hear compliments and that can lead to a pride problem. So I had this moral dilemma on my hands. Should I hold back so that I don't draw attention? 

This verse set me free. I am bringing a sacrifice to God with my singing. It is for the Lord and I am going to offer him by best. I sing whole heartedly with gusto and joy! 

Ecclesiastes 9:10a  

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,

 do it with thy might;

Have you ever wanted to offer something really special to the Lord? Look no further! If you have a voice, you can offer the Lord a sacrifice; the sacrifice of praise. 

The part of the verse that says, "the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." makes me think of the many instances that the firstfruits were offered to the Lord in the Old Testament.

Exodus 23:19a

The first of the firstfruits of thy land 

thou shalt bring into the house of 

 the LORD thy God. 

Proverbs 3:9

Honour the LORD with thy substance, 

and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

Giving thanks is the fruit of our lips. Let us offer to God the firstfruits. In the morning why not let the first thing I say be praise to the Lord? I can wake up with a song on my lips. 

I just want to encourage you all to praise the Lord. We know He is worthy!

Not only is He our Creator and Sustainor, He is our Saviour! He is God Almighty holding the Universe in His hand and yet He cares for us and loved us enough to die in our place! 

I have a home in Heaven and that right there should keep me singing as the days go by. Amen!

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

 

Psalms 18:31+32
For who is God save the LORD? 
or who is a rock save our God?
It is God that girdeth me with strength, 
and maketh my way perfect.

Here is a very regal rendition of this great hymn. 

It has the majestic organ accompaniment 

along with a full bodied choir. 

I don't know about you, but,

sometimes this style of music hits 

the right spot in my soul.

Paper Crafting

I believe everyone needs to make time for a creative outlet. It doesn't have to be a lot of time, either. Just 15 minutes can be refreshing. You can try writing, art, sewing, calligraphy, wood burning, cooking, building a model, scrapbooking, embroidery, playing an instrument, ect.......

I rotate through several creative endeavors. Recently I spent some time with my watercolors. I made several pieces of art for birthday cards and the like.

I also have been doing a little paper crafting with stamps. 

A few months ago Mr. In The Mid-west called me on the phone. He was at a thrift store and found some Stamp'n Up stamps. He wanted to know if I used stamps. 

"Yes, I have a handful of stamps and I use them. If there are some nice stamps for a good price I would be happy to have them!" I replied.

He bought them all! Now I have 8 gallon size ziplock bags full of Stamp'n Up stamp collections. Yay!

I have used a few to make some birthday cards.

Is having a creative outlet important to you? What do you do with your creative energy?

"If You're Happy And You Know It!"

 

This is a homeschooling idea for preschoolers and kindergartners. I like to sing, "If You're Happy And You Know It," with my little ones when we start our school day. Doing all the motions with them helps them to get all their wiggles out and puts everyone in a good mood. I think our favorite verse is, "Roar out loud!" We have a lot of fun with that! 

We have a Scholastic book with a version of "If You're Happy And You Know It," illustrated by Jane Cabrera. I love Jane Cabrera's illustrations! I grew up with her, "Over In The Meadow," book. It is one of my Mom's favorites. :)

This is the version that we do:

If you're happy and you know it.........

1. Clap your hands,...

2. Stamp your feet,...

3. Nod your head,...

4. Roar our loud,....

5. Spin around,....

6. Go kiss kiss,...

7. Flap your arms,...

8. Say squeak squeak,...

9. Jump around,...

Do you have a favorite verse? What variation do you sing? Let me know in the comments section! 

Proverbs 17:22 

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Music I Have Been Enjoying Lately

I am a musical person! I have had some musically dry time periods in my life when I either didn't have a piano or radio or didn't take any time to play or at the very least sing. I definitely missed music during those spells. Music just brings light and life to a dimension of my personality. I am sure I am not alone in this feeling. Somethings are just expressed best through music! I thought I would take this opportunity to share some of the piano pieces that I have been enjoying lately. Along with some auditory versions so that you can enjoy them, too.

Raindrop Prelude by Chopin 

Vanished Days by Grieg

Epilogue by Heller

And, Moonlight Sonata mvt. 1 by Beethoven.

I don't really take time to learn new songs these days, but someday I dream of adding a few to my repertoire. I really love Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring by Bach. I chose this piece for my bridal processional when Mr. In The Mid-west and I got married. It would be so nice to play it for myself.

May Sheep Safely Graze, also, by Bach

And, I have always wanted to be able to play Liebestraum by List. It doesn't have the same appeal that it used to for me, but I'd still like to be able to play it someday.

Do enjoy any of these songs? Do you have any favorite songs to share? Maybe we can have a conversation about music in the comments section!