Musical Musings

AND SO FULFILL THE LAW OF CHRIST by Carter Johnson I had finally arrived in Texas for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition . And I had a badly injured right arm. In the weeks prior, I was in Ireland for the Dublin International Piano Competition, and in the three days prior to the final round, I had over-practiced my concerto on a very heavy-action piano. When you combine this with the fact that it was also the Prokofiev second concerto — and this was all the culm

THE MASTER ORCHESTRATOR by Delta David Gier Funny how things turn out sometimes . . . especially in God’s kingdom, His perfect timing, His perfect will. I find myself marveling continually My 17-year-old self made a campus visit to Wheaton College. (I should have gone to Wheaton, but that’s another - thankfully redeemed - story.) During those couple of days I had a visit with the then-Dean of the Conservatory of Music, Harold Best. At one point he asked me, “David, what is i

NO PEDASTALS by Diana Haskell Last week I posted this on FaceBook: “Do not glorify men and women. Do not put them on a pedestal. You will be disappointed. Only God is to be on the throne of our lives.” Here’s why I wrote that: When I was a young clarinet player, I got to play in a session with a famous teacher I really looked up to. He was kind, smart, patient, and played so beautifully—I was in awe. I thought he must be amazing at everything: great friends, perfect house, di

Matthew 26:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” When Jesus gave us the Great Commission, he commanded us to go to all “people groups,” to all “types of people.” In earlier ages of church history, the phrase “people group” implied a nation or a geographical area. In those days, however, almost all the people in any country primarily had a common, agricultural lifestyle. In today’s global culture, the critical factors which mold people into different people gr

CHRISTMAS SORROW, CHRISTMAS JOY By Barbara Kavanaugh At this moment I am listening to Corelli’s Christmas Concerto Grosso (g minor, Op. 6, no. 8), the first piece of music my 6th-grade-self adored with all my heart and soul. I played the album over and over and over; the cello part was to die for. Decades and countless hours of music have passed, and I love this music just as much. Corelli was a master of suspensions—tension, release, tension, release. It stirs my yearning