My lovely wife Amy and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary a week ago today. Our celebration was basically kicked off the night before when we went to the Granger High School Auditorium in West Valley City, Utah, as Amy and her fellow members of the West Valley Symphony of Utah performed "Symphonic Dances" in concert, under the direction of music director and conductor Donny Gilbert.
Amy Miller performs with the West Valley Symphony of Utah. (Photo by John G. Miller)
After many years of performing at the Granger auditorium, this was the last time for the West Valley Symphony to set foot in the facility before it's taken down to make way for a new auditorium, and a lot of memories will go along with it for the all-volunteer orchestra of nearly 70 musicians.
It's a group of musicians that does it purely for the love of the music.
Among the selections played at the concert were Russell Bennett's "Cakewalk, Leroy Anderson's "Blue Tango, Ravel's "Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte," and Tchaikovsky's "Pas De Deux" from "The Nutcracker."
Among the highlights for the evening were Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No. 2," "Danzon No. 2" by Arturo Marquez, and the finale of "Berceuse and Finale" from Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite."
There is one song out there that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it, and I've heard it countless times. It's not something that we hear on a regular basis until this time of the year, but to my ears it's one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
The notes and words that come from the chorus alone are enough to bring a lump to my throat. I can be a softie that way.
It's a song that was composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808–1877). It's seen a few different versions, but my favorite is the one created by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, a singing edition based on Cappeau's French text in 1855.
It goes like this ...
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
Is it possible to make beautiful music from instruments made out of items found at a landfill? The documentary "Landfill Harmonic" could answer that in a marvelous way.
Photo courtesy "Landfill Harmonic"
This is a project that was brought to my ettention by an old high school friend a few days ago. I'd never heard of it until then, but once I watched a piece of it, I was amazed.
Landfill Harmonic is an upcoming feature-length documentary about a
remarkable musical orchestra in Paraguay, where the musicians play
instruments made from trash.
Cateura, Paraguay is a town essentially built on top of a landfill.
Garbage collectors browse the trash for sellable goods, and children are
often at risk of getting involved with drugs and gangs. When orchestra
director Szaran and music teacher Fabio set up a music program for the
kids of Cateura, they soon have more students than they have
instruments.
That changed when Szaran and Fabio were brought
something they had never seen before: a violin made out of garbage.
Today, there’s an entire orchestra of assembled instruments, now called
The Recycled Orchestra.
Our film shows how trash and recycled
materials can be transformed into beautiful sounding musical
instruments, but more importantly, it brings witness to the
transformation of precious human beings.
I came across an interesting story on Facebook last February that is perfect for the blog this week. It's a story that -- if we read it, take it to heart, think about it -- can reach inside our souls and maybe, just maybe, help us to spend some time taking stock of our priorities and maybe reconsider them a bit.
Maybe it will help us to stop, listen, and appreciate some of the most beautiful sounds that can surround us in our busy lives.
I'm reprinting the story as it appeared on Facebook.
“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the
violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for
about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was
calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on
their way to work.
“Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was
a musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and
then hurried up to meet his schedule.
“A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman
threw the money in the till without stopping, and continued to
walk. “A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to
him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly
he was late for work. “The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother
tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the
violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to
walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several
other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move
on. “In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and
stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their
normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence
took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any
recognition.
Joshua Bell
“No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most
talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most
intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. “Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100. “This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro
station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social
experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The
outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do
we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the
talent in an unexpected context? “One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: “If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best
musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many
other things are we missing?”
