On December 7, the Monticello High School mixed and concert choirs presented a choral program called “An Olde Tyme Radio Choral Concert” in the high school auditorium. It was directed by Mr. Brett Kniess, and Janice Vetter was the pianist. The songs were chosen to put the audience in the holiday spirit, and in my opinion, it accomplished this goal. The first five songs were sung by a mixed choir of freshman and sophomores.
Moses Hogan is an American composer and arranger of choral music. He was best known for his African-American spirituals. Hogan was a pianist, conductor and arranger of international renown. His choral works are performed by high school, college, church, community, and professional choirs today. His most famous work is The Oxford Book of Spirituals.
While attending JMU, Eld. Wright was a Resident Advisor for Garber Hall, where he led a Men's Bible Study for the student residents. Furthermore at JMU, Eld. Wright served as the Director of the Inspirational Ensemble, Assistant Director of the Contemporary Gospel Singers, and Co-Founder of Men of a Melody. God increasingly equipped Eld.
Theologically conservative leaders from United Methodist Church have formed a group within the denomination known as Wesleyan Covenant Association. The organization is endorsed by around 50 ministerial and lay leaders, and theologians. The WCA will convey its first gathering in Chicago on October 7 to promote the goals of scriptural Christianity and to welcome new members.
Amazing Grace is a movie about the campaign against the slave trade in the British Empire, Led by a man named William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation throughout the British Parliament. This title is tied to the hymn “Amazing Grace”, which has to do with slavery as well. John Newton, a crewman aboard the Slave ship, and subsequent religious conversation, which also inspired him for his poem that is in the hymn. Basing in the time of 1782, Wilberforce recounts the moments that led him to where he is now, a sick, retired politician. William considers quitting politics and studying theology, however, he is persuaded by his friends William Pitt, Thomas Clarkson, Hannah More, and Olaudah Equiano that he will be more effective doing the work of God in the very unpopular, important, and dangerous issue of the abolition of the British slave trade.
Andy Beck is a musical composer that wrote the song Pacem (a song of peace). Andy Beck received a Bachelors degree in Music Education from Ithaca College and a Masters degree in Music Education from Northwest Missouri State University. Following his nine year appointment as Vocal Music Director at Johnson City High School in New York State, Andy joined the editorial team of Alfred Music where he currently serves as Director of School Choral, Classroom, and Vocal Publications. A successful composer and arranger, he has authored several top-selling chorals and children’s musicals for Alfred Music, as well as co-written the highly regarded method book, Sing at First Sight, Foundations in Choral Sight-Singing.
In June 1877, Johannes Brahms arrived at his remote country home outside of busy Vienna for his summer vacation. During this time, he composed his Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, in only three months, and it is usually called “the Pastoral Symphony”. Biographers and scholars of Brahms generally claim that this unique compositional process of this work caused by his pastoral mood of summer vacation in 1877. However, it can be perceived that their claim has been misconstrued due to Brahms’ self-critical fastidiousness and usual long compositional process for work.
I do consider Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” to be a valid example of music (not simply noise and absence of noise, strung together). This particular instance of music vs. noise seems more cut-and-dry than some of the lesser-known musical stylings we’ve experienced this week, because Hendrix is an internationally-acclaimed musician who used a well-accepted musical instrument, the electric guitar, to play the historically and culturally validated US national anthem. However, he proceeded to alter the original composition by emoting through the wailing – which sounds almost like human crying – of his guitar riffs; at times, he even used somewhat discordant notes to insert a personalized “voice” into the traditional tune. Interestingly, I had not previously seen this video and several thoughts struck me as I watched it and listened to Hendrix’s version of the song, in its entirety.
Men vs. Women in Southern Appalachia Two movies that have recently intrigued me include The Songcatcher, directed Maggie Greenwald Mansfield, and Deliverance, directed by John Boorman. The Songcatcher describes a woman who goes to the Appalachian Mountains, on a mission, with a recording device to capture Old English Ballads after she has been denied a promotion from her university. Deliverance portrays four city men who decide to go canoeing in the Appalachian Mountains and experience many different events. Both The Songcatcher and Deliverance have striking similarities and differences.
Furthermore the Bible records which persons were established by David within the music ministry of the Tabernacle: “Moreover David and the captain of the hosts separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals… to give thanks and to praise the Lord…all these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries and harps, for the service of the house of God…the number of them, with their brethren instructed in the songs of the Lord, even all that were cunning was two hundred fourscore and eight”. (1 Chron 25:1-7) Although the first time the act of singing mentioned in the Bible is when Miriam celebrates Israel’s miraculous deliverance from Egypt via the Red Sea (Exod 15:1), note that Heman is the first person recorded with the title “singer” within Biblical text.
When George Frideric Handel was a little kid, his uncle gave him a clavier which was a small keyboard-like instrument in secret because he knew that George loved the beautiful notes of music. One night, his parents heard music wafting throughout the house in the middle of the night and knew not from whence it came. When they searched the house, they found George playing melodies on his instrument. This was one of the first times that he would experience music for himself and lead him to have a career that would produce one of the most inspiring pieces of all time: the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah.
The Book of Mormons was first published in 1830 by a man named Joseph Smith. Many critics have criticized Joseph Smith, and say that he fabricated the Book of Mormons. Joseph Smith claims that it is an ancient text. However it came to be, it has become a prominent belief system in many parts of the world. The Book of Mormons has a very interesting story from its origins to its content, religious significance, and history.
A Chorus Line was different from any of the plays that we had seen during the semester, given that it was a musical. This is definitely what I am more accustomed to from watching my friends through the years preform this style alone essentially as well as my sister playing any Broadway musical soundtrack she could get her hands on for weeks on end. This felt so drastically different from anything else we had seen in the semester because it seemed that there was no end goal or resolution, it just ended. Sure, a handful of characters grew but a lot was left to the imagination at the end of the play. One thing that always sticks out within a musical are the songs itself.
In 2008, Benjamin Zander presented the “transformative power of classical music.” Benjamin Zander is a passionate conductor and a communicator about classical music. According to the TED website, he conduct the Boston Philharmonic. The best statement that I found on the TED website describing Zander is that “he uses music to help people open their minds and create joyful harmonies that bring out the best in themselves and their colleagues.” After watching his presentation, I went back to this statement.
THE TABERNACLE The Israelites stayed at Mt. Sinai for more than a year. During this time, they were occupied chiefly in learning the many details of the law which they were to follow. One of the most important developments that took place was the building of the Tabernacle, the chief purpose of which was to represent God as dwelling in the midst of his people, and it is a type and shadow of Jesus Christ, who was to come.
