Preschool Group Music

I am gauging the interest of our community in group preschool music classes.  Would you like to see Music Together or Kindermusik, or something similar, offered in Socorro?

If so, what times are convenient to you?

Please comment or email me!  estudiopiano at juno.com

New Studio Phone #

575-418-5867

History of Pianos Fact Sheet

Check out this website giving a brief history of pianos, celebrating the instrument's 300 years.
http://www.ptg.org/learningCenter/300YearsPiano.pdf

Musical Mothers

Many thanks to mothers who nurture the music in their children.

#1. The oldest of musical mothers is Adah. She was Lamech's first wife and gave birth to Jubal, who "was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe." Jubal is nine generations removed from Adam. Genesis 4:20

#2. Mrs. Anna Magdalena Bach must hold the title for queen of the musical mothers. After J.S. Bach's first wife died, he married Anna Magdalena who birthed thirteen children, eight who died from an hour to five years. Of the children she reared to adulthood, she and her husband passed on their musical legacy to sons Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, Johann Christian Bach, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.(1) The last child was born in 1742, when Anna Magdalena was 41 (and Sebastian 57).(2)

Anna Magdalena Wilcken was a very gifted soprano, who even earned half the salary of her famous 16 year older Capellmeister and future husband Sebastian. Anna Magdalena was probably only 19 years old when she and her 35 year old boss fell for each other. They had been working together for more than a year when they finally got married on 3 December 1721.(1)

Their marriage was a happy one to which their common interest in music contributed. Johann Sebastian wrote a number of compositions dedicated to her, most notably the two Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. She also regularly helped him transcribe his music.

During the Bach family's time in Leipzig Anna Magdalena organized regular musical evenings featuring the whole family playing and singing together with visiting friends. The Bach house became a musical center in Leipzig.
After Bach's death in 1750, his sons came into conflict and moved on their separate ways. This left Anna Magdalena living alone with her two youngest daughters and her stepdaughter from her husband's first marriage. While they remained loyal to her, nobody else in the family helped economically. Anna Magdalena became increasingly dependent upon charity and handouts from the city council. She died on 22 February 1760. (3)

#3 Clara Schumann birthed eight children to Robert Schumann. Clara was born in Leipzig on September 13, 1819; died in Frankfurt on May 20, 1896. Robert Schumann was born in Zwickau on June 8, 1810 and after dying in the asylum at Endenich near Bonn on July 29, 1856, Clara continued to support her family through her own compositions and performances, and eventually a teaching position at the Frankfort Conservatory.

Clara's parents were Friedrich Wieck (1785-1873), a music teacher, and Marianne Tromlitz Wieck (Bargiel) (1797-1872), a soprano and student of Wieck; Clara's father had resolved before her birth that she would be a great musician and child prodigy. Her first public appearance was in 1828 (age 9); first complete piano recital in 1830 (age 11); first extended tour in 1831. She performed extensively and studied piano, voice, violin, instrumentation, score reading, counterpoint, composition; wrote and published several pieces for solo piano. (4)

Their children were: Marie (1841-1929), Elise (1843-1928), Julie (1845-72), Emil (1846-47), Ludwig (1848-99), Ferdinand (1849-91), Eugenie (1851-1938), Felix (1854-79). (5)

#4 Classical Musicians whose mothers gave them their first lessons (6):
Benjamin Britten
Max Bruch
Manuel de Falla
Charles Gounod
Jules Massenet
Felix Mendelssohn
Sergey Prokofiev
Robert Schumann

#5 My mother, Susan C. B. gave me my first lessons. Thanks mom!


(1.2.)http://www.jsbach.org/
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Magdalena_Wilcke
(4) http://www.fairbornonline.com/ScottPianoStudio/whowas.html
(5) http://www.geneva.edu/~dksmith/clara/bio.html
(6) Classical Composers by Peter Gammond. Colour Library Books Ltd., 1994.

Reflection on O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Bernard of Clairvaux in 1140 wrote the hymn, O Sacred Head, Now Wounded. A song sung often at Easter, I have come to love this piece for its musical beauty and its words Bernard penned in describing our Savior's death. We owe the English translation of Bernard's poetry to Paul Gerhardt, 1656, and J.W. Alexander, 1830. Hans L. Hassler in 1601 provided the melody and J.S. Bach in 1729, the harmony.

Bernard of Clairvaux moved to Clairvaux, France to join a newly founded monastery. There he wrote many works, one well-known, "On the Love of God," in addition to several poems found today as hymns. Luther and Calvin read many of his writings and were profoundly influenced.

In the aforementioned treatise, Bernard outlined four degrees of love: the first degree, Love of Self for Self's Sake; the second degree, Love of God for Self's Sake; the third degree, Love of God for God's sake; and the fourth degree, Love of Self for God's Sake. Bernard hoped to inspire us towards the highest degree of loving, but pondered its earthly possibility. "Perhaps," he says, "such experiences are rare and come only for a monent. In a manner of speaking, we lose ourselves as though we did not exist, utterly unconscious of ourselves and emptied of ourselves." Such experiences I have had most often at Easter, in remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only in contemplating the cross, can I die to myself and live as Christ. I am thankful for Bernard's words and Hassler and Bach's music, contributing to my spiritual experience at this special time of year.

O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered
Was all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression,
But Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior,
'Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor,
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever;
And should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to Thee. Amen

Hymn 109 in The Hymnal, 1957 Board of Publication, The Evangelical United Brethren Church
Bernard of Clairvaux, featured in Foster and Smith's collection, Devotional Classics, Renovare Inc., 1993.

Map of Socorro

Click on the map to enlarge.

A New Year, A New Song

As we begin a new year, let us resolve to do two things. First, let us look for the intended meaning of the composer of any music we hear or read. And second, let us search for an inspiration to sing a new song, our own new song.

In particular, I want to begin by looking at several examples of ancient music, several Psalms of the Christian Bible. With the start of the new year, it is only appropriate to examine old songs of praise which ironically incite us to sing something new.

Words about playing music and singing occur hundreds of times in the 150 Psalms. Only six of the psalms contain the idea of "a new song." What do these words mean, "to sing a new song"? How and why should one observe this command at the start of a new year?

The word "psalm" refers to the musical and worshipful purpose of the lyrical words. Identifying the form and thus the category of the Psalm helps the initial process of searching for the significance. Let us look to which catergories Psalms 33, 40, 96, 98, 144, and 149 belong, as these six contain the phrase "to sing a new song".

Ones makes the first categorical division by asking a simple question: "Does the psalm imply a public or private use?" Yes, we find in the instances of Psalms 33, 96, 98 and 149 language indicating a corporate purpose. These four psalms belong to the category of hymns. Notice that the phrase occurs at the beginning of the songs in an opening section termed "call to worship." Psalm 33:3, 96:1, 98:1, 149:1 (part of the collection that uses the rubric Hallelujah). The following section outlines the reasons for which God deserves praise, and then the psalm closes, the narrator calling again for praise or an act of obedience.

Psalms 96 and 98 are specifically enthronement hymns, songs celebrating the reign of God. Characteristics include an exhortation calling all to praise God as King and a list of reasons for praise. This kind of psalm sometimes contains an additional, eschatalogical element, a focus on God´s final coming to restore perfection. Both Psalms 96 and 98 open with the mandate to "Sing to the Lord a New Song" and close with a renewed call for praise "before the Lord, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in/with righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness/with equity."

The ascribed author, David, writes psalm 40 in first person. This psalm belongs to the category- thanksgiving song of the individual. Structural elements include a resolve to give thanks, an introductory summary, a poetic recollection of the time of need, report of the rescue, general teaching, and renewed thanksgiving. Old Testament form critics purport that this kind of psalm was presented by the individual as a testimony to the congregation, and they associate this category with the thank offering, (see 2 Chron 29:31). In Psalm 40:3 the phrase in question does not occur in command form as in psalms 33, 96, 98 and 149, but as a commentary as to what God has done. "He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God." The pronouns indicate the singular testimony to a corporate audience. Psalm 144:9 likewise occurs in first person after having told of God´s goodness, "I will sing a new song to You, O God."

Of note, a commonly appearing term, mizmor, later heads psalms 40 and 98 describing the accompaniment of instruments.

The Hebrew language tells a little more about the phrase "new song." The six occurances in the Psalms and also in Isaiah 42:10 match in vocabulary. First, chadash, translated as "new," comes from a root meaning to be new, to rebuild, to renew or to repair. Then, shiyr, translated as "song," provides only the detail that the "song" is presumably sung a capella

The phrase "new song" reappears in the Bible at the very last in Revelations, in the sense of Psalms 96 and 98. John describes the revelation of Jesus, the Christ, seated on the throne of heaven, surrounded by worshipers singing a new song (Rev. 5:9 and 14:3). Thus, the Greek language also gives a little more information. One can translate kainos as new or fresh, and
oide as song of praise (more generic) versus humnos (metrical religious song) which is translated as hymn elsewhere in the New Testament.

Finally, I have observed throughout all of the Bible a theme of "newness" which I believe corresponds to the more largely recognized theme of redemption. The entire Word of God speaks of "new" things -- a new king, doing a new thing, a new house, new wine, a new name, a new heart, a new spirit, a new covenant, a new mercies, a new heavens, a new earth, a new garment, a new testament, a new tomb, a new doctrine, a new kingdom, a new tongue, a new creature, a new man, a new Jerusalem. Ultimately, God reveals through this language that all of the "old things" are inadequate, unsatisfactory, were corrupted due to The Fall, and that He has a plan of redemption ready.

Therefore, when looking at this whole context of a "new song," one may conclude that this new song is a manifestation of God´s redemptive power and a personal gift to the one who will accept the offer of redemption.

Sing a new song. Be redeemed. Be transformed. Allow God to make something better out of what currently exists. Permit God to act such that you have a new song to sing in praise for what He has done.

While these words cannot be expressed in musical notation as when the Hebrews first sung the psalms, the songs of praise, we can sing them anew. Christian musicians in the recent decades have popularized melodies for these words. Furthermore, anyone can employ these lyrics and compose an accompanying score. Each person has a unique testimony to share with others of what God has done in the past. Customarily people enjoy the spirit of the new year as a time to reflect and a time to look forward. Let us reflect on God´s worthiness of praise from our experiences in the past. And let us look forward in this year ahead, with faith that God will give us a new song to sing for the new things He will do.

(Much information about these Psalms was gleamed from the studies of LaSor, Hubbard, and Bush´s Old Testament Survey, "Psalms" pages 429-446)

Happy Birthday Mozart!

Today is Mozart's 250th Birthday! Check out the big celebration on http://www.mozart2006.net (copy and paste in your address bar)

Quotes about Music Composition

Composition for the beginning or even seasoned music student often poses as an extraordinarily daunting task. Those who have succeeded offer advice that removes the notion of impossibility for the ordinary musician and entice one to hear and to share his own music.

Tchaikovsky once admitted, "Since I began to compose, I have made it my object to be, in my craft, what the most illustrious masters were in theirs; that is to say, I wanted to be, like them, an artisan, just as a shoemaker is...(they) composed their immortal works exactly as a shoemaker makes shoes, that is to say, day in, day out, and for the most part to order."

Kendall, in his book about the work of master teacher Nadia Boulanger, quoted her reasoning that musicians ought to make composition a natural function. "Some composers are 'inspired.' Craftsmanship and inspiration in composition are not mutually exclusive'' but inextricably intertwined. The amount of sheer craftsmanship, however is probably much greater than many would imagine."

Aaron Copland felt that "Nothing pleases the composer so much as to have people disagree as to the movements of his piece that they liked best. If there is enough disagreement, it means that everyone liked something best, which is what the composer wants to hear. The fact that this might include other parts that no one liked never seems to matter."

(quotes found in Alan Kendall's book The Tender Tyrant, Nadia Boulanger: a life devoted to music: a biography)

Phone Number Update

Finally, a local number: 505-418-9517