Mood Swing

My family and I love to have fun with music. Whether it be singing "Dixie" like a bunch of chipmunks, pretending that we are attending a Scottish wedding with all of our instruments ("Mairi's Wedding"),  singing "In the Sweet By and By" Southern style, or trying to sing in octaves not meant to be sung by voices like our own; we love to have fun with our music. So in this Babiak spirit of musical enjoyment, I thought I would give you a special treat. You see, when my creative juices get running...well...let's just say, interesting things happen. :-) This song is one of them. One of the songs I have known for about ten years, one of them I just learned recently, and one of them I worte. (At least I think I wrote it. I have a tendancy to play things by ear that I think are original and then I find out that they really are not. I have changed the tune enough that I think it's safe to call it original.) See if you can figure out which one it is.

I have named it "Mood Swing," because each song switches the mood. (Rather self explanitory I think.)

Songs: 1. "Fluttering Leaves"

2. "Sonato Ops. 2 No. 3"

3. "Mapel Leaf Rag"

4. "Vipsania"

5. "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

6. "Fluttering Leaves" repeat.

So I purposely did not put the authors. See if you can figure out which one is mine. In fact, for an even more fun challenge, see how many of the authors you can figure out.

If you think that you have guessed which one I wrote, see if you can figure out the inspiration behind it.

Have fun!

In Christ,

Kaila

Gods and Generals - Amazing Movie Music

This post is quite overdue. Between sickness and business, there has not been  very much time to get on blogger to post or read. My apologies to all.


Ever since reading an article written by: Ben Botkin on his blog, I have become exceedingly interested in movie music. Now, on the rare occasion that I actually watch a movie, I sometimes get more caught up in the music than I do in the movie. One of my all time favorite movies as far as content + music goes, is "Gods and Generals." It is a Civil War movie that mainly follows the lives of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson in the South, and Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Chamberlain in the North. It is a great movie and I would highly recommend it to anyone!
So anyways, I have the movie soundtrack, which Daddy picked up for us while book shopping, and I thought that I would really enjoy listening to it. Funny thing is, I was a little disappointed because it wasn't as exciting to listen to as I thought it would be. (Personal opinion- it is nice music.) Just a couple days ago, we watched the movie and I sat there listening to the music and thinking about how absolutely perfect the music was. When put together with the film, this music is simply AMAZING! Every bit of it is so perfect; the sweet, delicate tune played whenever Anna and Thomas Jackson are together, the grand, regal music played when honorable officers take center stage, the bagpipes during the Battle of Fredericksburg...Oh, the bagpipes!..., the song played at the beginning with all of the flags flying, it's all so perfectly written and placed. It just wouldn't be the same movie without the music.
There is one particular part that gets to me every time. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, there is a scene where the Northern Irishmen are fighting their way across the field to where a group of Southern Irishmen are shooting behind a stone wall. The Northern men are being killed left and right and it is nearly crushing the Southern men to continue shooting. The bagpipes start playing and, oh my, is it heart wrenching, especially for me because I have Southern Pruitt blood running through me on my Mom's side. The Pruitts were Virginian Irishmen, and I can't help but imagine that they were some of the men behind the stone wall crying for their brothers and cheering at the top of their lungs after they successfully drove the Northerners back. I can guarantee that I would not have this connection if it were not for the music. As soon as the bagpipes start playing the whole scene becomes real to me. Can you tell I enjoy this movie?
Aside from the phenomenal music, there is a lot of rich Southern religion seen throughout the movie. General Jackson was a strong follower of Christ and this is clearly seen throughout the whole movie even to his death. Oops! Did I just spoil the end? :-) Don't ever ask me to tell you about a movie you have never seen before.

So, like I said, this is a great movie content wise as well as music wise, but don't take my word for it. See it yourself if you haven't already!

In Christ,

Kaila