Hymns: George Washington to James Monroe

From George Washington to James Monroe

            The United States of American is known for its rich heritage and the great men who founded it. These men are known for many of their attributes and accomplishments, but not often do people dig deeper to get a glimpse into the lesser parts of these men’s lives. While the music that these men listened to and enjoyed might seem like an unimportant detail, it gives us a fuller, clearer view of who these men were. This last month I have studied our first five founding Presidents; studying not just their presidency, but also studying the music (namely hymns) that they enjoyed.

            George Washington: This man who left probably the largest legacy on our Nation was not only a devout Christian, but also a lover of music. Known as his favorite hymn, the song "How Happy Is He Born" and Blessed is one of the best descriptions of Washington’s life that I have ever read. This humble, Virginian frontiersmen became a national hero during the French and Indian War which led to his entrance into politics. Known for his great honesty and humility, Washington understood his dependence on God. Providence protected him many times in his life against all odds.

 He had a love for good music and even though he himself may not have been very musical, he made a very large effort to ensure that his step-children and grand-children had proper musical education. Alexander Renigale, a popular composer at the time, performed and taught for the Washington household. Washington enjoyed different kinds of music including opera. Although, his favorite hymn may not be very well known now, it is a hymn the needs to be resurrected. The powerful truths of the song can be seen throughout his entire life and give us an even stronger idea of who Washington was and what he believed.

            John Adams: Being the second President and following in the footsteps of a man like Washington, Adams had his fair share of trials. At first glance, it does not appear that music played very much of a role in this President's life, but that is most likely because of his strong Puritan background. He did however write about some of the different denominational singing that he enjoyed and it was he who is responsible for first bringing the U.S. Marine Band to the White House. To this day the band is known as "the President's own band."

His favorite known hymn was "How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings Fair," by: John Milton, the author of “Paradise Lost,” and “Paradise Regained.” The tune used is more commonly used for Watts' song, "O God Our Help In Ages Past." This hymn must have greatly comforted Adams as he left office quite un-liked by most people. In times of depression and discouragement it must have given him hope in Christ.

            Thomas Jefferson: Extremely intelligent and heavily influenced by Enlightenment thinking, it is easy to see how Jefferson came to be the primary author of The Declaration of Independence. He worked very hard to separate church from state and ensure religious freedom for the American people. He was probably one of the most musical Presidents. He played several instruments and had violin duets with his friend Patrick Henry. He also made sure that his daughters were well trained in music.

Jefferson was not just a lover of music, but he was a lover of good music. His favorite hymn was “Hark the Glad Sound! The Savior Comes,” by: Phillip Doddridge. (By the way, of the songs that we have done so far, this one is my favorite musically, although I enjoy singing all of them.) At the age of 74 he said that music was “the favorite passion” of his soul.[1]

            James Madison: Father of the Constitution, James Madison definitely left his mark. Like Jefferson, he was not an evangelical but he fought hard for religious freedom. During his Presidency, the War of 1812 broke out, which did not make him very popular. (One very common theme I have noticed in studying our first few Presidents is men who were great men and did amazing things, but were not very popular during their terms as President.)

Madison and his wife were very hospitable while he was in office, which made music a vital part of their lives. They were the first couple to purchase a pianoforte for the White House. His favorite hymn was “O God My Strength and Fortitude,” by: Thomas Sternhold, the groom of robes to Henry VIII of England.  There is great solace in this song that must have uplifted Madison many times.

            James Monroe: Born in the oldest county of Virginia, serving in the Militia during the Revolutionary War, serving in Congress, being minister to France, becoming Governor of Virginia for 3 terms and eventually gaining the rank of President, James Monroe ranks high up with the men who served as President before him. His presidency was known as the “era of good feelings,” and it was he who gave the address before Congress we now know as “The Monroe Doctrine.” (The cornerstone for America’s foreign policy)

            Music wise, we know very little about him. He was the first President to have an inaugural concert. His favorite hymn was “O Lord, I Would Delight In Thee,” by: John Ryland, Jr., who is the Baptist minister that baptized William Carey. (Sorry, I just love learning about those kinds of connections!)  It’s a shame that we do not know more about the music he enjoyed, (if he even enjoyed itJ) but he did have a wonderful favorite hymn.

[1]  From the book, Presidential Praise, By: C. Edward Spann & Michael E. Williams, Sr.

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Orchestra!

Oh, the glories of the orchestra! I absolutely love listening to the music of the orchestra. I find it utterly amazing as I sit awed and transfixed on the musicians. All of those beautiful instruments playing together with such beauty and intricacy; it is so breath taking....

Picture courtesy of Microsoft Online

Okay, so can you guess? I went to the orchestra last night. It was our "Girls Night Out," so Mom, Sarah and I went with some very dear friends to see the Lake Geneva Orchestra play. The concert theme was waltzes and marches. I had forgotten what the theme was going to be so I was simply delighted when they announced the night's theme. I tell you, music does things to me! I felt like waltzing so bad I nearly wanted to get out of my seat and act like Lisle from "The Sound of Music," when she waltzes with the air. I'm not great at waltzing by any means of the word, and I very rarely ever even get a chance to waltz, but I just love attempting to waltz and listening to waltz music. Every time I hear it I feel like getting up and dancing. It was simply delightful.

They also played some fantastic marches. My favorite was "March Slav," by: Tchaikovsky. I had never heard the history behind that song. Extremely fascinating! Look it up! It completely changes the song for you. I can't lie, I have always thought it sounded rather Egyptian, not Russian, so I was completely surprised when they read the true inspiration for the song. Of course, they also played "The Stars and Stripes Forever.” I always think of fireworks and extreme explosions when I hear that song. Sometimes I get a patriotic picture in my head, but sometimes, like tonight, I picture bad explosions and buildings falling down. (It must have been the coffee.) :-)
Oh, and I forgot to mention another favorite of mine was the "Cat's Waltz." It is hilarious how the strings can make the sound of a cat meowing. I am pretty sure I have seen the Tom and Jerry cartoon that goes with this song. Here’s another funny story. They played "The Blue Danube Waltz," and they talked about how it was in the movie "Space Odyssey," (for the record, I have never seen and never plan to see this movie). I thought this was humorous because whenever I hear this song, I think of the Veggie Tale, "Madame Blueberry." Yes, I am actually admitting that at one point in my life I watched Veggie Tales. That was a very long time ago.... Anyhow, I guess we will always have connotations with certain songs that never leave us.

It was a fabulous night and I had so much fun being with my Mom, sister and friends. So that was what I did last night. I am terribly sorry that I have not been able to blog more lately. We are running out of time on our countdown till 4-H fair judging in two weeks. I also have some interviews and a competition to prepare for, as well as teaching and living regular life at home. I thank God for all of the wonderful opportunities He has given me, but I am looking forward to all this 4-H stuff being done and over with. I probably won't be blogging much in the next couple of weeks, but don't worry, I didn't disappear. :-)

God Bless!
In Christ,
Kaila

Psalm 150

Psalm 150 KJV

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

When it comes to music the above Psalm is one of my favorite passages. It gives such a glorious picture of our worship to God. We praise Him in His sanctuary and in the whole firmament of His power - i.e. the whole world. We are to praise Him for His mighty acts and His greatness. With all that we are also suppose to praise Him with instruments. I think far too often we live life and do not praise the Lord, and even if we do praise the Lord we surely do not do it enough. My mom once shared a quote that someone had shared with her. It said something to the effect of, "If God took away everything you had except for what you thanked Him for yesterday, how much would you have?" I think this could apply to praise as well. If God took away everything that you have except for what you praised Him for, what would you have left?

This is rather funny, but when I write things like that I begin having a sort of conversation with myself. I thought, "Well that would work out nicely if I praised Him for all the good things and left out the bad things." As I was thinking about this, God showed me that the "bad" things are really good things in disguise and I am not looking for the big picture of life. He does great and mighty works in our lives through the bad things so therefore, I need to praise Him for the "bad" things as well as the good things.

Anyways, back to Psalm 150. I love this chapter because it reminds us not only to praise God, but that we can and should praise Him with instruments. Now I think it is very important not to let our instruments and performance take away from our praise of God, but I most assuredly think that musical abilities are a fantastic gift from above!
Some of the great reformers of old thought that worship and singing to God should only be done with human voices. I obviously don't believe this way but I think I understand their point. I think, from what I have read, that it is a matter of extremes.  On one extreme, you have those that would allow music and instruments to take away from the worship of God, and on the other extreme you have those so conservative that they end up leaving out good things like instruments. While I think that it is very important to make sure that when we are worshipping God, we are truly worshipping God, I think we also need to be careful that we are not limiting worship. Psalm 150 tells us to praise Him with trumpets, psaltery, harps, timbrels, dancing, stringed instruments, organs and cymbals. Wow! That is a lot! God wants us to use our musical abilities to praise Him and bring glory and honor to His name.

The Lord has blessed me with several friends that are striving to use their musical talents to glorify Him and it is just so encouraging. Let's praise the Lord together for the wonderful gift of music because, you know, the very fact you can make sense at all of what you are doing when you play or sing your music is a great and mighty work of the Lord! So let us praise, praise, praise the Lord!

I would love to hear about your favorite musical passage. Drop a comment below and let me know what passage on music you like the best and why.

In Christ,
Kaila

New and Old - What Does It Matter?

A couple of Sunday's ago, I was telling a dear friend about a musician I found out about recently. His name is David Garett, and he is an absolutely amazing violinist. But, he does a lot more than play the violin. In fact, he is the leader of a band/group that basically modernizes music ranging from the Baroque to the Beatles. I have seen video footage from one of his concerts and it is really quite interesting...although, in a disturbing sort of way. It is rather difficult to describe the music. Play Vivaldi and add drums, electric guitar and some other modern rythmns and sounds; that's what his music is like. I would put a link to his website...but, when I looked it up I was rather disturbed with it. (He looks....interesting and has rather worldly pictures up, we'll just put it that way.) Now I must in all fairness say that some of the movie music that he did sounded neat, but the "rock symphonies," didn't flow well with me. ("Rock Symphonies" was the name of his C.D. and concert.)
So I was thinking about this and I began to wonder why this mix of the old and modern bothered me. I mean, the violin part was so beautiful that I could almost ignore the rest, but it still bothered me. I had let the issue go for a while, but last night my Dad, Mom, brother and I watched a movie that took place in Rome during the time of the gladitorial games and the music in the movie was so modern that it drove me nuts. Most of the music did not fit the movie or the times at all! This mix of ancient times and modern music brought back to mind David Garett's music. What is so wrong with this mix of new and old? Here is the conclusion that I have come to. I may be wrong, but this is what I thought of.

In music history I see a downgrade of musical order. Let's say we start with Baroque; very orderly, technical and exceedingly beautiful. Then we get into Classical; still orderly and technical (although not as much so as Baroque), but more emotional. Then you get into the Romantic era where order begins to slip and although you have some composers trying to hang on to traditional ways, many composers are branching out with strange melodies and discombobulated sounds. Heading into more modern music, order has sliped and now you get repetitive, off-beats meant to stir inward feeling in unatural ways.

I know this may not be the greatest outline of the eras, but as I have studied different composers throughout the different eras this is what I notice overall. Now, I think the reason that I do not like David Garett's mix of the new and old is because it is a mix of order and disorder. Mixing Vivaldi with electirc off-beats seems to destroy the order and technicality of Vivaldi, at least to my ears.
This sort of mixing is becoming more and more popular, but I must add that it is not all bad. My teacher is splendid at mixing Baroque and Classical music with different hymn arrangements. She is acctually working on recording a C.D. of some of them. But, she is very careful at matching the proper sounds and emotions together, ultimetaly creating an even more beautiful work of order and complexity. She isn't trying to modernize the old, rather she is using the old to aid her in making "newer" sounds better. The order and beauty of the old is placed into the new (that is to say, newer songs that still maintain order and harmony). I personally am enjoying getting to learn this art of mixing from her and am greatly blessed to be gaining this knowledge. One of my favorites of hers is a mix of "Immortal, Invisible," and one of Bach's Minuets.

In all things, we must be working and creating for the glory of God. We can do this by using the order and harmony that others have used to glorify God, but we must be careful not to mix order with disorder and harmony with disharmony, because that destroys much of the music's potential beauty.

In Christ,
Kaila


P.S. On a side note to all of my friends who love dancing like I do, click here to read an article written by a friend on how dancing can help teach orderlieness and harmony in music, as well as other things. You have to scroll down a little bit past the pictures to get to te article.

American Music

Happy late 4th of July to all! I hope everyone had a great time celebrating our Nation's independence. I know I sure did. Our family went to Old World Wisconsin for the first half of the day. Old World is one of my favorite places to go. I just love it. The setting was 1876, the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I decided that since it was the 4th I could get away with dressing up colonial style. It was very hot, but I had so much fun... even if I was a century out of style. :-)

They had an old fashioned band that played; the Harmony Coronet Band. It sounded so 1800’s and set the mood for the whole day. Back during this time in history, most counties had a band. It was a very important part of the community. Nowadays, it seems that most of what we get is school bands. :-( Too bad.

They marched around playing "Yankee Doodle" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and a few other songs. I think they also played "Hail Columbia" and "The Star Spangled Banner." During the flag raising ceremony they played "Doxology" while everyone sang.

In the park they did a concert and later they marched in the parade. It was great fun to see all of the people picnicking in the center of the town, listening to the band play. It really gave you that old time community feel.

Now for the main point of this post. After lunch, they had a hymn sing at the old church. It sounded beautiful having so many people crammed into such a small building and all singing their hearts out to the Lord. It was breath taking. Well, after singing hymns for a while, the band leader came in and gave us an important musical lesson. I am going to try to quote what he said to the best of my ability. It will not be word perfect, but you will hopefully get the point. He said, "I hear some people ask, 'What is Northern music and what is Southern music?' I don't really know and here's why. One very popular Civil War song was premiered in New York, (sounds Northern right?) was written in Ohio, (still Northern,) and President Abraham Lincoln had this song played at his inauguration. Very Northern right?"

(Mind you, I knew exactly which song this was, and I kept guessing it to my Mom. Important detail)

"That song was "Dixie," one of the most popular Confederate songs of the Civil War."

At this point I blurted out, a little too loud, "Yes! That's Dixie, I got it right."

The guy started laughing and said, "I see we have a Southern lady among us."

I am quite sure I turned red as I replied, "Well not exactly, I just like singing 'Dixie'."

So that was my "moment." Go ahead, laugh at me.

Continuing with his history lesson, he said, "Another song of the Civil War started out as a Southern revival song, "Canaan’s Happy Shore." Some Northern soldiers heard the song and put some rather vulgar words to it. Words too vulgar for me to repeat in front of the ladies and children." (I hate to admit it, but I (a lady) knew the name of that vulgar song, "John Brown's Body." Hehe)

"President Abraham Lincoln did not like that the soldiers sang these words, and asked Miss Julia Ward Howe if she would write some new ones. Of course she did, and that song is now known as "Battle Hymn of the Republic." So you see, I don’t know what is Southern music and I don't know what is Northern music, but I do know what is American music."

And of course, as he said that last line, he looked right at me the whole way through. Please, just let me melt! I do not think that he realized that I really do agree with him.

It was a good point though and one that we need to remember. While it is wonderful to study history and great to discuss these things, we must not let ourselves lose the Patriotism that we ought to have for our Nation under God. We may not agree with all of our leaders, but if we lose our Patriotism for the Nation that our forefathers fought and died to secure, we may just lose our Nation. "In God We Trust," let us never forget it!

Rachel, Kendra and I were asked to be Liberty Girls, in the parade. It was fun, but hot as we had to wear white robes over our already warm outfits. But, we survived and enjoyed every bit of it.

I am sure my Mom will be putting more pictures up later. It was the most Patriotic 4th of July we have ever celebrated.

After Old World Wisconsin, we joined our church family for a continuation of the celebration. Some of us girls were even able to get a few people over to the barn where we had a barn dance. Since we did not have music we sang out loudly, (can you guess?) Dixie, which I had the greatest fun singing out loudly. We sang some others like Mari’s Wedding and Yankee Doodle as well.   What a day!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!!!

In Christ,



Kaila

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

At Last! I've Found One!

I don't know about you, but I'm one that loves to find out that I live in the same area, am related to, share a birthday with etc. famous people. I just find it to be quite fun... well most of the time... until I found out some of the people I share birthdays with. Anyways, we discovered that we live around the area of this composer named Joseph Philbrick Webster, better known by his two most popular songs, "In the Sweet By and By," and Civil War song "Lorena." We have been studying "In the Sweet By and By," as our hymn this month, which is fantastic because all of the history is local. What's even better is that most of the history is from the time of the Civil War, so we've been studying the war in our area. Very fascinating stuff!

Back to Webster; this guy wrote tons of songs, including many Civil War songs. Being that he was a composer, he mainly wrote the music and not the words, but there are a few where he wrote both.

Click here to see a website full (and I mean FULL) of songs that he composed and wrote. If you click on the title you can hear the music, and if you click on the authors name, you can read the words.
Some of my favorites, (how can you possibly pick a favorite out of all of them?) are "The Irish Volenteer," "Lorena," "We Are But Young," "New Star Spangled Banner," "Mother Can I Go?" I could list off tons more, but you get the idea. I really like alot of his songs. It takes a while to get through them all, but oh is it worth it!

It's propably easy to see that I am excited to have found a well known (somewhat) composer from my lovely state and county, and I am even more thrilled to have found one that writes such good songs.
I hope you enjoy them as I do!

In Christ,
Kaila

It's What I Do

 Thursdays are always interesting days, as is every day, but Thursday is the day that I teach piano lessons. At the end of every Thursday, I like to reflect on the day.

 I teach piano all day.

 That's about it.

I used to think teaching was just my job. I liked doing it and I learn alot from it. When I look deep, I realize that teaching is so much more than a job. It's a ministry. It's a service to my King... and I LOVE it! For a half an hour every week I get to invest in my students lives. I get to share in their struggles, frustrations and glories as they learn the art of music.

A couple of months ago, I had a student that had to quit. I had lost students before but this one was different. This student had taught me what it meant to perservere when tired, to give when I was exasperated, to be gracious when frustrated, and to celebrate triumphantly when victory was achieved. We had spent many trying hours together and conquered even more hurdles and mountains. At our last lesson, I was fighting tears. I'm not usually a very emotional person. I tend to keep it all in, which is helpful in emergencies, but that night I could barely keep the tears in. As our lesson came to a close, she looked up at me and said, "Kaila, you are the best teacher ever!" and she hugged me, something she rarely ever did. I cracked as soon as the front door closed.

It was then that I realized the true depths of teaching. When I teach, I am not just telling my students how to read music. I am teaching them to worship God with their music. I am instilling in them a gift that Lord willing, they will never forget.

I only have a half hour with them each week (and let me tell you, those half hours sometimes feel like five hours). I have a limited amount of time to make my mark in their lives before it's time to move on.

But, oh how I LOVE It!

It is one of the most blessed, fulfilling callings, under that of being a sister, daughter and follower of Christ.

I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Piano teaching...

It's what I do.

Piano teacher...

It's what I am.

Friend...

It's someone I strive to be.

Missionary...

It's what I love being, even from my wooden chair next to the piano bench.

My mission field is a dinning chair, in a place I call home, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Every oppertunity to share, every action, every word, they are all reflections of the life I have in Christ. I pray that all of my students will love Christ and will be drawn nearer to Him through the small time I have with each one of them.

“The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
Johann Sebastian Bach

It's what I strive to do.

In Christ,

Kaila

The Foundation of Love

If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On. - William Shakespeare

For years I have seen this lovely saying on my Grandma's fridge. I always thought that it was a beautiful picture.  Every now and then, I get to thinking about love... hey; we all do at some point. I'm not a big fan of fictional romance and all that, but I do love a true, real life, love story of people in history, to that of my own parents. Having studied different musicians and read biographies of different people, I have found two stories in particular to be quite the interesting comparisons. These stories have a similarity, because both of the couples "fell in love" through their love for music. The love stories are that of Jonathon and Sarah Edwards and that of Robert and Clara Schumann. The major difference in these two stories is that one couple based their relationship on God and the other did not. Both stories are romantic tales, which I enjoyed learning about, but I do have a favorite... I'll share in due time.

In 1723, in the backdrop of British citizens and the thirteen colonies, there was a town called New Haven, and in that town there was a slightly distracted school teacher. This teacher was the twenty year old Jonathon Edwards, and his distraction was the thirteen year old Sarah Pierrepont. He wrote about this young lady in his Greek grammar book.... something I'm very glad he did. But what he wrote about was not silly daydreaming, rather it was about this lass's great love for God. They were very different from each other, but they both loved music. Jonathon Edwards said, "The best, most beautiful, and most perfect way that we have of expressing a sweet concord of mind to each other, is by music. When I would form in my mind and idea of a society in the highest degree happy, I think of them as expressing their love, their joy, and the inward concord and harmony and spiritual beauty of their souls by sweetly singing to each other." (1) They became friends and spent more time together talking about life, and God, and sharing books that were influential in their lives. In the spring of 1725 they were engaged. Jonathon waited for two years, until Sarah was seventeen, to marry her. According to Noel Piper, in her book "Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God," this wait was difficult for him, but he endured it anyways in order to honor God. Shortly after they were married, Jonathon got a job as a pastor in Northampton. In total, they had eleven children. I won't go into details on the rest of their lives. Of course, you should read about them anyways as there is much to learn and the preaching of Jonathon Edwards played a big part in the First Great Awakening, so please do some further reading if you haven't already.

The story of Robert and Clara Schumann is a very dramatic love story, filled with trauma and anguish. Robert was a "lawyer-to-be" who in fact, would never be a lawyer because he preferred music over law. Clara was an amazing pianist with a protective father. The two met when Robert began studying music under Friedrich Wieck, Clara's father. When Robert and Clara fell in love, Wieck was furious at the idea of his gifted daughter marrying this poet-musician and he tried to stop them in every way possible. They actually had to take him to court where the judge made Wieck take back many of the untrue statements he had made against Schumann. Robert and Clara won in court, but it took some time before they were actually able to marry.(2) They wrote to each other when they were away and in 1840, they were married. The couple was devoted to each other for life and they had eight children. Unfortunately, later in life, Robert had an ear problem where he constantly heard ringing in his ears. He tried to commit suicide by throwing himself in the Rhine River, but was rescued by boatmen. He lived in a mental institution for the last two years of his life. Once again, there is much more to the story that I have not written.

These two stories are both considered romantic love stories from history. After reading both of these stories, I was thinking about how both couples fell in love with a great love for music as a common thread and suddenly something very important dawned upon me. I was trying to figure out what made these two stories so different, besides the obvious difference in time, place and situation.  Then it hit me. While Robert and Clara both loved music, as did Jonathon and Sarah, there was something extremely different about the Edwards. Jonathon fell in love with Sarah because of her great love for God. God was the foundation for their relationship. They both loved music, but they loved God more. As I look at the later lives of these four people, I see that God used the Edwards in mighty ways in furthering His Kingdom. I do not see this in the Schumanns. The Schumanns may have produced amazing music, but they did not do it for God's glory.

 I love music. I think music is a beautiful thing, and I love the above Jonathon Edwards quote on music. But that does not change the fact that I love God more. While I think it is a beautiful thing for two people to have a common love for music, I think it is an even greater thing for two people to have a common love for God. The foundation of all our relationships should be God. Obviously, the Edwards were not perfect, only Christ is perfect, but I do think they got it right when it came to matters of love and marriage. They put Christ first in their lives, and it shows.

The foundation of love is Christ. Don't let other earthly things...yes, even music...get in the way or distract you from His perfect love.

Just some thoughts.

In Christ,

Kaila

1. Piper, Noel. Faithful Women & Their Extraordinary God. Wheaton, Il: Crossway Books, 2005.

2. Smith, Jane Stuart and Betty Carlson. The Gift of Music. Wheaton, Il: Crossway Books, 1995.

Pictures from Wikipedia.org

Patterns in Protestant Church Music

Well, I finished chapters 2 and 3 of "Patterns in Protestant Church Music." They were very interesting. Chapter 2 was Reformed Church Music - The Basic Implications of Calvin’s Philosophy of Church Music, and it held some very interesting facts that I did not know. For instance, did you know that Calvin was opposed to four part singing and organs? I was rather surprised, because Calvin played a big part in giving us the Genevan Psalter, and whenever I think of Psalm singing, I think of 4-part harmony.
Here are some interesting quotes by Calvin:
"It would be a too ridiculous and inept imitation of papistry to decorate the churches and to believe oneself to be offering God a more noble service in using organs.... All that is needed is a simple and pure singing of the divine praises, coming from the heart and mouth, and in the vulgar tongue.... Instrumental music was tolerated in the time of the Law because the people were then in infancy." 1
"The Levites, under the law, were justified in making use of instrumental music in the worship of God; it having been his will to train his people, while they were as yet tender and like children, by such rudiments, until the coming of Christ. But now when the clear light of the gospel has dissipated the shadows of the law, and taught us that God is to be served in a simpler form, it would be to act a foolish and mistaken part to imitate that which the prophet enjoined only upon those of his own time. From this, it is apparent that the Papists have shown themselves to be very apes in transferring this to themselves."2
Because of these beliefs, many church organs were taken down, broken apart and used for other things. Here is another interesting quote about organs from Cotton Mather:
""And because the holy God rejects all He does not command in His worship, He now therefore in effect says to us, I will not hear the melody of thy Organs." 3
This is rather tricky because organs were not around in Bible times, thus they are not listed in the Bible. The Author of the book, Robert M. Stevenson says of Calvin, "In Calvin’s mind, music, when he did allow it, was conceived as Spartan in simplicity; like St. Augustine he knew the emotional power of music sufficiently well to fear it." 4
It is important to have a sort of "fear," when dealing with music. I believe that this fear should be a fear of God. But, I do not believe that instruments such as organs, and part singing cannot be used for worship. I do believe that those who are not trained in part singing should not be forced to do so to worship, but on the other hand, I do not believe that it is wrong to sing your part if you know it.

The 3rd chapter was on John Merbecke and the First English Prayer Book. I learned that the Archbishop Cranmer helped to translate the Latin verses into English and make them fit the origional tunes. He had John Merbecke help him in adapting the music for the Booke of Common Praier noted and insisted that there should only be one musical note per syllable. 5 Merebecke's musical talent later helped save him from execution.
These are just a few things I read and learned. I am interested to hear if you have any thoughts on the above quotes.
In Christ,
Kaila

1. Stevenson, Robert M. Patterns in Protestant Church Music. London, England: The Duke University Press, 1953. pg. 14

2. Ibid pg. 15

3. Ibid pg. 17

4. Ibid pg. 21

5. Ibid pg. 26

Luther's Musical Achievement

How I LOVE when I find a gem among the ex-college library music books that I have accumulated! I'll be honest; most of these books are not exactly what I would consider pleasure reading. Not that this is a bad thing, they're just not easy to read. It's like overdone steak. You have to chew it for a VERY LONG TIME. Well, I was looking through my music books and came across this little gray book entitled, "Patterns of Protestant Church Music." It is wonderful! (So far) I just finished the first chapter which was on Martin Luther.
Luther had such a great love for music. He believed largely in singing in church, which was an issue argued by different reformers.  He said of music, "Next to the Word of God, only music deserves being extolled as the mistress and governess of human feelings.... Through the medium of praise the Holy Spirit placed His gifts into the hands of the Prophets; again through music the devil was driven away, as was the case with Saul, king of Israel.... The Fathers and Prophets desired....that nothing be more intimately linked up with the Word of God than music." 1

Luther not only loved congregational singing, but he also greatly liked polyphonic singing done by trained choirs. He is said to have defined music, "as an art which to be appreciated properly must be studied rather than merely listened to…" 2
 He knew music well and had a very good voice. He believed that the study of music was an essential part of the school curriculum. He would not hire a teacher that was not trained in music. He himself knew music well enough that when he got a new song book, if he saw one slight mistake he would return it and have it corrected.

"When natural music is sharpened and polished by art, then one begins to see with amazement the great and perfect wisdom of God in his wonderful work of music, where one voice takes a simple part and around it sing three, four, or five other voices, leaping and springing round about, marvelously gracing the simple part, like a square dance in heaven, with friendly bows, embracings, and hearty swinging of partners." Martin Luther, Quotation from Luther's foreword to Georg Rhau (1538) 3

One other thing that struck me was that he enjoyed "researching" the composers of the time to see if their music was appropriate. This is something that I enjoy doing myself, to some extent.
I intend to write a brief summary on every chapter of this book as I go through. Thus far, I have been exceedingly delighted by what I have found.  One thing is certain, the more you study music and the history of music, the greater appreciation of music one has.

In Christ,
Kaila

1. Stevenson, Robert M. Patterns in Protestant Church Music. London, England: The Duke University Press, 1953. pg.9

2. Ibid pg.4

3 Ibid pg.9-10

Love at Home - John Hugh McNaughton

1.  There is beauty all around, When there’s love at home;
There is joy in every sound, When there’s love at home;
Peace and plenty here abide, Smiling sweet on every side,
Time doth softly, sweetly glide, When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 1:
Love at home, love at home; 

    Time doth softly, sweetly glide,
When there’s love at home.

2.  In the cottage there is joy,  When there’s love at home;
Hate and envy ne’er annoy,  When there’s love at home;
Roses bloom beneath our feet,  All the earth’s a garden sweet,
Making life a bliss complete,  When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 2:
Love at home, love at home;
Making life a bliss complete,
When there’s love at home.

3.  Love becomes a way of life,  When there’s love at home;
Sweet, insistent end to strife,  When there’s love at home;
Glad submission each one’s gift,  Willing pledge to love and lift,
Healing balm for every rift,  When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 3:
Love at home, love at home;
Healing balm for every rift,
When there’s love at home.

4.  Anger cools and pressures cease,  When there’s love at home;
Children learn to live in peace,  When there’s love at home;
Courage to reach out in grace,  Meet a stranger face to face,
Find a reconciling place,  When there’s love at home.

   Refrain 4:
Love at home, love at home;
Find a reconciling place,
When there’s love at home.

5.  There’s no question you can’t ask,  When there’s love at home;
There is strength for any task,  When there’s love at home;
Sharing joy in work or play,  Confidence to face the day,
Knowing love will find a way,  When there’s love at home.

Refrain 5:
Love at home, love at home;
Knowing love will find a way,
When there’s love at home.

6.  Kindly heaven smiles above,  When there’s love at home;
All the world is filled with love,  When there’s love at home;
Sweeter sings the brooklet by,  Brighter beams the azure sky;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high  When there’s love at home.

Refrain 6:
Love at home, love at home;
Oh, there’s One who smiles on high
When there’s love at home.

7. Jesus, show Thy mercy mine, Then there’s love at home;
Sweetly whisper I am Thine, Then there’s love at home.
Source of love, Thy cheering light Far exceeds the sun so bright—
Can dispel the gloom of night; Then there’s love at home;

Refrain 7:
Love at home, love at home,
Can dispel the gloom of night;
Then there’s love at home.

This is the hymn we have been studying in school this month. I have learned so much about love. I guess I just never realized how much there was behind true Christ-like love. We did a Bible study on 1 Corinthians 13 (you can click here to access it) and I was humbled at the lack of Christ-like love in my own life. I knew that I didn't have perfect love as Christ did, I just didn't realize to what extent. It is always good to be brought down to the reality of our sin. Without it, we would never see our need for a Savior. Of course, we have learned alot of other things, (this song is loaded) but the big topic for me was love.

Another song we have been learning is "The Fear of the Lord" by: Joseph Hart. Oh, is it a powerful song! When I have time I will type out the lyrics to share.

Anyways, I'm terribly sorry about the long wait for a post. I've been very busy lately. I was in a piano recital yeasterday and... well you can just look at my Mom's blog to read about our business. I won't go into detail. Perhaps I will put up a video from the recital.

In Christ,

Kaila

A Preface To All Good Hymn Books - Martin Luther

Having a great love for music, I naturally have a great love for poetry - good poetry that is. I love reading it, singing it, reciting it and in truth, the only thing I don't like about it, is the fact that I cannot write it. Some people are just so amazingly gifted with a poetic tongue and sadly, I am not one of them. One of those gifted people was Dr. Martin Luther who wrote the powerful song, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. While going through some boxes of books, (a common occurrence in our household) my Mom came across a small book of stories from the life of Martin Luther. In the book, there are several poems that he wrote, but this one was my favorite (naturally). It is called "A Preface To All Good Hymn Books," and it honestly should be the preface to all hymn books.

Lady Musick Speaketh.
Of all the joys that are on earth
Is none more dear nor higher worth,
Than what in my sweet songs is found
And instruments of various sound.


Where friends and comrades sing in tune,
All evil passions vanish soon;
Hate, anger, envy, cannot stay,
All gloom and heartache melt away;
The lust of wealth, the cares that cling,
Are all forgotten while we sing.


Freely we take our joy herein,
For this sweet pleasure is no sin,
But pleaseth God far more, we know,
Than any joys the world can show;
The Devil’s work it doth impede,
And hinders many a deadly deed.


Se fared it with King Saul of old;
When David struck his harp of gold,
So sweet and clear its tones rang out,
Saul’s murderous thoughts were put to rout.


The heart grows still when I am heard,
And opens to God’s Truth and Word;
So are we by Elisha taught,
Who on the harp the Spirit sought.


The best time of the year is mine,
When all the little birds combine
To sing until the earth and air
Are filled with sweet sounds everywhere;
And most the tender nightingale
Makes joyful every wood and dale,
Singing her love-song o’er and o’er,
For which we thank her evermore.


But yet more thanks are due from us
To the dear Lord who made her thus,
A singer apt to touch the heart,
Mistress of all my dearest art.
To God she sings by night and day,
Unwearied, praising Him alway;
Him I, too, laud in every song,
To whom all thanks and praise belong.
Translation byCatharine Winkworth.
Public Domain at The Online Library of Liberty

Is that not an absolutely beautiful poem? It just captures the essence and purpose of music in an absolutely wonderful way! I love the line which says, "Where friends and comrades sing in tune, All evil passions vanish soon..." It is such a true line. I feel this way when we sing A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in church. It is such a powerful song that it just draws you right in... at least for me.

To God she sings by night and day,
Unwearied, praising Him alway;
Him I, too, laud in every song,
To whom all thanks and praise belong.

In Christ and for His Kingdom,
Kaila

A Problem of Sayings

“Every, Good, Bird, Does, Fly – All, Cars, Eat, Gas – Great, Big, Dogs, Fight, Animals – F, A, C, E,” Ah, the wonders of the desperate imagination. Who would have thought that I would be teaching others that cars eat gas? Yet, I find that I say this ridiculous saying more than nearly every other concept of piano while teaching. The problem is, when it comes to treble clefs and bass clefs, lines and spaces, and a host of notes from A to G, it just gets to be a little confusing for some.  I remember learning the sayings that would help me figure out my notes.  I seem to remember it working…well, most the time anyways…

Now as a teacher, I see these sayings in a whole new light. The fact of it is, after saying them for eleven years, they are just a way of life (in the musical world). I used to think it was sooooooo much fun to teach these sayings to my students. Then slowly, I began to despise them more and more. I first began to dislike them when I was told, “It’s not Every Good Bird Does Fly. It’s Every Good Boy Does Fine.” Sure, it wasn’t that big of a deal at the time, but the more I taught the more versions I heard.

All Cows Eat Grass. Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.  Good Boys Do Fine Always.  I could name a few more, but I’ll spare you. I’ve come to realize that while these sayings may be helpful, they are equally confusing! And, what’s with all the sayings about “good boys”? How am I supposed to get the girls to memorize sayings about boys getting fudge and doing good and fine? J  I guess that’s the joy of imaginations gone wild. My sayings would probably be worse if I was given four or five letters and told to make a creative saying, for example, Farmers Always Cook Eggs… Ants Carry Extra Gravel…. Boy, is that original! You’ll never hear those at music school!

Anyways, it’s an adventure all in itself, and although it can be frustrating, it can also be very helpful. Besides, it has encouraged me to be creative. (Hehe) I even made up a little rhyme to help one of my piano students remember what word to spell for the treble clef spaces. “To find a treble space, spell the word face.” Hey, it seemed to work.

So now it’s your turn. Do you know any other note sayings than the ones I listed? Have you made up any of your own? Or do you have any funny stories about note saying experiences? Please share, because I would love to read them!

In Christ and For His Kingdom,

Kaila

It's Been Awhile

I can't believe it's already February! Time is flying by way to fast. I'm sorry it has taken so long to get this post out. While I enjoy blogging, it is pretty low on the priority list.

Anyways, it's been an exciting month, with lots of new experiances and lessons to be learned. First of all, several of the young ladies at our church (myself included) put on a Ladies Day Out. It was so wonderful getting to serve the Lord with other young ladies. My mom gave a talk on "Singing Songs in the Dark." There were talks by some other women from our church as well. I want to share some of the points my Mom gave on why we should sing.


1. Singing will keep your spirits alive! Do you want to fight depression and despair? – SING!

2. The devil hates Christ honoring music. Martin Luther says, “The devil cannot stand singing.”

3. Are you afraid? You can chase away your fears when you sing.

4. Singing purges us of evil thoughts. They cannot stay in your head when you are singing about Jesus. All demons flee at the sound of his name.

5. Singing pleases God. We are here to bring glory to God. So let’s do something that brings him much glory. It is commanded in scripture to sing many times.

6. The angels are engaged in singing and isn’t that what you want God to see you doing when He looks down on you?

7. Sing because it will cheer your friends.

I think these are great points about singing! Singing can do so much for you mentally and physically.



As far as books go, I've been working on a book called, "Harmony at Home - Straight Answers to Help You Build Healthy Music Standards" by: Tim Fisher. The first half of the book is about music in the home and the second half answers "Tought Questions Today's Young People Ask..." I'ts an easy read, although, it has taken me a while only because I'm the type of person that reads six books at once. It got me thinking about how my family enjoys singing, playing, performing... music together. I realized that I know alot of people that enjoy "doing" music together as a family. Sure, it's fun to sing and play music with your friends, but there's something so special about doing it with your family. I used to think that my family could never play together, then when we started, I never thought we would sound good. But, just like pretty much everything in life, it takes time, hard work and a WHOLE LOT OF PRACTICE.



Speaking of books, last year I made a goal to read 201 music books and read no fiction. About half way through the year I realized that perhaps reading that many books in a year was a little unrealistic. (I know there are people out there who can read that many books in a year. My problem was that I had been reading lots and lots of fiction books and fiction books are way easier for me to read than "real" books.) So, I read music books last year. There were times when I nearly gave it up because, "They are are just sooooo much harder to read," but I kept it up except for school related books now and then. Then the grand, glorious, relieving year of 2011 came and I scooped up my fiction books and began to read. Believe it or not, a great realization hit me after reading a couple. I couldn't stand how fluffy these books were. Most people would probably disagree with me, and that's okay, since these books were "good, wholesome classics" by some terms. But I couldn't handle it. It was like eating marshmallow fluff. You have to eat some real nourishing food in order to keep from getting an upset stomach. When telling a friend my woes she reminded me that I had just spent the last year reading no fiction. It was like a lightbulb went on. So, what is my point? Well, for those of you who might have been wondering, I'm back on my fiction fast and am still planning on reading music books this year. The only difference is that I will be reading books on other topics as well as music.



God is so good! He continues to help me grow more and more in Him and continues to teach me about His wonderful gift of music. I hope to continue sharing what He teaches me in this area. As a side note, I will be continuing "Whatsoever Things," in the near future. Just hang in there.



In Christ and For His Kingdom,

Kaila



P.S. Does anybody know if you can play the penny whistle with the right hand playing on top? I would really like to not have to re-learn penny whistle. :-)