Be still, my soul!

Be still, my soul! The Lord is on thy side:
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide:
in ev'ry change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul! Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul! The hour is hast'ning on
when we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love's purest joy restored.
Be still, my soul! When change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Words: Katharina von Schlegel, 1752
Music: Finlandia, Jean Sibelius, 1899

I love the Finlandia melody. It is used with different words for several other hymns in the Hymnal.

Chopin: Winter's comin'. . .

Winter Wind

Chopin - Maggie's Farm#trackbacks

When the mist is in the gloamin'

"Gloaming" invokes such a magical time of day. A time between light and dark, dark and light. Old English from glom "twilight," related to glowan "to glow," hence "glow of sunrise or sunset." Preserved in Scotland and reintroduced by Robert Burns and other Scottish writers after 1785.

“The Heather On the Hill” song from the musical Brigadoon
Tommy:
Can't we two go walkin' together, out beyond the valley of trees?
Out where there's a hillside of heather, curtsyin' gently in the breeze.
That's what I'd like to do: see the heather--but with you.
The mist of May is in the gloamin', and all the clouds are holdin' still.
So take my hand and let's go roamin' through the heather on the hill.
The mornin' dew is blinkin' yonder. There's lazy music in the rill,
And all I want to do is wander through the heather on the hill.
There may be other days as rich and rare.
There may be other springs as full and fair.
But they won't be the same--they'll come and go, For this I know:
That when the mist is in the gloamin', and all the clouds are holdin' still,
If you're not there I won't go roamin' through the heather on the hill,
The heather on the hill.

Brigadoon is a lovely musical. The reviewer says -- When the hectic pace of the modern world threatens to overtake you, consider a brief vacation in the highlands of Scotland...and as one character says, "There must be an awful lot of folk searching for a Brigadoon"--Amazon.com: Brigadoon: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse…

Ah, but consider what the Lord Jesus promises, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16.33). Better than a Brigadoon...this is for eternity.

Piano song

YouTube - Musique sans parole " Neige " Piano song

# 1 Song on the date I was born - March 14, 1947

YouTube - Ted Weems Orch. - Heartaches, Decca 1938

Perfect pattern. . .

Majestic sweetness sits enthroned upon my Savior’s brow,
His head with radiant glories crowned,
His lips with grace o’er flow,
His lips with grace o'er flow.

No mortal can with Him compare among the sons of men;
Fairer is He than all the fair
Who fill the heavenly train,
Who fill the heavenly train.

Majestic manhood, perfect pattern.
Live again thy life through us.

(Samuel Stennett, 1787)

The Lives Of Others Soundtrack - Main Theme (Das Leben Der Anderen)

YouTube - The Lives Of Others Soundtrack - Main Theme (Das Leben Der Anderen)

♫ Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.1 [piano] ♫

♫ Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.1 [piano] ♫

Measuring oneself. . .

Mozart: [hesitantly] I never knew that music like that was possible!
Salieri: [uncertainly] You flatter me.
Mozart: No, no! One hears such sounds, and what can one say but... ”Salieri."

[about Emperor Joseph II's musical tastes]
Salieri: Actually, the man had no ear at all. But what did it matter? He adored my music.
(Amadeus (1984) - Memorable quotes)

Salieri measuring himself to Mozart falls way short!

Consider a true measure to measure ourselves:

"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ...Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" (Ephesians 4:7,13).

Grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Let's set our hearts on that measure.

Lovely. . .

YouTube - Perahia - Beethoven Emperor (II. Adagio un poco mosso)