Exiles Know Freedom

Posted by a friend, Alan Eason:

I love this emotional rendition of "The Stars and Stripes Forever," conducted by then-National-Symphony conductor Mstislav Rostropovich on his return to his homeland of Russia in 1990. He had been stripped of his citizenship under the Soviets for sheltering and defending Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who also took refuge in the United States. Rostropovich loved his homeland of Russia, and his return concert, held in the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, drew half of the intelligentsia of Moscow and was televised on Russian TV nationwide. After a mournful rendition of (his mentor as a youth) Shostakovich's #5 symphony, which depicted Stalinism and its terrors, he brought the audience to its feet with "The Stars and Stripes Forever" as a finale.

Modesty and Pride: Paradoxical Mix

http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/inspiring-composer-quotes/johann-sebastian-bach/

Brahms:Craftsmanship

Bernstein: Composition In Not Enough Time

/http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/inspiring-composer-quotes/johann-sebastian-bach/

Article: Let’s Rethink Our Holly-Jolly Christmas Songs

Let’s Rethink Our Holly-Jolly Christmas Songs - Russell Moore

...We ought to make sure that what we sing measures up with the, as this fellow would put it, “narrative tension” of the Christmas story.
The first Christmas carol, after all, was a war hymn. Mary of Nazareth sings of God’s defeat of his enemies, about how in Christ he had demonstrated his power and “has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate” (Lk. 1:52). There are some villains in mind there.
Simeon’s song, likewise, speaks of the “fall and rising of many in Israel” and of a sword that would pierce the heart of Mary herself. Even the “light of the Gentiles” he speaks about is in the context of warfare. After all, the light, the Bible tells us, overcomes the darkness (Jn. 1:5), and frees us from the grip of the devil (2 Cor. 4).
In a time of obvious tragedy, the unbearable lightness of Christmas seems absurd to the watching world. But, even in the best of times, we all know that we live in a groaning universe, a world of divorce courts and cancer cells and concentration camps. Just as we sing with joy about the coming of the Promised One, we ought also to sing with groaning that he is not back yet (Rom. 8:23), sometimes with groanings too deep for lyrics... 
Read More:   Let’s Rethink Our Holly-Jolly Christmas Songs

Bach: Industrious

Taylor Swift: Begin Again (Piano/Cello)ThePianoGuys

These guys take simple tunes, and fly with it.  Amazing. Remember how Mozart did the same thing with the tune we know of as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?"



Taylor Swift -- Begin Again (Piano/Cello Cover) ThePianoGuys

The Classical School and Music by Douglas Wilson

The Classical School and Music by Douglas Wilson

Douglas Wilson's plenary talk from the 2013 ACCS Annual Conference. One of the great challenges faced by ACCS schools is the vexed question of musical training. We are dealing with a shortage of qualified instructors, an ocean of pagan filth, a lake of Christian schlock, the persnicketiness of many of the qualified instructors we do have, the normal resistance to anything new, the school day is already full, and the budget is
already limited. But other than that, everything is great.

Girl Plays Piano with Missing Fingers

Reminiscent of Joni Erickson Tada's drawing abilities.  People are amazing.


One winner of China's Got Talent was an armless young man who played piano with his feet...and sang.