“Our once great western Christian civilization is dying. If this matters to followers of Jesus Christ, then we must set aside our denominational differences and work together to strengthen the things that remain and reclaim what has been lost. Evangelicals and Catholics must stand together to re-establish that former Christian culture and moral consensus. We have the numbers and the organization but the question is this: Do we have the will to win this present spiritual battle for Jesus Christ against secularism? Will we prayerfully and cooperatively work toward a new Christian spiritual revival ― or will we choose to hunker down in our churches and denominationalisms and watch everything sink into the spiritual and moral abyss of a New Dark Age?” - Mark Davis Pickup

Saturday, February 4, 2017

MUSIC SPEAKS WHEN WORDS FAIL


Beethoven
(1770-1827)
Anyone who reads this blog know that my favourite composer is Ludwig van Beethoven. Deafness began at age 27 and marred his adult life; and yet his disability drove him to unparalleled levels of musical achievement. 

Granted there were other composers who suffered various disabilities such as Robert Schumann, Frederic Chopin, Gustave Holst and Maurice Ravel, but it was Beethoven's struggle with increasing deafness to the point of being near-total, that speaks to me. (In fact, if you look at the blog photo above you will see a bust of Beethoven on my fireplace mantle.) It illustrates for me the successful human struggle to overcome adversity. 

Beethoven's muscular mind was so creative and inspired that not even deafness could shut out the voices of angels. His immense contributions to the vast human musical treasury are celebrated and still loved, even 190 years after his death. Who can not be moved by Beethoven's 5th symphony or his timeless 9th symphony --written in silence -- or his much loved Moonlight Sonata? German jurist and writer, Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder (1773-1798) wrote this about Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata: 

"Many passages were so vivid and engaging that the notes seemed to speak to him. At other times the notes would evoke a mysterious blend of joy and sorry in his heart, so that he could have either laughed or cried. This is a feeling that we experience so often on our path through life and that no art can express more skillfully than music."*

Yes, Herr Wackenroder, music can express the human heart where words fail. Music has been an important companion throughout my own 33 year disability contracted at age thirty.

Here then, is the 1st movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, performed by Wilhem Kempff.   


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* Jan Swafford, Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), p. 290.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't listen to classical music very often, and I'm not sure why. This is a lovely piece and a great reminder that genius can live within what society views as brokenness. I pray for eyes to see the genius.

Mark Davis Pickup said...

You will Belinda. May I suggest Beethoven 9th symphony, 4th movement? It's about 17 minutes long (depending on the rendition)