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Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas Decorations Part 2

I know it's after Christmas, but I thought you still might enjoy seeing more Christmas decorations.

Here are some of my favorite ornaments from our tree:


These bells are Mara's.


I really like this cardinal.

Dad says this is his
favorite ornament.

You can't really see her, but this
ballerina spins in a circle!

We always use this tree topper.

The spinning carousel is Helena's.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Messiah 53: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain

Revelation 5:12-13
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

Merry Christmas! I hope you've enjoyed listening to all these videos of beautiful Christian music.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Messiah 52: If God be for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31-34
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

(The text of the aria leaves out verse 32.)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Messiah 51: But thanks be to God

I Corinthians 15:57
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This concludes the passage from I Corinthians. Most of the third part of Messiah is from I Corinthians.

I found out that this is the first time in the whole Messiah that Jesus' name occurs.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Messiah 50: O death, where is thy sting?

I Corinthians 15:55-56
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Messiah 49: Then shall be brought to pass

I Corinthians 15:54
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Messiah 48: The trumpet shall sound

I Corinthians 15:52-53
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Messiah 47: Behold, I tell you a mystery

I Corinthians 15:51-52
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Messiah 46: Since by man came death

I Corinthians 15:21
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Messiah 45: I know that my Redeemer liveth

Job 19:25-26
25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

I Corinthians 15:20
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

This is the beginning of Part 3 of Messiah.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Messiah 44: Hallelujah!

Rev 19:6
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Rev 11:15
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 19:16
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

My big sister thinks this is rather appropriate timing (completely coincidental, of course), as today is the day she finishes finals.

But seriously though, this song is expressing joy that Jesus will have a future reign. He will be the king of kings over the earth. Isn't that something to look forward to?



A concert hall or recording studio isn't the only place you're allowed to sing this. In the next video, a bunch of people in a food court stand up a few of time and start singing from memory!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Messiah 43: Thou shalt break them

Psalm 2:9
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.


This guy also looks like he's wearing a wig, but at least he's not standing in a kitchen. (He's not the person singing; he's the composer.) (If you don't know what we're talking about, you should go back to Messiah #40.)

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Messiah 42: He that dwelleth in heaven

Psalm 2:4
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Book Review: Saddle Club #15: Team Play

I really like reading books about horses. The Saddle Club books are one of my favorite series. There are three main girls in this series. They are Carole Hanson, who is an absolutely horse-crazy person; Stevie Lake, who is rather unpredictable and likes practical jokes; and Lisa Atwood, who is a girl who always gets good grades, and gets convinced to start riding by her mother, then realizes she loves it.

In this book, Team Play, a riding team from Italy is visiting Pine Hollow—the local riding school, where the girls ride—and Stevie volunteers to take them under her wing while they are visiting. But Veronica diAngelo (the Saddle Club's rich, stuck-up archenemy) wanted the privilege for herself, and now she wants Stevie to have to back out. So, with the day of the riding team's arrival drawing near, Stevie suddenly finds herself getting congratulated for turning from her former ways, and deciding to organize the annual school fair, to run the Children's Hospital Festival, and to run for election as class president. This all comes as a great surprise to her. And the girls find out that their friends Kate and Christine (Kate was introduced in book 4 and Christine in book 6) are going to be visiting from Kate's family's ranch in the Southwest. But the visit, the school fair, the Festival, and the debate for class president all fall on the same day. Will Stevie be able to juggle 5 things at once, or will this turn out to be a great national calamity?

Messiah 41: Let us break their bonds asunder

Psalm 2:3
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

This chorus and the previous aria, as well as the next two movements, are all from Psalm 2.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Messiah 40: Why do the nations so furiously rage

Psalm 2:1-2
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,


We think this video looks like he's standing in a kitchen wearing a wig; but the singing sounds good.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Messiah 39: Their sound is gone out into all lands

Romans 10:18
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

Now that we're out of the prophecy section, there's more text from the New Testament. This chorus and the preceding aria are from Romans.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Messiah 38: How beautiful are the feet of them

Romans 10:15
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Messiah 37: The Lord gave the word

Psalm 68:11
11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Messiah 36: Thou art gone up on high

Psalm 68:18
18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Messiah 35: Let all the angels of God worship Him

Hebrews 1:6
6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Messiah 34: Unto which of the angels said He

Hebrews 1:5
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Messiah 33: Lift up your heads, O ye gates

Psalm 24:7-10
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Messiah 32: But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell

Psalm 16:10
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Messiah 31: He was cut off out of the land of the living

Isaiah 53:8
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

This is the last quotation from Isaiah 53 in Messiah.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Messiah 30: Behold, and see if there be any sorrow

Lamentations 1:12
12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Messiah 29: Thy rebuke hath broken His heart

Psalm 69:20
20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Messiah 28: He trusted in God

Psalm 22:8
8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

I really like this chorus and the recitative that came right before.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Christmas Cookies

Our other Christmasy day-before-Thanksgiving activity was baking cookies.

We made three kinds: sugar cookies (with no frosting), peanut butter cookies (with peanut butter cups), and ginger thins. We listened to Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CDs while we were working, which was fun.

The sugar cookies were "Sugar Drop Cookies with Oil", from Joy of Cooking.
Lots of ingredients.

Putting dry ingredients in the sifter...it looks like a snowy mountain.

It looks like snow after you put it in the sifter too.
You can see it falling!

You make little balls of dough and roll them in a bowl of sugar.
This is a good time to take a lot of tastes of the dough.
Benedick washed the cookie sheets as we emptied them.

Finished sugar cookies! Don't they look good?

We got the recipe for the peanut butter cookies from a recipe Mom got from a friend a while back.
Making the peanut butter cookies.
The dough in the fridge next to our Thanksgiving turkey.
Peanut butter cups ready to go on the cookies.
Finished peanut butter cookies!
The last cookies were Helena's specialty: Ginger Thins from Joy of Cooking. Helena always says she will never make them again, because they are so much work, but Mara talked her into it.
Helena making the ginger thins.
The finished ginger thins!
We're going to send some of the cookies to friends away at college, but we definitely get some for ourselves too. I wish all of you were here to help taste them too!

Messiah 27: All they that see Him

Psalm 22:7
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

If you want to know just what they are saying, you'll have to come back tomorrow and hear the chorus!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Christmas Decorations Part 1

I know for some people it just isn't done, but we started putting up our Christmas decorations the day before Thanksgiving.

It was Mara's and my idea to buy additional decorations and put them up this early. Normally we just do a tree and a Nativity and Christmas lights, but we decided we wanted more greenery this year, so we bought some garlands and wreaths (all fake, so we'll be able to reuse them in the future).

Here's a before picture:
Our entryway as seen from the front door
Michael's had all their Christmas decorations on sale, and a 20% off your entire purchase coupon in addition. So for less than $20, we got:
Christmas supplies
Two 18-inch wreaths, two 18-foot garlands, red ribbon, 70 jingle bells, and several miscellaneous gold and red wreath picks.
Eighteen feet is a lot!
Mara hung the garland in the entryway.

We used little pieces of green pipe cleaner, so that it would blend in. We then twisted it around a couple little nails that we put up. We also did the same thing with jingle bells:

Garland with jingle bells
 Here's the after picture:
Decorated entryway as seen from the front door
We still haven't put up the wreaths or the other garland (we can't decide where to put it) but we will put them up soon.

Messiah 26: All we like sheep have gone astray

Isaiah 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Messiah 25: And with His stripes we are healed

Isaiah 53:5
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Messiah 24: Surely He hath borne our griefs

Isaiah 53:4-5
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The last part of this verse doesn't come until the next chorus.

There doesn't seem to be much agreement on tempos for this piece. Some people take it very fast, and some take it very slow. We listened to a fast one right after several slow ones and it seemed extra fast!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Messiah 23: He was despised

Isaiah 53:3
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 50:6
6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

This tempo marking on this aria is "largo", so it is very slow. On this recording, it takes about a minute for every eight measures. Also, it has a da capo (it repeats the first half at the end), so even though it only takes up four pages in our score, it is more than 13 minutes long in this recording. This is why it takes up two YouTube videos. The first video has the first four pages as written, and the second video has the da capo.


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Messiah 22: Behold the Lamb of God

John 1:29
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This chorus marks the beginning of the second part of Messiah.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Messiah 21: His yoke is easy

Matthew 11:30
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Monday, November 22, 2010

The Events of Today

Today was rather a humorous and crazy day. It started off with Dad taking the wrong car to be smog tested! He took the Echo instead of the van. Dad got all the way to the smog testing place before he realized that he had the wrong car. He had to come all the way home to get the van.
Then, later, Dad played Benedick and me at a game of Sorry. Now, one thing you should know is that whenever Dad, Benedick and me play Sorry it usually turns into a rather noisy and extremely fun game. Especially since Mom and Helena weren't here to tell us to be quiet, and since we were playing with eight men apiece instead of four. It's always funner playing with eight men than it is with four. I was in the lead for most of the game, but Dad and Benedick started Sorry-ing me and wouldn't let me get a man in Home, so Benedick won, I came in second, and Dad came in third.
As if all that's not enough to make a great day, we've been trying to see a jet fly-over, when the jets fly over our house on the way to the stadium. We had all sat outside once, trying to see it, but they did something else unexpectedly so we didn't see anything. But today, about two hours ago, we heard a lot of helicopters going over, so we all ran out front and saw helicopters fly over instead. Maybe not as impressive as jets but you can see them for longer because they don't go as fast.
Benedick is making gingerbread right now and the house smells really good. And Mom is making homemade whipped cream, which is so much better then store bought whipped cream. I can't wait to eat some.

Messiah 20: He shall feed his flock like a shepherd

Isaiah 40:11
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Matthew 11:28-29
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

This duet uses text from both the Old and New Testament.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Messiah 19: Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened

Isaiah 35:5-6
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

I've been finding that these videos are great things to go back through and listen to when I'm working on other things, such as when I was typing up my post on Secretariat.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Messiah 18: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion

Zechariah 9:9-10
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Obviously, the aria just takes a small excerpt from each verse. The full text of the song is:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee.
He is the righteous Saviour, and He shall speak peace unto the heathen.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Messiah 17: Glory to God

Luke 2:14
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Messiah 16: And suddenly there was with the angel

Luke 2:13
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Messiah 15: And the angel said unto them

Luke 2:10-11
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Secretariat

Mara and I went to see the movie Secretariat last Friday. I had never gone to see a movie at a movie theater before, and it was a nice one to start with.

Me & Mara at the movies!

The horse Secretariat was a big chestnut colt sired by Bold Ruler and foaled by Somethingroyal. He was born at Meadow Farm in Caroline County, Virginia. He was owned by Penny Chenery Tweedy, trained by Lucien Laurin, and mostly ridden by Ron Turcotte. The way the coin toss—deciding who would get which foal—worked out in real life was a little different then from the movie. In the movie there were two unborn foals. One from Hasty Matelda and one from Somethingroyal. Ogden Phipps won the coin toss but he picked Hasty Matelda's unborn foal so Mrs. Tweedy got the foal she wanted. In real life there was a live colt out of Hasty Matelda, and a live filly out of Somethingroyal, along with an unborn foal of Somethingroyal. Since Phipps won the coin toss he took the filly out of Somethingroyal, leaving Mrs. Tweedy with the colt out of Hasty Matelda and the unborn foal of Somethingroyal.


Secretariat raced several times as a two-year-old, and he was American Horse of the Year both as a two-year-old, and as a three-year-old. To skip right to the Kentucky Derby, Secretariat broke from the gate last, but came from behind to win the Derby by 2 1/2 lengths. He ran each quarter-mile segment faster than the one before. He set a Derby track record that still stands of 1:59 2/5. It was 28 years before any other horse has won the Kentucky Derby in less than two minutes.
Then, again in the Preakness Stakes Secretariat came from behind to win by 2 1/2 lengths. For the third race in the Triple Crown, only four horses decided to race against Secretariat in the Belmont Stakes. Among these was Sham, who had finished second in both the Derby and the Preakness, also three other horses thought to have little chance of winning. Secretariat and Sham started quickly, setting a ten length lead on the rest of the field. Sham started to tire a little farther on -finally finishing last. But Secretariat surprised everybody by continuing the fast pace, and getting farther and farther ahead. He finally won by 31 lengths, and set a world record for 1 1/2 miles on dirt of 2:24. Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and he was the 9th horse to win the Triple Crown.

Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and now my whole family needs to watch it. It has a quotation from the book of Job about horses in it from the NIV version. Secretariat is a great movie, and I'm glad I went. Now I think I know how Alec Ramsay from the Black Stalion books feels whenever he enters a race. I think when people write about horse races it is still pretty exciting, but they can't quite catch the excitement of actually seeing it.

Messiah 14: There were shepherds abiding in the field / And lo! the Angel of the Lord came upon them

Luke 2:8-9
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

These two recitatives are numbered as 14 & 14a in the Novello (Shaw) edition, so we are grouping them together. (The recording has all four recitatives.)

Monday, November 15, 2010

Dinner at the Lake

Me and all my family except for Mara had dinner at the lake today. It was lots of fun, and here are some pictures.
Goose parade!

Can I have some?

Coming on the run.

Feeding the ducks.

Completely surrounded. 

Just about out of bread.

Messiah 13: Pastoral Symphony

Besides the overture, this is the only other movement of Messiah that has no words.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Messiah 12: For unto us a child is born

Isaiah 9:6
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Messiah 11: The people that walked in darkness

Isaiah 9:2
2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Messiah 10: For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth

Isaiah 60:2,3
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

This recitative continues the passage begun in the previous chorus.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Messiah 9: O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion

Isaiah 40:9
9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Isaiah 60:1
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Messiah 8: Behold, a virgin shall conceive

Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matthew 1:23
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

The text of this recitative is mostly copied from the passage from Isaiah, except that the translation of Jesus' name is included from the New Testament fulfillment.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Messiah 7: And He shall purify

Malachi 3:3
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

This chorus is an excerpt from the verse which follows that of the last aria.
This is one of my favorite parts. Probably in my top four favorite movements.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Messiah 6: But who may abide

Malachi 3:2
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:

The last part of the verse is left off in the aria. Fuller's soap was used to eliminate impurities in cloth while it was being created. So like a refiner's fire with metal, it is another way of refining and removing impurities.

Handel wrote versions of this aria for different voice types. Here is a version for bass:


And one for soprano (it begins at 1:28). We all really like her dress. It's Mara's favorite color. I want to try doing my hair like hers.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Messiah 5: Thus saith the Lord

Haggai 2:6-7
6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 3:1
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

For this recitative, Charles Jennens selected two different passages of Messianic prophecy, but they are still related by the use of the phrase "The Lord of hosts".

Saturday, November 6, 2010

We Went to the Symphony!

On the 23rd Dad took Mara, Helena, and me to the Symphony. This was the first time I'd ever gone to the symphony.
They performed "Urban Runway," which was composed by the conductor, Bramwell Tovey. He is British, and he composed this piece for the fourth of July, which he made a bunch of jokes about. I really liked him, and he looked like he really enjoyed what he was doing. He reminded us all of Lawrence Welk. This is a photo of Tovey:
Photo courtesy of Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
They also performed Erich Korngold's Violin Concerto in D Major. The concerto is based on the music he wrote for three different movies: Another Dawn, Anthony Adverse, and The Prince and the Pauper. In The Prince and the Pauper, this theme accompanied the hunt for the royal seal, and those of you who have seen this movie know how great the music is. The soloist was Philippe Quint, who was born in Russia and graduated from Juilliard. Helena says he looks like Josh Groban. I hadn't heard of either of them before, so it doesn't really matter to me. This is Quint:

The last piece they performed was Antonin Dvorák's New World Symphony. My favorite part was the part in the third movement that he based off of an Indian dance scene in "Hiawatha," because it took the overriding theme and made it very dynamic and exciting. In the first movement of the symphony, apparently Tovey's baton broke because something white went flying off into the first violins and he conducted the rest of it with a slightly shortened baton.
Personally, I don't think I really know which piece was my favorite. They all were very nice in their own way.

Messiah 4: And the glory of the Lord

Isaiah 40:5
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

This chorus concludes the excerpt from Isaiah 40, although there will be two other excerpts from the same chapter later.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Messiah 3: Every valley shall be exalted

Isaiah 40:4
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

This tenor aria continues the passage from Isaiah that began in the previous recitative.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Messiah 2: Comfort ye my people

Isaiah 40:1-3
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD's hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Messiah 1: Overture

The first movement of Messiah is an instrumental overture, so it has no text.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Messiah Countdown

Tomorrow I am starting a Messiah quote-a-day countdown till Christmas. I thought you would like to know a little about the Messiah. It starts with prophecies of Jesus' first coming, and then his birth and ministry, followed by his death and resurrection. Then it talks about the preaching of God's Word, and ends with prophecies of Jesus second coming.

The Messiah was an oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frederick Handel. Charles Jennens selected the text from the King James Bible, and another version common at the time. The first performance was on April 13, 1742 in Dublin. It was well received there, but it was not as popular in London for quite a while.

The text of the Messiah is entirely from the Bible. Sometimes when I am reading the Bible, I come across verses that I know from the Messiah, and the music starts running through my head. I was reading the Revelation Record recently and it mentioned a lot of the verses were familiar to me from the Messiah.

I really hope you like it. The posts will go up once a day, but I will still keep up on my regular posting as well.

Source: "Handel" Encyclopædia Britannica ("First Published in 1768 by A Society of Gentlemen in Scotland"), the 1968 bicentennial edition.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Polyhedrons and Hawks

Yesterday I was making polyhedrons out of paper to help me with my math. I made an icosahedron, and it turned out pretty nice so I thought I would post it.

Then today I was looking out the window, and I saw a hawk! It didn't look like any hawk we'd ever seen before, as it had yellow legs, and was rather small. Benedick took a bunch of pictures of him, so here are some.
The hawk.

I thought this one showed his chest nicely.

Here he is on our chaise lounge.

Mom thought this one was a nice silhouette. 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

San Diego Master Chorale

Mom was given two tickets to the San Diego Master Chorale, and she took me with her when she went last Saturday. My favorite piece was 'Under the Willow Tree' by Samuel Barber. I was lots of fun and I took my pets with me. I hope I can go again sometime.
Tabby

Laddy

The program

Tabby and Laddy enjoying the program.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

My Petco Adventure

Mom took me to Petco earlier today, and while we were there we saw two cats up for adoption that were kind of an apricot/golden color. They are brothers that seemed to get along very well, because when we were looking at them they were laying snuggled together with their paws around each other. There was also a cat that Mom said looked like a cat her family had when she was younger. Then we looked at the parakeets, and there was one green one that was hanging upside down on the roof of the cage. It looked like it wanted to get down, but it didn't want to fly. It made its way to the side of the cage where there was a thermostat kind of thing, and tried to perch on it, but it only came out about a half inch from the wall so he had one foot holding onto the thermostat, and the other one holding onto the roof. Then he gave up on perching on it, and went back totally to the roof. Then he finally flew down to the floor of the cage. We tried to spot him among the other twenty or so parakeets, but almost all of them were green so we couldn't be sure which one was him. Then we saw one that looked like him, and acted like him, so we figured that that one was it. I hope that someday I can get a parakeet.