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I was asked a question once to which I had no answer, and to which I still don't have a complete answer. The question was, "Why do you musick?" which is the academic way of asking "Why do you make music?" As a musician--and someone who hopes to teach the next generation of musicians--I need to find my answer.
Recently, I was shown my answer. I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Southeastern Division Conference of the American Choral Director's Association a few weeks ago, and heard many, many beautiful concerts and choirs. They, almost without exception, sang with technical proficiency and skill, but not always with feeling. On Sabbath morning there was one more concert, with an all sacred repertoire, so I decided to attend. It was held at a church, which already led to a more worshipful experience, but there was also feeling and meaning behind what the choirs sang. They were worshipping God through their music. They were no less skilled than the other choirs from the week, but there was added beauty in their music because it was not a performance. It was an act of worship to the Creator of music. So, why do I musick? I musick because I have a gift from God that I want to share with others. I musick because I have been given a message about God's love that I must share with the world. But most importantly, I musick because God has done so much for me, and I want to say "thank you" to Him. I want to praise His name for the rest of my life. ~~~ There is singing up in Heaven such as we have never known, Where the angels sing the praises of the Lamb upon the throne, Their sweet harps are ever tuneful, and their voices always clear, O that we might be more like them while we serve the Master here! Holy, holy, is what the angels sing, And I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring; But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings, For angels never felt the joys that our salvation brings. But I hear another anthem, blending voices clear and strong, “Unto Him Who hath redeemed us and hath bought us,” is the song; We have come through tribulation to this land so fair and bright, In the fountain freely flowing He hath made our garments white. Holy, holy, is what the angels sing, And I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring; But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings, For angels never felt the joys that our salvation brings. Then the angels stand and listen, for they cannot join the song, Like the sound of many waters, by that happy, blood washed throng, For they sing about great trials, battles fought and vict’ries won, And they praise their great Redeemer, who hath said to them, “Well done.” Holy, holy, is what the angels sing, And I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring; But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings, For angels never felt the joys that our salvation brings. So, although I’m not an angel, yet I know that over there I will join a blessèd chorus that the angels cannot share; I will sing about my Savior, who upon dark Calvary Freely pardoned my transgressions, died to set a sinner free. Holy, holy, is what the angels sing, And I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring; But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings, For angels never felt the joys that our salvation brings.
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The orchestra starts. Strings and a few winds and brass. It sounds like a great multitude is walking--almost marching. Then the choir comes in:
The men and altos sing above Philipp Nicolai's chorale tune: Wachet auf! Wachet auf! Wake up! Wake up! It's the story of the ten wise virgins from Matthew 25. They all had their lamps, but fell asleep when the Bridgroom failed to come when expected. When the Bridegroom finally did appear, only 5 of the virgins had enough oil. I write this on October 22nd, a day that will mean a lot to my Seventh-day Adventist friends and readers, but not a lot to anyone else. The short version of the story says that William Miller, a Deist turned Baptist preacher studied the Bible extensively and came to the conclusion that Jesus would return to this earth to cleanse the sanctuary (see Daniel 8:14) somewhere around 1843, finally settling on Samuel Snow's date of October 22, 1844. That day, Yom Kippur, was the fulfillment of the 2300 day prophecy. But Jesus didn't come. Later revelations showed that Jesus wasn't supposed to come that day, but instead moved on to the heavenly judgment, actively proving to the universe that God is just and that sinners who ask for his cleansing blood will receive it. Bach to Bach... We're in the middle movement now of the cantata no. 140. It's the very familiar "Sleepers Awake."
William Miller was the watchman. He said that Jesus was coming! With the best light he had, he even tried to set a date. But most importantly he shared the love of Jesus. That was his main point. He said "Jesus is coming," but also, more importantly, shared the love of Christ and the importance of having a saving relationship with him.
Adventists learned not to set dates. We learned that setting the date isn't important. It's just important to be ready, to have our lamps trimmed and burning. After the Great Disappointment, William Miller didn't give up hope! He wrote in "The Midnight Cry" on December 5, 1855 the following note, "Although I have been twice disappointed, I am not yet cast down or discouraged... I have fixed my mind upon another time, and here I mean to stand until God gives me more light--and that is Today, TODAY, and TODAY until He comes, and I see Him for whom my soul yearns." I think my favorite (or at least one of my favorite) old Advent songs is "We Know Not the Hour" (SDAH 604), especially the refrain. The women and men split several times, though only for a few notes each time. The women sing "He will come" with a dotted crunch of a full step and the men sing quarter notes in octaves "He will come." To me those quarter notes are as effective as any Baroque motor rhythm to keep the assurance of Christ's soon coming. The Adventist pionners had faith in Jesus coming, even when their hearts had been broken by his failure to appear on October 22, 1844. But their faith never wavered. "He will come" was their eternal song. The Advent movement should never have lasted. William Miller was wrong. He was wrong in 1843 and he was wrong again in 1844. All of his followers should have given up and lost their faith. So why didn't they?
The only reason I can give is that they felt God's leading. Even though their hearts kept being broken, they knew that He was leading them. The Adventist church has a mission: to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His Heavenly Ministry and His Soon Return. But we weren't given a mission without something to strengthen us. We were given a rich history of God's care and leading. About a week ago I had the chance to present an Evensong program at the Collegedale SDA church. We closed the Sabbath by reviewing some of the ways that the Holy Spirit has led our church. We didn't just hear stories, though. We sang. Music is a language unto itself. It can say what a sermon simply can't. So we sang. And the congregation sang. One thing I dislike is how we don't encourage everyone to open their hymnals. But I made them. And they sang. Well. We have a past, we have hope and a future! No matter how bad our life may (and will) get, we have proof from our history that God cares and that he will provide for us. Always! I had the chance to go up to the sites of our Adventist heritage this past weekend and kept a journal. I'll share portions of it in the next few days. In all honesty, the last two days stunk! The short version of the story (that doesn't give away information you don't need) is that I got in some minor trouble for something that shouldn't be an issue at all. And I was mad! I was livid! I was trying to vent out my anger, and my poor old piano could barely take it! I was playing out of my favorite spread in the hymnal--nos. 509 and 510. I started with 510, which is probably my favorite minor-key German chorale, "If You But Trust in God to Guide You" (Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten). This is just fiery enough that I was hoping that it would help me vent some of the annoyance that I was feeling. Then I turned to 509, "How Firm a Foundation," which has two of my favorite verses in all hymnody: When thro' the deep waters I call thee to go, Then I remembered that Emily said that the words to How Firm a Foundation worked really well to Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (ST. DENIO). So I turned to no. 21 in my hymnal and began to play, trying to sing: The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, And is still didn't help. I was still angry. I was still wanting vindication! That was Thursday. Friday was no better, in fact it was probably even more frustrating: I got into more of the same trouble about the thing that I didn't talk about, I had to work longer hours that I wanted and I was frankly tired and frustrated. I often start singing Choir music when I'm at home, and oftentimes I don't notice what I'm doing. But I did yesterday. I started singing Felix Mendelssohn's German setting of Psalm 43, "Richte mich, Gott."
And that shut me up. I had been yelling so all could hear, "Vindicate me, O God!" and I was ignoring the Holy Spirit telling me, "Hope in God!" Another translation says, "Wait for God!" The Holy Spirit had to splash me with cold water in order for me to shut up long enough to hear what I needed to hear. I needed to hear that God will work it out, I just need to give it to him to fix! Take it, Father. It's yours. I don't want it anymore.
And that's how I was shut up by Mendelssohn and Psalm 43. Scripture taken from the New King James Version (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata no. 21, “Ich hatte veil Bekümmernis,” BWV 21
Choir/Orchestra: Concentus musicus Wien | Wiener Sängerknaben | Chorus Viennensis Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt Soloists: Soprano: Anonymous Boy from Vienna Boys' Choir | Tenor: Kurt Equiluz | Bass: Walker Wyatt CD Label/#: TELDEC 2564 69943-7 On Friday night (7.19.2013) I was scheduled to work Inspirational Classics on WSMC. The previous Friday we had gotten a box set of the complete sacred cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, and I wanted to be sure to use them in Sabbath programming. They're wonderful music, and have a great message to them! I've been on a journey listening to the complete cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach, but am only on 21 (of approximately 200). I listen to them while studying the score, complete with translation. This cantata was written to go with the readings from the third Sunday after Trinity 1713, but it wasn't performed until 17 June 1714. This cantata was for that week, but it was also written as a farewell to one of Bach's students, Prince Johann Ernst of Sachsen-Weimar. The Prince was sick, and going to a spa where he later died. It's based on a favorite Vivaldi concerto of the Prince, and the text is very comforting. The cantata is in two parts, and the first of them is, frankly, very dreary! It starts off with the choir singing from Psalm 94:19. "I had much trouble in my heart..." They do finish the verse ("but your consolations revive my soul."), but the rest of that half almost accuses God: "What? [H]ave You therefore, my God, in my trouble, in my fear and despair, turned completely away from me? Ah! [D]o you not know Your child? ... Once You were my delight and now have become grim towards me; I seek You in all places... yet my woe and ah! appears now, as though completely unknown to you. In the tenor aria in the first part, Bach's librettist uses the metaphor of a boat on the ocean and compares it to how the character believes to have been abandoned by God. That half of the cantata ends with a chorale movement with text taken from Psalm 42:12. "Why do you trouble yourself, my soul, and are so restless in me? Wait for God; for I will yet thank Him, since He is the help of my countenance and my God." The second part of the cantata opens with a dialogue (in both a Recitative and Aria) between Jesus and the soul of the singer: (Recitative) Soul: Ah, Jesus, my peace, my light, where are you? Jesus: O soul behold! I am with you. Soul: With me? Here is only darkest night. Jesus: I am Your faithful Friend, that also watches in the darkness, that might harbor dire mischief. Soul: Dawn then with Your radiance and light of comfort. Jesus: The hour approaches already, when your crown of battle will become a sweet refreshment. (Aria) Soul: Come, my Jesus, and revive, Jesus: Yes, I come and revive Soul: And delight with Your glance. Jesus: You with my glance of grace. Then they really get into a dialogue, and almost even an argument. These two lines parts are beings sung together, as a sort of call and response: Soul: This soul, shall die and not live and in its pit of unhappiness completely perish? I must constantly over in anguish. Jesus: Your soul, shall live, and not die here out of this cave of injury you shall inherit Salvation! Through this juice of the vine. Soul: Yes, ah yes, I am lost! No, ah no, You hate me! Ah, Jesus, thoroughly sweeten my soul and heart! Jesus: No, ah no, you are chosen! Yes, ah yes, I love you! Fade, you troubles, disappear, you pains! There is a tenor aria (movement 10), and it shows the absolute joy experienced by a person after they experience salvation through Jesus Christ: Rejoice, soul! Rejoice, heart! Fade now, troubles! Disappear, pains! Change, weeping, into pure wine, my aching now becomes a celebration for me! Burning and flaming is the purest candle of love and of comfort in my soul and breast, since Jesus comforts me with heavenly delight. The final chorus is exuberant! That's the best word I have for it. The choir and orchestra are joined by the trumpet singing words from Revelation 5: 12-13: The Lamb, that was slain, is worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom and strength, and honor and glory and praise. Praise and honor and glory and power be to our God for ever and ever. Amen, Alleluia! |
AuthorI'm a Classical musician, a growing Christian, and a world traveler. I'm learning, exploring, and trying to understand this wonderful world I live in. Archives
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