August, 2016, New Testament Story My Daddy Told Me

August, 2016

New Testament Stories My Daddy Told Me

MALTA (Acts 28:1-10)

By Wayne S. Walker

     After the ship on which Paul was travelling as a prisoner to Rome had been tossed to and fro on the Mediterranean Sea for some fourteen days during a terrible storm, it ran aground on some rocks off an island and began breaking up.  When all the passengers had escaped by either swimming or floating ashore, they learned that the island was called Melita or Malta.  The natives, considered barbarians by the Romans, treated the shipwrecked people with great kindness, kindling a fire because of the rain and cold, and made them feel welcome.

Paul helped them by gathering a bundle of sticks, but when he laid them on the fire, the heat drove out a viper, or poisonous snake, which sunk its fangs into Paul’s hand and held on.  The superstitious islanders assumed that Paul must have been a murderer who had escaped the judgment of the sea but would now die because of the viper.  However, Paul just shook it off into the fire and suffered no harm.  This reminds us that when Jesus sent His apostles out to preach the gospel to the whole world one of the signs that would follow to confirm their word was that “they would take up serpents, and…it will by no means hurt them” (Mark 16:15-20).

The Maltese, who were obviously pagans, were expecting that Paul would soon swell up and fall over dead.  But after waiting and looking at him for a long time, they saw that he was all right.  So they changed their minds and decided that he was a god.  This was not the first time that people called Paul a god (see Acts 14:8-13).  We would assume that Paul told the folks on Malta the same kind of thing that he said to the people of Lystra (Acts 14:14-18).

Near where the escapees from the ship came ashore was the estate of the leading citizen or magistrate named Publius, who invited them in and entertained them courteously for three days.  It just so happened that the father of Publius was very sick with a fever and dysentery, so Paul prayed for him, laid hands on him, and healed him.  Then the rest of the islanders who had illnesses came and were healed.  They also honored Paul and his companions in many ways and gave them provisions for their needs.

Questions

1. On what island were Paul and the others shipwrecked?
2. How did the natives treat the escapees from the ship?
3. How did Paul help in what the natives were doing?
4. What kind of animal attacked Paul?
5. What did Paul do to this animal?
6. What did the natives expect would happen to Paul?
7. What did happen to Paul?
8. What did the natives think that Paul was after this event?
9. Who was the leading citizen or magistrate of the island?
10. What did Paul do for this man’s father?

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Clothier School, Moore (Oklahoma City), OK

Clothier School, Moore (Oklahoma City), OK

My friend, Scott Esk sent an e-mail to me saying, “If you’re looking for more historically significant schools, we have 1 in OKC called Clothier School, located near SW 149th & either Sunnylane or Sooner (mile apart) in SE OKC.  I ride bike by it often, but have never stopped to check it out.”  Clothier School was built circa 1902.  Education was one of the primary issues for the early settlers of the emerging community of Moore.  The government required Oklahoma Territory to provide education for all children.  In settling the territory, school lands were established on a grid with a location every three miles so that no child would have to walk more than one and a half miles to school.  Perry School was at S.E. 19th and Eastern.  Clothier School was three miles to the east of that; Robinson School was three miles further, etc.  There were 70 sites of school land in Cleveland County.  Two of these one-room schoolhouses, teaching Grades 1 through 8, were in use until 1949.   Through the years, the Clothier School has played several roles in northern Cleveland County.  After being closed as a school, the schoolhouse was used as a polling place and a church.  Bought and renovated by Roy Thein, the rickety building was in such bad shape that the window frames were rotted, and as for the walls, you could have thrown a cat through the cracks.  Today, the Clothier one-room school is the meeting place for the 18-member Cleveland County Clothier Extension Club.

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC43KBN_clothier-school?guid=c930705b-039c-4378-915f-6a2909b67df5

http://newsok.com/article/3517789

http://www.themooredaily.com/news/sketches-little-schoolhouse-on-the-prairie#sthash.pQhMgjC0.dpuf

Louis-Philippe Laurendeau (1861 – February 13. 1916) was a Canadian composer, bandmaster, and arranger who also held an editorial position with Carl Fischer, the New York music publishers.  Born at St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada, in 1861, Laurendeau produced mostly compositions and arrangements for concert or military band, such as the Stampede Galop for wind ensemble, which were published primarily by Fischer and Cundy-Bettoney. He also composed works of specific Canadian interest, such as Shores of the St Lawrence, a medley for band, and Land of the Maple, Opus 235, a march. He wrote, as well, on music pedagogy, including volumes on band instruction and arranging for band, the best known of which was The Practical Band Arranger: a systematic guide for thorough self-instruction, in 1911. He occasionally wrote under the pseudonym, Paul Laurent.

Laurendeau is most familiar to audiences throughout the world through his band arrangement of Czech composer Julius Fučík’s 1897 military march, Entrance of the Gladiators (originally entitled Grande Marche Chromatique, op. 68). Laurendeau arranged the march for American wind bands, and Carl Fischer published this version in 1901 under the title “Thunder and Blazes.” It was during this period that the song gained lasting popularity as a screamer march for circuses, often used to introduce clowns.  The work is the best-known circus march in the world and has become a musical icon for that form of entertainment.  Laurendeau’s version was also transcribed for fairground organs.  Laurendeau died at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on February 13, 1916.

My collection includes the following work by Louis-Philippe Laurendeau:

Thunder and Blazes (same as Entry of the Gladiators by Fucik).

—material selected, adapted, and edited from several different sources

August, 2016, Monthly Meditation

August, 2016

Monthly Meditation

PRAISE THE LORD!

By Wayne S. Walker

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.  Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150:6).  The Hebrew name for the book of Psalms is “Tehellim” which means “Praises.”  Not every Psalm is specifically a Psalm of praise, but many of them are, and Psalm 150 certainly is.  Based upon this Psalm, Henry F. Lyte, author of the beloved “Abide With Me,” wrote another hymn which, when set to the majestic Welsh tune Gwalchmai, begins, “Praise the Lord, His glories show, Alleluia!  Saints within His courts below, Alleluia!  Angels round His courts above, Alleluia!  All who know and share His love, Alleluia!”

We should praise the Lord God because of who He is and what He has done.  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).  Joachim Neander wrote a hymn which I love; it has not been in many of our older hymnbooks but is thankfully finding its way into some of our newer ones.  As translated into English by Catherine Winkworth, the first stanza reads, “Praise ye the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation; O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation.  All ye who hear, Now to His temple draw near; Join me in glad adoration.”  Of course, whenever we praise God, we are praising the Father, just as Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9).

However, when we praise God, we are also praising Jesus Christ because of what He has done for us.  “…For you have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).  Fanny Crosby wrote, “Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer; For our sins He suffered and bled and died.  He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation, Hail Him! Hail Him! Jesus the crucified.  Sound His praises, Jesus who bore our sorrows; Love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong.  Praise Him! Praise Him! Tell of His excellent glory; Praise Him! Praise Him! Ever in joyful song.”  Jesus deserves our praise because of who He is.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

Also, when we praise God, we are praising the Holy Spirit as well because He is the one whom Christ sent to guide the apostles into all truth and through whom they revealed the will of God to mankind (John 16:13, Ephesians 3:3-5).  Brethren have debated through the years whether it is scriptural to sing songs addressed to the Holy Spirit, but how often have we all sung the well known doxology by Thomas Ken, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below.  Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”?  The Holy Spirit is equally worthy of our praise because He too is God, divine in nature (Acts 5:3-4).  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all fit objects of our praise.  Therefore, when we sing, when we pray, and when we live our daily lives, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD”!

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Harding Schoolhouse, Howick Township, Ontario, Canada

Harding Schoolhouse

Howick Township

Ontario, Canada

The school was built in 1875 as a board-and-batten structure with wood plank walls.  In 1929, it was raised, a first floor was added, and the wood siding  was bricked over.  Electricity was not available until 1948.  An average of forty students attended the school which went through grade 8.  It closed in 1963 and was sold with all its furnishings.  Later, it was purchased and restored by David Medeiros and Barb Anderson, owners of Tobermory Bicycle Rentals in Tobermory, Ontario, Canada.

http://www.hardingschoolhouse.com/page1.html

A “Jump Start” to a Joyful School Year

A “Jump Start” to a Joyful School Year

Vicki Bentley, HSLDA Early Years Coordinator

Many public schools are getting ready to start about now.  The August 17, 2011, issue of the Crosswalk.com Homeschool Update contained an article that began:

As a new school year approaches, wouldn’t it be great if homeschooling could feelless overwhelming and more joyful? issue of the Crosswalk.com Homeschool Update contained an article that began:

As a fellow homeschool mom, I know that it can be overwhelming when that big box of curriculum arrives and you suddenly aren’t sure that you are up to the task. It can be overwhelming when you can’t seem to find the right key to unlock learning in your child. It can be overwhelming when life broadsides your homeschool. Even as my homeschooling experience climbed into the double digits, I still always felt more confident and equipped for a new year when I read through the organized back-to-school checklists—so I’m including a few helpful links for you at the end of this month’s newsletter; I hope these will help you feel less overwhelmed as you begin.

Here are six steps to “jump start” your joy as you begin this new school year:

Read more at:

http://www.crosswalk.com/family/homeschool/encouragement/a-jump-start-to-a-joyful-school-year.html?utm_source=Crosswalk_Home_School_Update&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=08/17/2011

East Hickory Hill School, Jefferson County Historical Society, Mt Vernon, IL

East Hickory Hill School

Jefferson County Historical Society

1411 N 27th St.

Mt Vernon, IL  62864

The complex, with a Historical Village, Museum, and Nature Trail, is conveniently located near downtown Mount Vernon, IL.  The Museum and the Village with its buildings and their contents, reflect life in Jefferson County from the mid 19th century to more recent years. The village contains both original buildings and restorations primarily from the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s.  Among the furnished buildings one finds homes of the 19th century, a one-room school, a log church and log jail, operating blacksmith and print shops, merchandise in the general store, and a variety of medical equipment from a foot-treadle dentist’s drill to a Civil War amputation kit in the Medical Building.  The 1919 East Hickory Hill School, originally located west of Bluford, was moved to the Village intact.  The Schweinfurth Museum and Interpretative Center, constructed in 1995 with funds donated by Carl Lincoln Schweinfurth, houses the Historical Society’s collections and memorabilia.  The Museum currently includes exhibits of the history of cameras, clocks, musical instruments, and quilts. Bridal dresses are on display well as many other items.

http://www.jchs.mvn.net/Village.html

http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/jefferson-county-historical-village-and-museum

Francesco Manfredini and his Concerti Grossi

Francesco Onofrio Manfredini (June 22, 1684–October 6, 1762) was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and church musician.   He was born on June 22, 1684, at Pistoia, Italy, to a trombonist in the parish church of Pistoia.  As a teenager he was sent to Bologna, then a part of the Papal States, to study violin with Giuseppe Torelli, who was a leading figure in the development of the concerto grosso.   Francesco also took instruction in composition and counterpoint from Giacomo Antonio Perti, maestro di capella of the Basilica of San Petronio from 1696 when the orchestra was temporarily disbanded.

In 1700, the 16-year-old Manfredini went to Ferrara to take a job as first violinist in the orchestra of the Church of San Spirito (Church of the Holy Spirit).  In 1704, however, he returned to Bologna, employed again in the re-formed orchestra of San Petronio.  In the same year he became a member of the Accademia Filarmonica and published his first compositions, a set of twelve chamber sonatas he named Concertini per camera, Op. 1. In 1707, as Manfredini was preparing to visit or move to Venice, a friend named Aldrovandini, with the intent of traveling to Venice with him, accidentally drowned on his way to joining Manfredini. It’s not clear whether Manfredini went ahead with his planned trip, nor is much known about Manfredini’s doings for the next 20 years. In 1709, he also published Sinfonie da chiesa, Op. 2; ostensibly chamber pieces, they, in fact, complemented the earlier chamber sonatas.

After 1711, Manfredini spent an extended stay in Monaco, apparently in the service of Prince Antoine I. The prince had been a pupil of Louis XIV’s favorite composer Jean Baptiste Lully, whose conductor’s baton he had inherited. The precise nature of his relationship to the court of Monaco, and the length of his stay, are not known. Manfredini is first mentioned in court records in 1712. During these years, he published additional sets of incidental music.  In 1718 he would publish, in Bologna, his Concerti Grossi for two violins and basso continuo, Op. 3, Nos. 1-12 which are dedicated to that ruler. Also copies of his 12 Sinfonie da chiesa, Op. 2 were found in the princely library. He also wrote an oratorio, Tommaso Moro.  One indication of the nature of the relationship is that Prince Antoine stood as godfather to Manfredini’s son Antonio Francesco; four other children were born to him during his stay in the principality.

Given even this slim evidence, it can be inferred that both Manfredini and the Prince were satisfied by the arrangement since the composer does not reappear in the historical records until the year 1727, when he had returned to Pistoia in 1724 as maestro di capella at St. Phillip’s Cathedral.  Shortly afterwards, he published four oratorios, presumably all written in the years 1725-1728.  He held this post for 35 years until his death on October 6, 1762.   Much of his music is presumed to have been destroyed after his death; only 43 published works and a handful of manuscripts are known.  Two of his sons, Vincenzo and Giuseppe, had careers of some note. The former was appointed maestro di capella of the Italian opera in St. Petersburg. Giuseppe became a castrato singer.  It has been said that his name “may have…disappeared had he not composed a Christmas Concerto (No. 12 of Op. 3).”

Manfredini was born during a particularly fertile period for the production of great composers. Born within 16 months of him were Rameau, Walther, Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Domenico Scarlatti. Against the glare of these first-magnitude stars (and the not much older Telemann and Vivaldi), the lesser but noteworthy talent of Manfredini is easy to overlook.  Manfredini was not a prolific composer, or if he was, an undue amount of his work has been lost, but there are 43 published instrumental works, nine oratorios (music lost), and a couple of unpublished works.  Manfredini’s principal compositions reflect his training with Torelli in Bologna. They include sets of concerti grossi, in chamber and church form, and trio sonatas. His oratorios include S Filippo Neri trionfante and Tommaso Moro.  Although he composed oratorios, only his secular works remain in the repertoire. A contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi, his extant work shows the influence of the latter.

The following works by Francesco Manfredini are contained in my collection:

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 1, in FM.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 2, in am.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 3, in em.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 4, in BbM.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 5, in dm.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 6, in DM.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 7, in GM.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 8, in FM.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 9, in DM.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 10, in gm.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 11, in cm.

Concerto Grosso, op. 3 no. 12, in CM.

—material selected, adapted, and edited from several different sources

F. E. Bigelow and Our Director

Frederick Ellsworth Bigelow (1873-1929) was born on August 20, 1873, one of six children, five of them boys, to Charles H. (b. 1831) and Ann “Annie” (Jordon) Bigelow (b. 1842) and raised in Ashland, MA. In 1892, as a young man, he helped to found the Ashland Brass Band with his music teacher, Joseph Morrisette; and shortly thereafter composed “Our Director” (affectionately known as “O.D.”) ,  a march dedicated to Morrisette. After earning a degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, Bigelow moved to Salem and took a position as head druggist for a store on Lafayette Street. In 1913 he established his own Forest River Pharmacy.   He married Nellie Uran at unknown date; they had no children. Bigelow also played saxophone in the Salem Cadet Band under Jean Missud.  Missud was so impressed with Bigelow’s composition that he published it himself in 1895.

This was the beginning of the march’s fame. Around the turn of the century it was appropriated as a fight song for Harvard football games and soon picked up by other colleges for the same purpose.  When publisher Walter Jacobs secured the rights to reprint it with words by well-known lyricist Jack Yellin (of Ain’t She Sweet fame) as “The Battle Song of Liberty,” its popularity sparked anew.  Widely popular in the U.S. during World War I, in Europe the tune was nearly ubiquitous.   Though “Our Director” may be Bigelow’s most famous composition, there were others. Many Internet resources state that Bigelow is known to have written only three compositions.  This is, however, inaccurate. He actually wrote at least eleven original compositions for band. Some featured solo alto sax. He also wrote several arrangements of works by other composers for band with solo sax or trombone and duets for two saxes. The Salem Cadet Band under Jean Missud premiered all these compositions and arrangements.

Another of Bigelow’s greatly popular marches was “The NC-4 March” dedicated to Lt. Commander Albert C. Read and the men of the NC4 to honor an early trans-Atlantic airplane flight. Though the name may not mean much to us today, the title refers to a very hot topic of 1919. The Navy-Curtiss-4 was a flying boat, what we would now call a seaplane, designed by Glenn Curtiss and his team, and manufactured by Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. It made the first successful transatlantic flight from May 8 to 27, 1919.  Though he spent his life as a pharmacist, Bigelow played cornet in numerous New England Brass Bands. Frederick died in 1929.  In his tribute to Bigelow published after he passed on, Joseph L. Rainey said, “When bands, through lack of ability, were unable to perform the more difficult marches, they always found a friend in ‘Our Director’ that they could rely on.”  According to the Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music, Our Director is “one of the most famous of all marches. It has been adapted by countless schools, colleges, clubs and other organizations as their alma mater or fight song.”

My collection includes the following works by F. E. Bigelow:

The NC-4.

Our Director (March).

—material selected, adapted, and edited from several different sources

Francois Couperin and Les Concerts Royaux

François Couperin (November 10, 1668–September 11, 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist who was known as Couperin le Grand (“Couperin the Great”) to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family.  Couperin was born on November 10, 1668, at Paris, France, into one of the best known musical families of Europe. His father Charles (1638-79) was organist at Church Saint-Gervais in Paris, a position previously occupied by Charles’ brother Louis Couperin, a highly regarded keyboard virtuoso and composer whose career was cut short by an early death. As a boy, François must have received his first music lessons from his father. Unfortunately, Charles died in 1679. The church council at Saint-Gervais hired Michel Richard Delalande to serve as new organist, with the condition that François would replace him at age 18.

François, an early musical genius, was already deputizing for Lalande at the age of ten.   Meanwhile, the boy was taken care of and taught by organist Jacques-Denis Thomelin, who served both at the court and at the famous church of St Jacques-de-la-Boucherie.  Thomelin treated the boy extremely well and became a second father to him. François’s talent must have manifested itself quite early, since already by 1685 the church council agreed to provide him with a regular salary even though he had no formal contract.  Couperin’s mother Marie (née Guérin) died in 1690, but otherwise his life and career were accompanied by good fortune. In 1689 he married one Marie-Anne Ansault, daughter of a prosperous well-connected family.

The next year saw the publication of Couperin’s Pieces d’orgue, a collection of organ masses that was praised by Delalande, who may have assisted with both composition and publication. In three more years Couperin succeeded his former teacher Thomelin at the court as organist at the Chapelle Royale (Royal Chapel) with the title organiste du Roi, by appointment to the King. This was the Sun King, Louis XIV.  The new appointment was extremely prestigious and brought Couperin in contact with some of the finest composers of his time, as well as numerous members of the aristocracy. His earliest chamber music dates from around that time. He turned his attention to the import of the Italian sonatas and cantatas being performed in private concerts during the 1690s.  In 1700 he acquired the younger D’Anglebert’s position as harpsichordist at Versailles. Couperin divided his time between Paris and Versailles.  He soon acquired heavy commitments to teach the harpsichord and organ which made it difficult to find time for the publication of his vocal and instrumental chamber music.

The numerous duties Couperin carried out at the court were accompanied by duties as organist at Saint Gervais, and also by the composition and publication of new music. He obtained a 20-year royal privilege to publish in 1713 and used it immediately to issue the first volume (out of four) of his harpsichord works, Pieces de clavecin. Ever the individualist, Couperin chose to group his pièces into ordres rather than suites, and relied much less on dance movements than his contemporaries, preferring the freer and more evocative pièces de caractère. A harpsichord playing manual, L’art de toucher le clavecin, followed in 1716, as well as other collections of keyboard and chamber music. In 1717 Couperin succeeded one of his most eminent colleagues, Jean-Baptiste-Henry d’Anglebert, as ordinaire de la musique de la chambre du roi pour le clavecin, one of the highest possible appointments for a court musician. With his colleagues, Couperin gave a weekly concert, typically on Sunday. Many of these concerts were in the form of suites for violin, viol, oboe, bassoon and harpsichord, on which he was a virtuoso player.  However, his involvement in the musical activities at the court may have lessened after Louis XIV’s death in 1715.

Couperin’s health declined steadily throughout the 1720s. In 1722 the Concerts royaux (for one to three players) were appended to the third book of harpsichord ordres. Two years later he issued the brilliantly assimilated Apothéose de Corelli within a second collection of concerts, aptly entitled Les goûts-réünis, in which the French and Italian elements are so subtly blended as to be barely extricable. The Concert instrumental à la mémoire de Monsieur de Lully (1725) allegorized the synthesis.  The services of a cousin were required by 1723 at Saint Gervais, and in 1730 Couperin’s position as court harpsichordist was taken up by his daughter Marguerite-Antoinette.

Couperin’s trio and quartet sonades in the Corellian style were absorbed into his 1726 collection Les nations.  Couperin’s final publications were Pièces de violes (1728) and the fourth volume of harpsichord pieces (1730). The composer died on September 11, 1733, in Paris.  Couperin was survived by at least three of his children: Marguerite-Antoinette, who continued working as court harpsichordist until 1741, Marie-Madeleine (Marie-Cécile), who became a nun and may have worked as organist at the Maubuisson Abbey, and François-Laurent, who according to contemporary sources left the family after François died.

The following works by Francois Couperin are contained in my collection:

Les Concerts Royaux (1722): Premier Concert in G.

Les Concerts Royaux (1722): Deuxieme Concert in D.

Les Concerts Royaux (1722): Troisieme Concert in A.

Les Concerts Royaux (1722): Quatrieme Concert in E.

—material selected, adapted, and edited from several different sources