Tag Archives: composers

Beautiful People

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The world is full of beautiful people. Last Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to spend time with some of the most beautiful people I know. They are the epitome of caring, kindness, goodness, generosity, selflessness. Not a week goes by that these people are not expressing one or more of these attributes to someone, somewhere, at some time.

On that Wednesday evening, a friend and I were the recipients of this couple’s generosity. We were treated to dinner out and a concert featuring Handel’s “Messiah” which has been performed by many musical companies around the world. The only thing I really knew about the “Messiah” was the “Hallelujah” chorus, one of my favourite pieces of music.

In 1741 George Frideric Handel took something like fifty-two scriptures from the Holy Bible and put them to music, resulting in one of the most renowned musical compositions ever written. The work is breathtaking. Hallelujah!

Wednesday evening was bitterly cold and slippery but the warmth and concern of our benefactors made this a non-issue. I have never felt so warm and safe in such cold weather, despite the fact that I wore non-tread boots and no hat.

As I said, the world is full of beautiful people, and I am thankful to know these friends who inhabit my little corner of the world.

After experiencing the “Messiah” I have to include its composer George Frideric Handel in that group.

Life would be less beautiful without the composers of beautiful music and those who bless others with beautiful deeds. Thank you, God, for beautiful people.

 

 

 

From Another Realm

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Shortly after the death of her husband, a friend turned on her radio and heard “Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it’s breaking…”

Smile is song from 1936 when Charlie Chaplin composed the music for his movie, Modern Times, though John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons added the lyrics and title in 1954. It is now 2015 and this song is still being heard by those who need to hear it.

I’m including a piece from the Poetry section of my blog site to show how another song manifested itself shortly after my mother’s death. The poem tells the story.

ANN

“Who’s Sorry Now”
was her favorite song.
“You’ll be sorry when I’m dead and gone,”
she would bellow at her two girls for whatever reason.
Her life spanned fifty-nine years
of hard work and harder partying…
and then she died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
We were two sisters
detailing the aftermath of her death.
Sorting clothes, memorabilia, and personal papers,
we turned on the Telefunken stereo
to break the deadly silence of this once lively house.
WHO’S SORRY NOW
blared from the old set.
We physically jumped!
She was dead and gone, and she had been right:
we were sorry.
Ann was our mother,
and she was bellowing at us one more time…
from another realm.

 

 

My Heart Will Go On

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“My Heart Will Go On” is the song from the movie, Titanic, that won James Horner an Oscar. And now he is gone…killed in a plane crash on June 22nd, at age sixty-one. But his heart will go on in all the music this brilliant composer has left behind.

On the weekend we were saddened by the deaths of two more of our church members. But I have no doubt that their hearts will go on in the memories of the loved ones they have left behind…hearts that knew and shared love…hearts that measured countless beats over a lifetime.

I remember being at a funeral years ago for a young woman who died too early in life from a brain tumor. She had requested that a song be dedicated to her family at the end of the service. The words were from the song “You’ve Got a Friend” and were heard softly in the hushed room. “Just call out my name, and you know where ever I am I’ll come running to see you again…”

You can be sure that that young woman’s heart will go on forever in the hearts of her family and friends.

So, if you are grieving, whether from a past or recent loss, I hope you can hear your loved one’s words…”my heart will go on”…and take heart.