Music Musings 

Music and our Souls

Dear Friends,

Greetings everyone! I hope that you are staying healthy and safe during this unprecedented time of uncertainty and anxiety.  

I am sure I can speak for all of you when I say that we all desperately miss our time worshipping together every week at St. Mary’s. Our church is our spiritual home where we worship God together as a community in Christ. To be absent from our shared worship space and community for such a long period of time is quite distressing and very difficult to come to grips with, at least for me.

As we all know, music is a source of such joy and fulfilment in our lives. This is true for our everyday listening as well as during our worship celebrations. There are countless wonderful quotes about the power and effect of music by legendary figures throughout history. Here are two of my favourites:

“Music is life itself” - Louis Armstrong

“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”  - Confucius

I have always turned to music especially when I am sad, discouraged, disconnected and anxious.  As we are not singing together, praying together weekly in church, it is that much more essential for us to use music as a way to soothe the soul.

Simply put, the people of God sing. Hymn singing was practiced by Jesus and his disciples (Matt. 26:30). The Apostle Paul instructed the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3: 16–17).  

To quote the master “Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul.”  Johann Sebastian Bach

In the coming weeks I will provide a variety of musical links for you to enjoy. Here is one of my favourite pieces which we were going to present as part of the Good Friday Liturgy. Here is Allergri’s Miserere mei - enjoy!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3v9unphfi0.

Please do not hesitate to be in touch if you would like to chat about anything musical. You can reach me at 646.206.7638 or [email protected].  

I so look forward to our worshiping together in our gorgeous spiritual home that is St. Mary’s. In the meanwhile, please enjoy the joy that is music.

Yours in Christ,

Justin

“Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God 

and the permissible delights of the soul.”

Johann Sebastian Bach

Sunday July 5^th 2020

Dear Friends,

Greetings everyone! How wonderful that we are back in our church today!  These are challenging times and we are not out of the woods by any means, however, what matters is that we are back together in person to worship God. 

How wonderful it is that we have the opportunity to sing together today in praise of God. The act of communal singing has been with mankind since our origin. It strengthens the bonds of a community and reinforces our sense of connection and belonging. This is a visceral feeling of joy when we worship and raise our voices in song to God as a community of devout faith. The quote you see above by Bach has always been one of my favorites as it brilliantly yet humbly encapsulates the connection between the power of music and God.

It is worth repeating (from my last letter) that hymn singing was practiced by Jesus and his disciples (Matt. 26:30). The Apostle Paul instructed the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3: 16–17).   

In my last letter I shared a link to a wonderful recording of the moving choral work Miserere by Allegri that our Schola was going to share with us on Good Friday.  Today I am sharing a link to what would have been our Easter Sunday choral work. It is the legendary Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Sit back and revel in the ecstatic expression of joy at Christ’s birth and Resurrection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAsWR4qU

As always, please do not hesitate to be in touch if you would like to chat about anything musical. You can reach me at 646.206.7638 or [email protected].  

Sing out!

Yours in Christ,