A Second Post about this Piece of Music

I am posting this piece again on this Holy Week, because it captures the meekness, agony, and triumph we commemorate at Easter. If you want to know more about the composition, the second video is an interview with the composer who set out to write a piece using common liturgical phrases with simplicity and power, enough to “knock people’s socks off.” He wrote it by candlelight in a cabin on an island. “There is no electricity or anything in that piece.”

You don’t have to know the words to feel the power of this piece, so listen in a solitary place and feel what the music has to share with you.

O Magnum Mysterium

https://youtu.be/gi51yTIQJXc

Two performers

Mark and Tim had a band concert featuring middle school and high school bands. At the end, when all bands combined to play a song, we noticed our boys were able to sit close together. Mark plays the trumpet and Timothy plays the trombone. It was a great concert.

Music this Week

I smile when I think of my violin students. I am just so lucky. They are doing really hard things in their violin study and I am proud of them.
We had another recital and Timothy played a dissonant piece with a rhythm not unlike chopsticks. Paige played the same piece years ago, so we really know it at our house. Only a good pianist can play it, so good job, Tim. A lot of the song is played with one hand on top of the other.
Mark played a couple of sonatinas really well.

Throwback Thursday time: “The Mamas” and me from Fiddler on the Roof. I am accompanying on the violin one of these women as she sings this weekend. Unfortunately, it isn’t a song from Fiddler, but it is a good one. I cannot believe this photo was taken six years ago. Many of these women have become good friends to me.

Some good memories from December

We visited Temple Square on one of the warmest December nights we have known. We were able to listen to the Nativity narration outdoors and noticed for the first time that there is a star mounted on top of the Tabernacle. We had just fed the missionaries dinner before we came, and their message was to “Look up!” Amen.
Timothy and I played a medley of German Christmas carols at church and for family. He is a great pianist and accompanist.
Timothy got his license.
We had a birthday party for Tim and my parents came.
Mark made raspberry jam for his dad’s Christmas present. šŸ˜
I shopped for stuffed animals. The giraffe!
Christmas morning fun

We were able to do a video call with Daniel and we didn’t need all of those questions we planned to ask. He talked non-stop, with enthusiasm, zeal, and happiness pouring forth. I didn’t know how much I needed to just see him and hear him speak. I didn’t take a picture of the screen, but imagine light, clothed in the Christmas tie that I was told he probably wouldn’t receive in the mail, a short haircut, sunburned neck, and speaking a mixture of Spanish and English, really fast. That was Daniel. Nothing sad about that.

Paige is with us, and moves from her room, where she is catching up on some reading, to the piano, every few hours throughout the day. Chopin, Debussy, and Jane Austen scores are now in the mix played on our piano. She is all things lovely.

Less

This week is music week for our family. We didn’t plan it that way, but there are concerts, lessons, and practice every evening. Christmas carols adorn the air, employ our hands, and fill our souls. With this accompaniment, I find I need less to be whole. This particular season has reminded me that my quest for knowledge and excellence is a little misguided. Alone, these things do not fill me. In fact, I require very little to be truly happy. Family, talking with friends, music, private service and devotion, warm meals, and light are simple needs. I make things too complicated sometimes.

Lessons learned this week

Cinnamon oil does burn your nose and throat if you breathe in the steam while making candy.

True friends find a way to bless our lives, whether we are together or not.

I enjoy having Timothy as an accompanist as I play the violin. He is expressive!

Every Hallmark Christmas movie fits into one of three storylines. And I enjoy them better with the volume down so I can focus on the decorations. Sorry.

Brahms makes a great Santa.

I was a witness to a few miracles this week. God is good.



Boulders, a Wedding Crasher, Pimpernel, and White Gloves

A month and a half ago, the mudslide at Spring Lake looked like this. But after more rain, it became clear that this mud was also full of boulders and rocks. My dad is a master with rock walls. The mountain couldn’t have gifted these to a better recipient.

(The family has been trying to dig out trees from the mud to save them.)

 

While the men and boys worked on the dirt and rock project, I organized the library at my parents’ house. The Sanchez family is a family of builders, minus me. I just like to be zen and organize decor.

I crashed a wedding gathering this week so I could see Paige as a bridesmaid at the Salt Lake temple. I sat in the sun on a bench on the south side of the temple, warm and bright, and couldn’t imagine anything I would rather be doing. I didn’t take any photos of the wedding party because I wanted the moment for myself. Plus, I shouldn’t have been there. The less evidence the better.

A friend took me to see this play this week and we ate Peppermint Crunch Junior Mints. Delightful. Except I can’t erase the guillotine scenes from my mind. HOW did they do that?

Mark had a band concert this week and Tim was a guest artist since they needed trombones. Ha! He and his two friends sat at least a head taller than the middle school kids. But he had his own dressing room with pizza. Mark has taken to wearing white gloves when he plays his trumpet. He is pretty dapper sometimes.

Two Weeks of Music


The boys had two very busy weeks of performances, from jazz band to piano recitals and piano concerto performances.Ā  Richard took me to the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera production of Candide becauseĀ he knows I like Opera.

With two children grown and gone, I see the little things such as reading, the arts, and music are part of my most precious memories. I have no regrets for the resources and time spent on lessons and books.

To watch a child do something well is one of the supreme joys in life. 2018 has been full of these moments. Well done, my children. You bring me joy!