Here’s a few lovely little bits from my reading:
From Every Little Thing by James Herriot
Siegfried’s words at the beginning of our partnership came back to me. “Our profession offers unparalleled opportunities for making a chump of yourself.”
From The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, on Temptation
Don’t underestimate the power of a temptation. Don’t overestimate your power to resist temptation…Yes, temptations are often useful, whether they come in small packages or large. But how can this be? They bring us low, purge, scourge, and school us in the fire; that’s to say, they scare the living daylights out of us.
We do have some success in the fight. But as one temptation or tribulation is dispatched, another soon takes its place. Many seek to flee temptation altogether. Alas, the escape route is clogged, and the refugee is destined to succomb!
Advancing to the rear, then, isn’t the answer. We can’t hope to conquer that way. But through spiritual cunning–that’s to say, through Patience and True Humility–we become the stronger, and the tempters have to try harder.
We do have some success in the fight. But as one temptation or tribulation is dispatched, another soon takes its place. Many seek to flee temptation altogether. Alas, the escape route is clogged, and the refugee is destined to succomb!
Advancing to the rear, then, isn’t the answer. We can’t hope to conquer that way. But through spiritual cunning–that’s to say, through Patience and True Humility–we become the stronger, and the tempters have to try harder.
From Temperament by Stuart Isacoff
Below is a picture of a keyboard designed with 27 keys to the octave from Martin Mersenne’s Harmonie universelle. Isn’t it wild? Dividing the octave into 12 equal steps is a relatively new thing. If you would like to hear how some music sounded before equal temperament you can listen here. More info on the book is here.
I can’t find the reference, but I recall that the organ built in Spurgeon’s church in London was built with multiple keys, similar to the pciture below.
My favorite quote from this book is from dear Martin Luther.
Luther had praised the music of complexity, in which nature is “sharpened and polished by art.” In its intricacy, he wrote in 1538, “one begins to see with amazement the great and perfect wisdom of God in His wonderful work of music, where one voice takes a simple part, and around it sing three, four, or five other voices, leaping, springing round about, marvelously gracing the simple part, like a square dance in heaven… He who does not find this an inexpressible miracle of the Lord is truly a clod, and is not worthy to be considered a man.”
This Temperament book sounds fascinating…..I have put it on the list to buy for DD#1 birthday….she’s the vocal major and plays the piano better than any others in the fam.
Dana, it’s not a book for the faint of heart! I’m sure your daughter has enough education and background to get through it, but I did want to warn you that it’s *not* easy reading! I don’t agree with the author’s slant on history, but he does walk through it. There were parts that I didn’t think needed to be in it. A whole chapter on Leonardo da Vinci and maybe 1 paragraph at the end about his musical inventions. I’d love to talk about it with someone who has studied music history. It was really technology and the invention of the keyboards that brought the problem of temperament to the top.
BTW Just requested Home Comforts from the library…..we’ll see how I like it. I have yet to tire of Mrs. Schaeffer’s volume…so chock full of good examples.
Boy, you two! Both books are very good. I’m embarrassed to admit, but I’ve been reading Louis L’Amour (picture of blushing happyface goes here).