Sunspots 970

Some things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

The Guardian discusses Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and what it has symbolized. The Berlin Wall, Melania Trump, and other items are mentioned.

Science Alert reports that Antarctica is rising and discusses some of the consequences.

The Wikipedia has an article on downbursts, where, it says, the wind pattern is opposite that in a tornado. 

Newsweek reports that Donald Trump hasn't paid Rudy Giuliani for legal services.

NPR tells us that, for the first time, a Pakistani won an Olympic gold medal. He was also given some valuable prizes, including a buffalo. The report tells why the buffalo is a valuable gift.

Some important uses of the number five

 

This post is one of a series, beginning with two, and through ten, plus the number twelve. The post on three is here.

No doubt there are more important uses of the word, "five," but here are a few such. I especially like five-fold symmetry in flowers, as in roses and the morning glory family. Some roses have flower parts in multiples of five.

I might have included "pleading the fifth," but didn't.

TULIP, the so-called "five points of Calvinism," is explained here. As far as I know, there is no contrasting acronym for Arminians.

Thanks for looking!

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall

I recently heard, on Performance Today, the fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, performed near the Berlin Wall, on Christmas Day, 1989, by musicians from East and West Germany, as well as from the US, Russia, and elsewhere in Europe, under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. The Wall had not yet been destroyed, but, for the first time in decades, East and West Germans were allowed to cross between the divided halves of the city, beginning in November, 1989. This performance may be seen on YouTube: part one; part two. The text Beethoven used was from a poem by Schiller. Schiller used "Freude," (Joy), but Bernstein had "Freiheit," (Freedom) substituted for it. "Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee," found in many hymnals, is adapted from the Fourth Movement. See here and here for reports of the concert.

Beethoven was almost totally deaf when he wrote this symphony. According to accounts, he thought he was conducting the orchestra and chorus, but the musicians were instructed not to give him their full attention. The alto soloist turned him around to the audience when the first performance was over, so that Beethoven could see the crowd's reaction. The relaxation of the iron grip of communism in what was the Eastern Bloc was apparently precipitated by Christians in Hungary and elsewhere. It is possible that Mikhail Gorbachev, who was the leader of the Soviet Union, which controlled the Eastern Bloc, at the time of these events, was himself a Christian.

Thanks for reading. Listen, and watch. 

Beethoven's Birthday

This is the birthday of Beethoven, who was born in 1770. I commemorate this event by linking to a YouTube video of Leonard Bernstein conducting a multinational group of musicians, including both East and West Germans, performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, as part of a celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, on December 25, 1989. This part of the Ninth Symphony is often used in church hymnals, as "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee."

Beethoven was (and is) noted for the beauty and power of his music, and also for being almost totally deaf, but continuing to compose -- including the Ninth Symphony -- during the last years of his life.

I have previously posted on Beethoven's "Hallelujah Chorus," which also has a link to a YouTube video.

Thanks for reading, and, perhaps, for listening.

Meditation on Beethoven's "Hallelujah Chorus"

A number of years ago, I was asked to prepare a devotional to go along with some music that our university's choir was going to be singing on tour. That music was the "Hallelujah Chorus," from the oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives, by Beethoven. With minor modifications, this is the result:

I am not a Beethoven scholar or music historian. I’m not sure of the purpose of Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives oratorio, or of the source of the original text. There may be errors of fact or interpretation in this devotional. Regardless, it will remain, I hope, devotional. The words, and the music, are an exhortation to “bright angel choirs,” and to us, to “Praise the Lord in songs of joy,” and to shout “Hallelujah!” Hallelujah is from a Hebrew word meaning “praise the Lord.” It is usually an interjection, a word suddenly exclaimed when the speaker is surprised or cannot repress her emotions, as in “Wow!” or “Yesss!”

This Hallelujah Chorus is certainly a triumphant celebration of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Luke 22:39-46 describes Jesus’ prayer on the Mount of Olives. Shortly thereafter, He was arrested. Why write triumphal music about such a disaster?

Consider sound. What is it? Vibrations of air, pushing on our ears, which send little electrical impulses to our brains. How marvelous that we can interpret these simple vibrations, that they can communicate the simplest and most profound thoughts, that they can express great emotion and beauty. God surely didn’t have to make the world this way. Why did He make sound and music? Because He is great, because He loves rhythm, melody and harmony. Because He loves us, because He Himself wants to communicate with us.

Consider heroes and heroines. What are they? Ordinary people, who achieve God-enabled deeds against great odds—Rahab, deciding to follow God when no one else in her city would, David, going up against Goliath, Elijah taking God’s side against hundreds of prophets of Baal. These were heroes. Not perfect people, but heroes. So was Beethoven. A strange man, a difficult man, yet one who overcame all this, and wrote great music. His music doesn’t reflect his troubles, not even the deafness that deprived him of hearing the music he wrote in the last part of his life. At the first performance of his Ninth Symphony, he had to be turned around so that he could see the audience clapping, because he couldn’t hear them. He couldn’t pick up those vibrations in the air. Those vibrations are triumphant, testimony to the human greatness that God allows us to have, whether others recognize this greatness or not, and, often, testimony to God’s greatness. No wonder that the East and West Germans got together to perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony when the Berlin Wall came down. Why did God make heroes like Beethoven possible? To show that He loves us, that He loves great achievements, that He wants to communicate with us, that He wants to be our Hero.

Consider Jesus. Who is He? The Son of God. He was Himself the main creative agent in the creation of sound, and in the creation of creatures in the image of God. Without Him, there would be no possibility of music, or of heroes and heroines. The Son of God went to the Mount of Olives to pray. He probably prayed aloud, making vibrations in the air. He prayed for me and for you. He prayed for Himself. He prayed that He would be able to do the hardest thing anyone has ever done. Then He did that hard thing. He separated Himself from His Father, and joined Himself to your sin, and mine, so that He might be our sacrifice, when we couldn’t be our own. Well might the angel choirs sing “Hallelujah unto God’s Almighty Son!” Hallelujah! He loves us, He wants to communicate with us, He is our hero, and wants us to acknowledge it. Listen to vibrations in the air. Listen to music written by a hero, performed by heroes and heroines, about the greatest Hero.

Here is a performance of the work, on YouTube. I have been unable to locate the English text being sung. Thanks for reading.

Happy Birthday, Beethoven

It's too late to send Beethoven a card, I guess, but his God-given talent produced works that remain worthy of honor over 175 years since his death.

One tune, taken from the Ninth Symphony, is commonly used in hymnals (although hymnals, themselves, seem to be going out of style, more's the pity) for "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." Here's a Wikimedia Commons sound file (.0gg format) of his popular Für Elise.

Someone else is more widely known for a "Hallelujah Chorus," but Beethoven wrote one, too. Here's one of many YouTube versions. The most common phrase, in English, anyway, is "Praise the Lord!" Amen.

Thanks for reading. Listen to Beethoven.

Happy Birthday, Beethoven!

Today or maybe tomorrow (see next link) is the Birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest composers of all time, perhaps the greatest.

I make no claim to be familiar with all of his works, but I do enjoy hearing the symphonies, the piano and other concertos, and other Beethoven works. God gave him tremendous talent.

We will be traveling for several days, and I don't expect to post, except, God willing, to continue my series on the hymns of Charles Wesley, post a Sunspots or two, and also one Christmas post -- please bear in mind that I'm a biologist -- I wouldn't expect a non-biologist to have considered that aspect of the Christmas story.

Thanks for reading.