Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Henryk Gorecki- Symphony No. 3- Lento Y Largo- Tranquillissimo

On September 25, 1944, a young girl of 18 years old named Helena Wanda Błażusiakówna, was incarcerated.
Her jail cell was located in the town of Zakopane, which lies at the foot of the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland-a Nazi prison.
Her prison cell was shared with many.
In this particular prison, there were later found several inscriptions on the wall.
"The whole wall was covered with inscriptions screaming out loud: 'I'm innocent', 'Murderers', 'Executioners', 'Free me', 'You have to save me'."
Young Helena left an inscription, too.
However, a seemingly different tone was felt in hers.
It was almost an apology for having been captured.
It said, "Oh Mamma do not cry—Immaculate Queen of Heaven support me always."
When composer Henryk Gorecki, also from southern Poland, learned of this he stated, "She does not despair, does not cry, does not scream for revenge. She does not think about herself; whether she deserves her fate or not. Instead, she only thinks about her mother: because it is her mother who will experience true despair. This inscription was something extraordinary. And it really fascinated me."
I'm not sure how I would respond in the face of such terror, but the story definitely inspires me, as does the music, featured here, that came from it.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Cedarmont Kids- Deep and Wide

If you've been reading this blog, you know that Wifey and I recently celebrated 13 awesome years of marriage.
To celebrate, we took a cheap Spirit Air flight to Myrtle Beach.
We got a great deal on a waterfront room and stayed 3 nights.
The first two days were pretty chilly, but days 3 and 4 were very nice.
We enjoyed the time away, the peace and quiet, and just enjoying each other's company.
Oh...did I mention the good food?
The word "calabash" is now part of my vocabulary.
The last time that I had been to Myrtle Beach was just before my Pop (grandfather) died.
We spent many a summer camping at Lakewood Family Campground with my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.
Pop passed when I was a junior in high school so we're talking about 25 years since I had been there.
It was neat going to the newly renovated Boardwalk and going in the arcade that I stayed and played in so many summers ago.
One afternoon while we were there, I asked Wifey if she cared if we drove by the old campground.
She didn't care so we headed that way.
We got there and they said that we could drive through.
Wow...so many memories.
The pool with the waterfall, the smelly bathhouses, and the pavilion.
Lakewood was a Christian-run organization and in the summertime, they had church services on Sunday and many times weekly Bible school for the kids.
I walked through the room, which was empty at this time of year, and gazed around.
Suddenly, emotions got the best of me, and tears sprang up in my eyes...
For it was here, in this very room, that I gave my life to the Lord at the age of 7.
I looked out one of the windows at the surf coming in and whispered a simple "thank you".
I regained my composure (I don't think Wifey even noticed I had lost it), and made my way to the door.
One of the songs that we sang back then was "You are the vine and we are the branches, His banner over me is love."
Another is this one, "Deep and Wide".