berlioz says it better.

I was listening to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's recording of Hector Berlioz's 'Symphonie Fantastique.' Directed by Paavo Jaervi, this is probably the best recording of the piece I've heard yet. With a set of Verdin Co. bells for the Dies Irae, I think we can all officially tell AC/DC to suck it up and listen to the real deal. The jacket of the CD included a quotation from the composer that I saw once and chose to promptly forget, primarily becauase it seemed contrived at the time.

"Which of two powers, love or music, can elevate man to the sublimest heights? It is a great problem, and yet it seems to me that this is the answer: 'Love can give no idea of music; music can give an idea of love.' Why separate them? They are the two wings of the soul."

As a side note, my dad's new receiver and revamped speakers probably didn't hurt the experience. I love it when music sounds like it really should.

christmas day.

I'm home for christmas once again this year and enjoying every minute of it, although there are elements and people in Rochester that I miss more than usual this time around. The poem I received was described by the sender as cheesy, but amidst all of the other unfortunate trappings of this time of year, this poem reads beautifully. I'll share:

Calm on the Listening Ear of Night
(1834)
Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810-1876)

CALM on the listening ear of night,
Come heav’n’s melodious strains,
Where wild Judea stretches far
Her silver mantled plains.
Celestial choirs from courts above
Shed sacred glories there;
And angels with their sparkling lyres,
Make music on the air.
The answering hills of Palestine
Send back the glad reply,
And greet from all their holy heights
The Day-spring from on high.
O’er the blue depths of Galilee
There comes a holier calm;
And Sharon waves in solemn praise
Her silent groves of palm.
“Glory to God!” the lofty strain
The realm of ether fills;
How sweeps the song of solemn joy
Oe’r Judah's sacred hills!
“Glory to God!” the sounding skies
Loud with their anthems ring:
“Peace on the earth, good will to
men,
From heaven’s eternal King.”
Light on thy hills, Jerusalem!
The Savior now is born:
More bright on Bethlehem’s joyous
plains
Breaks the first Christmas morn.
This day shall Christian tongues be
mute,
And Christian hearts be cold?
O catch the anthem that from heaven
O’er Judah’s mountains rolled.
When burst upon that listening night
The high and solemn lay,
“Glory to God; on earth be peace.”
Salvation comes today.

❅ ❅ ❅

Often sung to:
“St. Agnes” (1866)
John Bacchus Dykes
“Bethlehem”

I earnestly hope everyone is having a joyous and relaxing holiday.