Zagnut

Before getting on the highway toward home this afternoon, I stopped at a gas station to fill up the fuel tank. It was already half-full, but I saw "Unleaded $2.60" on the sign and lost my head. Unfortunately, the sticker on the pump that said "Price on Sign for Cash Only" didn't catch my eye until I was already pumping fuel. Somehow it had escaped my notice that, after I swiped my credit card on the fuel pump, the price of 87 Octane jumped to $2.65.

Huh. So the privilege of paying with plastic is worth 5 cents a gallon. Go figure. From here, it seems more like a 5-cent-per-gallon "Up Yours" note to all credit-card customers. But maybe that's the Chinese food I ate for lunch talking. The god of fortune cookies (who seems to be right almost as often as a stopped clock) gave me this advice today: "Do not hide your feelings. Let others know where you stand." So don't blame me!

Maybe it was my forgiving frame of mind, or maybe it was my foreknowledge (based on experience) that I was going to be fighting to stay awake at the wheel for the next several hours, but I decided to give the same filling station a bit more of my custom today. I went inside to use the bathroom, wash my hands, and buy some food and drink that I reckoned would help me stay awake. Today's haul included two diet colas (thank you, Lord, for caffeine), a bag of super-hot-and-spicy Chex Mix, and a candy bar.

Now, my favorite candy bar used to be Butterfinger. I just loved that crunchety, peanut-buttery stuff inside the electro-plated coating of chocolate. As a teenager, I was one of those fat slobs who liked to take the "Butterfinger Challenge" and compare the three rivals, the holy trinity of junk food: Butterfinger, 5th Avenue, and Clark bars. Only as a grown-up, while traveling far from home, did I have my first spiritual encounter with the Chick-O-Stick: basically, a Butterfinger with the chocolate replaced by a dusting of dried, shredded coconut. What a revelation! The bar was even better without chocolate!

So, for the last decade or so, Chick-O-Stick has been my poison of choice. Luckily for my waist size, I haven't had much access to it. I can only seem to find it in about one out of six convenience stores that I visit, and I only visit convenience stores when I'm traveling out of town and need a place to pee, wash up, and buy staying-awake food for the road. So I've only enjoyed my favorite candy bar a couple times a year. And the last few times I ate one, I was a little disappointed. I didn't know if it was a bad batch, or perhaps the candy had been on the shelf too long, but I just had a feeling that Chick-O-Stick wasn't quite as good as it ought to be, that it would be perfect if only.... I didn't know what came after "if only" until today.

Today, I was about to grab a Chick-O-Stick off the shelf at the "Cash Customers Preferred" truck stop off the highway when I spotted something unusual on the shelf below it. It was a candy bar in a red wrapper with the name "ZAGNUT" on it. I had only seen this confection once before in real life, and before that I had thought it was only a gag made up for the movie Beetlejuice. Yet there it was, displayed for sale before my wondering eyes. And the desciption on the package -- "Crunchy Peanut Butter with a Coconut Twist" -- sounded provocative.

So I bought it. As soon as my tires hit the highway, I ripped the package open and munched on that Zagnut bar. And my taste buds said: "Now we can die happy." While the Chick-O-Stick is roughly cigar-shaped, the Zagnut bar has the look of a Butterfinger that has decided to go naked except for a sexy fuzz of golden, toasted coconut flakes. It has the texture and flavor that I've always thought Chick-O-Stick should have. This was what the ideal Chick-O-Stick would be like. Oh, Zagnut! Where have you been all my life!

I suppose it's a blessing that I only know one place in creation that sells Zagnut, and several hours' worth of tiresome highway lie between us -- highway that I won't be traveling on for another couple of weeks. God is merciful and does not let us be tempted beyond resistance. But for now, this is just a note: Zagnut is hereby promoted to My Favorite Candy Bar.

The Spirit of Truth

This is my sermon for tomorrow, the fifth Sunday of Easter (Cantate). The pretext for this sermon is the Gospel from the three-year lectionary, John 16:12-22, part of which served as the text of my sermon last Sunday. Understandably, I chose to focus on the other part of the pericope...

"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you" (John 16:12-15).

A man raised in the Missouri Synod recently caught up with one of his confirmation classmates. In an exchange of emails, this man explained why he bailed out of Lutheranism and joined a Pentecostal, non-denominational church. He still expects to hear nothing but the pure Word of God, because Pentecostals say the Bible is inerrant. As to the lack of fellowship between Lutherans and Pentecostals, he blames our insistence on “denominational doctrines” that, he says, shouldn’t divide Christians, because they are “not a salvation thing.” But mainly, what drew this man to his “non-denom” church? What do they have that we don’t have? His answer: An experience of “joy” in worship.

The story I have just told is non-fiction. Why have I told it to you? Because it is not a unique case. Many of us have friends and even family members who have charted a similar course. Someone you were confirmed with, or went to Sunday School with, may be in the middle of this process right now. Apart from praying for them, what can you do? What can you say to them? What’s to stop you from joining them? That’s the question today’s teaching will answer.

Today’s Gospel is about the teaching that puts the “Pentecost” in “Pentecostalism”—namely, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells His disciples: “When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever he hears, He will speak… He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.” Here Jesus promises that God would send His Spirit to bring gifts to the church. So far, the Pentecostals would agree. They would also say that Jesus’ promise was fulfilled on Pentecost, when the Spirit came in the rushing wind, in the tongues of flame resting on each disciple, in the sudden boldness to proclaim the Gospel to thousands gathered in the city, and in the miraculous ability to speak in languages they had never learned. That, the Pentecostals would say, is when the Christians first tasted of the Spirit. That, they would say, shows the way every Christian must be anointed with the Spirit, and the gifts we should expect to see. Forgive me for being blunt, but life is too short for beating around the bush. In the teachings I have just described, Pentecostalism is flat wrong.

I do not say this on my own authority. I am not expressing my own opinion. This is a “thus saith the Lord” thing. The Bible, which Pentecostals believe to be inerrant, sends a different message. It’s not just a doctrinal sticking-point that Lutherans stubbornly cling to, a teaching that should never divide Christians. This is a “salvation thing,” because it’s about how God brings salvation to us. Because this hour of worship is filled with God’s “salvation thing,” it is truly an hour of joy. My prayer is that you will recognize what a precious gift this is, so the Holy Spirit may protect you from the satanic delusion that has drawn so many Christians away from the Spirit’s joy-filled and saving gifts.

Let’s go back to that ex-Lutheran’s reasons for leaving Lutheranism. In passing, he mentioned doctrines that should not divide Christian fellowship, because these doctrines are “not a salvation thing.” He seems to be saying Lutherans go beyond the letter of Scripture to teach things that may or may not be true. It doesn’t matter one way or the other. If they’re not necessary for salvation, it would be a sin to hold Christians to them, to bind their conscience, to deny their God-given right to take Communion regardless of where they stand. He never says what these issues are, but if your ears are tuned to the drum-beat of Evangelical Protestantism, you may recognize the tune. The sin of Lutheranism, what Evangelicals paint in every shade of condemnation from “it’s not a salvation thing” all the way to “it’s a lie out of hell,” is our teaching on how the Holy Spirit comes, how we receive Him, how we get hold of saving faith and how we keep hold of it, and how we recognize the gifts of the Spirit. The sin of Lutherans, they say, is to claim the answer to all these questions is Word and Sacrament.

In his explanation of the Creed, Third Article, Luther confesses: “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith, even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith, in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers, and will at the last day raise up me and all the dead, and give unto me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.”

Yet the Pentecostals would say, “This is most certainly NOT true.” They would not agree that we cannot accept Jesus by our reason or strength. Making a decision for Christ, exercising free will, inviting Him to be our personal Lord and Savior, lie at the heart of what Pentecostals believe. And to say that the Holy Ghost has called us “by the Gospel” adds insult to injury! The Holy Ghost comes to Pentecostals directly, like a bolt out of the blue, like the wind and the fire at Pentecost. After all, that was the birthday of the Church. Before that, there was no Holy Spirit. So, today, He must come in the same way.

The problem is, the disciples did have the Holy Spirit before this. In Matthew 16, Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered with the confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus said: “Blessed are you… because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” How could the disciples believe in Jesus, how could they confess their faith, how could they preach His Word, how could they cast out demons in His name, without the Spirit?

So, if Jesus isn’t promising a Spirit the disciples already have, what is He promising in John 16? Jesus is promising that even when He is not visibly here to teach and lead us, after He has been taken away into heaven, we will not be alone and comfortless. He is promising the Spirit that He has already bestowed will remain, and that by the Spirit’s power, the Kingdom of God will flourish. He is directing our attention not toward our inner feelings or experience, but toward His truth. He is teaching us to distinguish what is truly of the Spirit. First, the Spirit of Truth will only repeat the things that Jesus taught, and so any other revelation is not of His Spirit. Second, the Spirit of Truth will only glorify Christ, and so “spiritual gifts” that glorify anyone else are not of His Spirit. Jesus describes the Spirit who dwells in His Church so that we cannot mistake it for the false, man-centered spirit of Pentecostalism—a spirit that takes glory away from Christ and gives it to men; a spirit that makes light of Jesus’ teachings and points its followers toward man-made doctrines and personal feelings.

In the upper room 10 days after Jesus’ ascension, the blowing and the burning and the speaking simply served as signs to assure Christ’s church that His promise was being fulfilled. The miracle of Pentecost was a sign to ratify the church’s authority to glorify Christ and proclaim His teaching. More importantly, the sign of Pentecost shows that all the church’s work is carried out by the power of God. Jesus does not tell us to wait for a similar sign to indicate our baptism in His Spirit. Rather, Jesus teaches: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5); and “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Jesus tells us that when His spokesmen on earth forgive our sins, we are forgiven in heaven (Matthew 16:19; 18:18; John 20:22-23). Jesus has tied forgiveness and salvation to the eating of his body and drinking of his blood (Matthew 26:26-28; John 6:53-58).

These are the teachings that divide Lutherans from Pentecostals. These are the sticking points that, according to our ex-Lutheran friend, should not prevent us from joining in fellowship, because they don’t really affect salvation. But that is where Pentecostals veer into grave danger. Scripture says we are saved through faith, faith that cannot exist apart from the power of God’s Word, the preaching of Christ crucified. Scripture tells us that water Baptism is a washing of regeneration that actually saves us and cleanses sin. Scripture says the bread and cup that we share is a sharing in the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins and, yes, essential to our salvation. All other Protestants say that none of these things gives salvation or forgives sins, that Baptism does not regenerate, that the Spirit does not come through Word and Sacrament. In their view, these are just “denominational doctrines” showing that Lutherans are too Catholic and didn’t take the Reformation far enough. And since they’re not a “salvation thing,” we shouldn’t let them divide Christian fellowship. Some Pentecostals will even say these teachings “stifle the Spirit” or clash with “faith alone.”

But we’re not talking about “denominational doctrines.” We’re talking about teachings of Christ. We’re not talking about work we have to do, as opposed to “faith alone.” In Word and Sacrament God is working to give us faith. We’re not talking about a minor issue where we can agree to disagree because it isn’t a “salvation thing.” Christ reveals that He brings His salvation to us through these things. We’re not talking about reliable information God lays out so that we can make our own decision. We are talking about His miracle-working power to open our hearts, to grant us repentance, to call us to faith, to gather us, enlighten us, nourish us, and protect us. Luther confessed this in his explanation of the Third Article, but it was not his original idea. It is the teaching of Christ.

Beware of the grumbling spirit that says, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). This was the spirit that grumbled against Jesus’ teaching that it is necessary to eat His body and drink His blood. Jesus answered: “Does this cause you to stumble? ...It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Here, Jesus is saying pretty much the same thing He told Peter: “Flesh and blood do not reveal the things of God to you, but only My Words, which are Spirit and Life.” We did not find Christ’s way of salvation by our reason. We did not adopt the true faith by free choice. God sought you and found you, even when you were a helpless baby dripping over a baptismal font. He opened your ears and filled them with His Word. He changed your heart and gave you repentant faith. Today He opens your mouth and fills it with Christ’s body and blood. And when His servant on earth says your sins are forgiven, Christ opens His books in heaven and, behold, your debt is taken away.

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now,” says Jesus (John 16:12). It’s not just that you can’t bear sitting any longer to listen to my long-windedness. It’s because, without the Spirit of truth, we cannot accept the mysteries of Christ. They are not grasped by natural reason. We came to spiritual life when God found us flat-lining in the throes of sin and death. God breathed His Spirit of Life into us, like a rescuer giving CPR into a drowning child. The life that has been breathed into us is the Word of Christ. “My words are spirit and life,” Jesus says. Our faith results from God breathing His Word into us. Knowing the truth isn’t just a step toward eternal life; it is life.

So our Introit says: “The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations” (Psalm 98:2). Today’s first lesson says: “The Gentiles also had received the word of God,” and so “God has granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:1, 18). Peter describes this as a gift God gave to them (Acts 11:17). Today’s reading from Revelation agrees with this: “Behold,” says Christ, “I am making all things new.” Who is doing all these things? God is. We are not the actors. We are being acted upon. In this place, in this hour, we are surrounded by the presence of the Lord. We will soon be filled with the body and blood of the Lord. We are hearing words of Christ that are both spirit and life. How could worship be more joyful? It is not we who are glorifying Jesus, but the Spirit glorifies Him. It is not we who decide what is true, but the Spirit takes from Jesus’ words and guides us into truth. It is not what we do, but what we receive from God’s hands, that makes this a Divine Service.

Yes, there are some who find this hard to believe. It’s not that Scripture is unclear, or that we’re dealing with “denominational doctrines” that are “not a salvation thing.” Rather, it is as Jesus explains in John 6: “For this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” The result of this remark was that “many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore.” But Jesus turned toward the Twelve and asked, “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter confessed: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

If only we all held this conviction in our inmost heart! If only we felt its joy in every step toward this house, where the Spirit takes from the teaching of Christ and returns all glory to Him. If only we held the Spirit’s Work in the Divine Service as our most precious medicine against the power of sin and death. Behold, God has judged our sins in Jesus’ body, and now we have full righteousness before Him through faith. This saving faith is born of the Spirit in Baptism and Christian teaching. This faith is fed and fertilized by His Absolution and the Sacrament of Christ’s body. And this faith is strengthened by the joyful gathering of brothers and sisters in Christ.

If only we could hold these promises in our heads and hearts! If only we could bring them to our lips when we see loved ones being drawn aside by another spirit. If only we could unite our desire to make disciples with the realization that this is done by baptizing and teaching them to observe all that Christ commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). We have no right to regard any teaching of Christ as non-essential, or to view a denial of that teaching as anything but a rejection of Christ and His Spirit.

We have wonderful promises from Jesus, promises tied to His miracle-working power in Word and Sacrament. These are the only promises that can furnish us with total assurance of God’s full, free, unconditional forgiveness. Where there is forgiveness, there are life and salvation. Where there is Jesus’ Word, there are Spirit and Life. Where we live by Christ’s gifts and teachings, there is also His promise: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And while He is now with us only in an invisible way, the same Jesus also promises: “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you” (John 16:22).

This is the joy He brings us today in the Divine Service—a joy founded on the certainty of Christ’s unchanging promises—a spiritual joy that cannot be destroyed even by the down-swing of your emotional pendulum. This is a joy built on truth and life. This is a joy of receiving all that God does for us, a gift that can never be incomplete or insufficient. Any gift or work we present to God must fall short. Any worship form based on what we feel, experience, decide, or do must lead to doubt if not despair. And so any spirit that commands such worship must be opposed with all our strength.

Oppose him, little children. Cling to the joy Christ gives you, joy that no one shall take away. Otherwise, to whom shall we go? His Words are both spirit and life. And oh, how we stumbling sinners need them! We are weak. We are sick. We are sometimes close to death. But here is medicine unto eternal life, medicine that is available nowhere else. This is a salvation thing for you and yours. Know it, love it, and share it, in Jesus’ name.

Album for the Young 2

Although its title isn't exactly "Album for the Young," the intent is obviously the same. Here we see another attempt by a great Russian composer (well, Soviet actually) to create piano music specifically for young musicians. The music itself is wonderful. But will the kids receiving my musical care package be equal to the challenge?

Music for Children
Twelve Easy Pieces for the Piano, op. 65
by Sergei Prokofiev

My edition of this book comes from the same publisher as the Tchaikovsky book I reviewed yesterday. It has half as many pieces, but it costs 50% more. On the other hand, all 24 Tchaikovsky pieces put together constitute only 5 pages more than the 12 in this book. So our first comparative observation will be that that the pieces, on average, are longer and more developed. Only one piece is confined to a single page; several are as long as three pages. So one skill this book will require Junior to cultivate is the quick, unobtrusive page-turn.

Another thing to note is that this music was composed in 1935, so it will expose Junior to some of the broader harmonies and expressive techniques of 20th century music. Not to worry, however! There isn't a bar of "ugly" music in this book. If the sound of your child practicing it sets your teeth on edge, don't blame the composer; and be patient! It takes time for these skills to develop! As to the pieces...

1. Morning is a gentle, lyrical piece requiring mastery of a wide range of notes, from a low G below the bass staff to a high G above the treble staff. There are a couple of hand-crossings, spots where (for example) the left hand reaches above the right hand. In the middle of the piece, there is a passage where the L.H. "gravely" intones the melody while the R.H. plays wide-open arpeggios with repeated notes requiring finger-substitutions. The dynamics are delicately shaded, with such expressive terms as cantabile, dolce, and pochis. rit., which means "the tiniest slowing-down imaginable." Not exactly what you'd expect of Lesson 1 of a child's primer, but it's gorgeous!

2. Promenade depicts a quirky sort of parade or procession in which the observer seems to view those passing by with just a hint of dry wit. At first it doesn't sound like it's going to be very interesting, but things pick up as Prokofiev piles on unexpected harmonies, some unembarrassed dissonance, a few hand crossings, and passage of L.H. melody where, at times, Junior will have to wrestle the R.H. part into the background with all his strength. Plus, it may take some work to keep the rhythm rock-steady with all those triplets in the L.H. part.

3. A Little Story is a slow, minor-key melody over an accompaniment that has an insistent rhythmic pattern. The hands briefly switch parts, execute a 16th-note run in octaves, play cascading sixths, and cross each other. Junior will have to learn to read ledger-line notes more than an octave above the treble staff, play repeated notes without pounding them (or separating them too much), and execute a two-octave arpeggio in the final bars. Prokofiev's genius is such that even with all these problems, it is still a piece that a diligent fifth-grader could learn and love.

4. Tarantella is a quick dance in a compound meter (6/8, which is to say 2 groups of 3 eighths to the bar). Parts of it are a good exercise in the type of rolling arpeggios frequently required of the L.H. This piece may be a young musician's first acquaintance with such chords as A-flat minor. And not only does it have the first key signature in the book (following 2 pieces in C major and one in A minor, neither of which has any sharps or flats), but it actually calls on Junior to watch out for changes of key signature, from D minor to D major and back again. The piece ends with a short coda (again in D major) with its own tempo marking whose vocab-building Italian terms mean "not quite so fast."

5. Regrets, also in D minor, challenges Junior (not for the first time) to keep an eye out for clef-sign changes. The R.H. charts a course from the A below the bass staff to a B-flat more than an octave above the treble. The piece also involves "8va" brackets, tenuto marks, and eerily effective moments where both hands are playing the same notes two octaves apart. And there are several instances of the type of arpeggios for which fingering exercises were invented.

6. Waltz is a butter-won't-melt-in-my-mouth graceful piece in the three-sharp key of A, complete with "oom-pah-pah" figures in the L.H. which must, at all cost, be kept in a gently flowing wavelength. The melody is pure Prokofiev, an inimitable combination of smoothness and angularity, sweetness and oh-so-delicate irony. The last note of the R.H. part is within an octave of the top of the keyboard. If something about this piece doesn't make you breathe a melancholy sigh, you're not doing it right.

7. March of the Grasshoppers, a brisk 2/4 march in B-flat, abounds in the eighth-note/sixteenth-rest/sixteenth-note figure that long acquaintance with Chopin has taught me to think of as "Mazurka-dotted eighths." At this rapid tempo, there is no time to be precise about the placement of that sixteenth-rest. It's really more about the character of the articulation: crisp and springy. The piece has some humorous touches, passages in which the two hands double each other at the octave, a couple of contrasting tempi, and a startling key change to B major (5 sharps!) for the central section.

8. The Rain and the Rainbow is the book's sole one-page piece. It introduces Junior to the wonderful world of note clusters, such as the F-G-A-B chord in Bar 2 -- mostly clusters of either all-white or all-black notes, though with a couple of sharp minor-second dissonances as well. One bar asks young maestro to sustain two neighboring black notes while repeatedly playing the white note between them. I tell a lie; two bars do that, actually. Beat 3 of the second-last bar features a ninth chord with an augmented fifth, something you don't hear every day.

9. Playing Tag is another galloping 6/8 piece whose main challenge is the rapidly running eighths in the melody, runs in which repeated notes are a frequent road-hazard. That's the main challenge, I say, unless you count the quick hand-crossings and hand-substitutions, the rapid alternations between loud and soft, and a final chord in which the L.H. strikes the high F an octave above the R.H.

10. March makes frequent use of grace notes. After the first two bars create a false impression of simplicity, the R.H. enters and immediately displays Prokofiev's penchant for the unpredictable. Again, there are hand-crossings, curious harmonies, and even a chord that has both a G-flat and a G-sharp. Keep your eye on the clef-sign, kids!

11. Evening opens in F major with 4 bars of L.H. accompaniment before the R.H. brings in yet another weirdly lyrical Prokofiev tune. Part of the first page of the piece has both hands answering each other with 16th-note arpeggiated patterns. By the end of the page, the key changes to the as-yet-undiscovered world of A-flat (4 flats!), only to shift a couple of phrases later to the key of C. By the time the F-major key signature comes back, Junior will have to know how to use the pedals in order to play all the notes as written.

12. The Moon Strolls in the Meadows is a breathtakingly delicate, tender melody over a gently rocking accompaniment, each hand accompanying the other by turns. To me there is something poignantly Russian about this tune. If anyone but Prokofiev had written a piece with this texture, it would be insufferably cute and saccharine, but Sergei Sergeyevich knows just how to bend the line so that you sense a shadow of sadness behind the silvery shimmer. Junior will have to work out a finger-substitution technique for an L.H. figure covering two octaves. Again there is a key change (from D to B-flat); again there are note-clusters (some necessitating the invention of a Y-shaped stem to hold them). The piece ends, and with it the whole book, with a "Neapolitan-sixth" chord progression that will furnish Junior with an aid to memory for his second-semester music theory exam.

Obviously, Prokofiev's idea of "easy pieces" isn't the same as most people's; but then, he was a child a prodigy. If your child is a prodigy, or you're a child prodigy yourself, you may find these pieces easy. The average child will have to work at them, but I believe the music will reward his or her effort. For the rest, this may be "music for children" in the sense that pianistic parents can play it to their children, with equal pleasure at both ends of the bench.

So, no worries. I'll keep the book and enjoy playing it myself. When my friends' kids are ready, I'll get a copy for them. Till then, it would only serve as a benchmark to aim for--and I have better uses for the "buying piano books for non-biological nieces and nephews" fund in my personal budget.

Droll Stroll

Occasionally, weather and workload permitting, I take a nice long walk up or down Hampton Ave. in the city. I can always use a dose of sunshine, more-or-less "fresh" air, and a chance to look around at things other than a computer screen and a book (though I often bring a book along). But mostly I need the exercise, because the "fat" part of a certain "fat stupid jerk" is becoming more and more prominent.

When I walk southward on Hampton, my route takes me past the front window of an exercise club. And here is the thought I often find myself thinking as I stroll past rows of leg-warmer-clad fitness junkies marching on their stairsteppers and treadmills:

HERE, BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD, GOEST THOU.

It's nice to think that I, too, can be an inspiration to the physically fit.

Album for the Young 1

Here is a new thread of book reviews focusing on piano music for young players. It's an area I am keen to explore, first because I started playing at an early age, and also because I'm trying to put together a care package for some friends of mine on the Left Coast whose kids are starting to play. I hope these reviews will help others choose the right albums for their young.

Album for the Young
Twenty-Four Easy Piano Pieces, op. 39
by P. I. Tchaikovsky

This is a fine set of "easy" piano pieces suited to young players of an intermediate level of skill -- like, say, a fourth-grader who has been diligently practicing since second grade. It is not for beginners, and nor for gormless klutzes. Its 24 brief (1-2 page) pieces are full of charm and ethnic character, and touch lightly on a variety of moods.

1. Morning Prayer is a slow, Romanticized chorale in G major (1 sharp) and 3/4 time, and it is fairly easy. In playing this piece, however, the young musician will show his mastery of correctly-counted dotted-quarter and dotted-eighth figures, cresc. and dim., dynamics ranging from pp to f, musical accents, and a "pedal" G in an eighth-note pulse that throbs through six of the last nine bars. The harmony is mildly chromatic and requires the youngster to be able to attack, for example, a first-inversion F#-major chord.

2. Winter Morning is in a moderately paced 2/4 and B minor (2 sharps), though the key only gradually becomes apparent. To learn this piece, a kid will need to develop a keen eye to read four-voiced chords, many of them with dissonant notes and unexpected chord progressions. On a less technical but more broadly musical level, he or she will also practice the art of phrasing a musical line in which virtually every bar ends with an eighth rest. Musical terms to learn will include smorzando, which is not a marshmallow snack.

3. The Hobby-horse is in a brisk 3/8 and D major (2 sharps), a continuous run of four-voiced chords in running eighth notes, staccatissimo, and mostly quite soft. Besides (again) an exercise in shaping musical line, this piece calls for a lightness of touch and tightness of control. Done well, it will reward the player with music of magical delicacy and good-humored warmth.

4. Mamma is a sweet, pretty, music-box-like number in a 3/4 G major, with rocking eighth-note figures running throughout the left-hand part and a quarter-note-pulse melody. Technically, the challenge will be to sustain the first of each pair of eighths for a full quarter-note value (observe the stem direction and fingering!). Musically, the challenge will be to shape the line so that the strong beat isn't necessarily Beat 1 (observe the accents and dynamic markings!). It can be a very touching and expressive piece.

5. March of the Tin Soldiers is in 2/4, D major, and "Tempo di Marcia," which isn't a Ford belonging to the eldest Brady sister. It needs to sound like toy music, which calls for a certain imaginative touch. Accurate rhythm, especially regarding the rests, is essential to the articulation and character of the piece. The youngster at the keyboard may need to work especially on distinguishing between dotted-eighth figures that do and don't have a rest in them.

6. The Sick Doll asks Kiddo to play in G minor (2 flats) and a slow 2/4. The rhythm of the broken-chord figures in the left hand is the key technical feat to achieve, while musically it is creating an expressive line out of melodic notes that are surrounded by equal parts rest.

7. The Doll's Burial, with the totally appropriate tempo marking Grave, switches to C minor (3 flats) and has lots of three- and four-voice chords, many dotted-eighth figures requiring finger-substitution to play repeated notes, and a bit of chromatic harmony to negotiate. It's a solemn funeral march, building from pp to sf (is sforzando a new word for you?) and returning to pp again in a dramatic arch that poses the main musical challenge for our youngster.

8. Waltz calls for left-handed nimbleness, with the bass note on Beat 1 alternating with L.H. chords in a lively 3/4 tempo and E-flat Major (3 flats). The right hand has its own share of challenges, with frequent Beat 2 accents, rests that are intended to create "lilt" without making the line wilt, and rapidly alternating phrasisngs of slurs and staccati over what may be kiddo's first encounter with the word leggiero ("lightly"). Can he keep it graceful, light, and lively? That's the trick!

9. The New Doll moves to a more moderately-paced 3/8 time and B-flat major (2 flats). The L.H. has a "one-two" accompaniment figure, to be played in a light, detached way and attention to the dynamic marks. Meanwhile, the R.H. alternates between two rhythmic groupings that both require a certain independence between the two hands. And, of course, there's the challenge of the chromatic harmony again!

10. Mazurka, a dance of Slavic character in 3/4 time, is in the key of D minor (2 flats) and requires a technique similar to, but distinct from, the Waltz. Again, observe the rests that regularly separate the key rhythmic figures, the unexpected accents, the strange intervals (like C# to Bb, and A to B#), changes of clef and ledger-line notes in the L.H. part.

11. Russian Song is a very short piece in an easy-going 2/4 time and the one-flat key of F major. Nevertheless, it forces Master or Miss to be think carefully about phrasing musical sentences of uneven lengths. And though it is pretty much all loud, the trick is to avoid pounding the brains out of it.

12. The Peasant Plays the Accordion is a piece in the Mixolydian key of F that, frankly, I just don't get. I suppose if I had heard a Russian peasant playing an accordion in a similar style, I would understand the humor of this piece. As it is, I don't see much appeal in it. Mostly it alternates between two thickly-voiced chords, most notably (and finally) the F major-seventh chord. There is some tricky fingering though, as the two main chords rapidly alternate at a couple of points.

13. Folk-song is a gentle piece in 2/4 D major with a perky melody line. The first quarter of it has a drone bass (D) and a chromatically-descending tenor line. Then it goes into a sort of "middle section" where the L.H. provides a crisp, chordal accompaniment while the melody goes perky one better. The third quarter of the piece is all strong, cleanly-articulated chords; then the melody comes back, only with a new L.H. part that adds a rhythmic kick to the end of the piece. Getting the rhythm and the touch right is what it's all about - but it sure sounds neat!

14. Polka, in a fastish 2/4 and B-flat major, is a jaunty little dance exercising the nimbleness and independence of the L.H. and requiring both hands to play "grace notes." Notice how the melody and accompaniment switch hands in the middle of the piece, then switch back again in a most ingenious way. It's such a fun piece that I reckon it will be a favorite for a lot of kids.

15. Italian Song, a D-major number in a fast 3/8, calls for rapid L.H. work of a waltz-like nature, rhythmically tricky R.H. phrasings, and a couple of brief passages of bubbly sixteenth notes. All this for a piece very much in the "popular style" of Tchaikovsky's time.

16. Old French Song is a short, melancholy piece in G minor and a very measured 2/4 time. Cookie crunchers will be challenged to interpret such dynamic markings as the "alligator teeth" in bar 7 (kind of a musical sob, I think) and the double-dotted quarter in the same bar. Similar effects come later in the piece, but by then you'll be worrying about wide staccato arpeggios in the L.H. part.

17. German Song doesn't actually sound like something you could sing, but it certainly does remind one of German culture. As you play its relaxed 3/4 time in E-flat, try not to let thoughts of lederhosen and wooden shoes distract you from waltz-like L.H. figuration and the accented staccati in the R.H.

18. Neapolitan Dance-song brings lass or lad to the next level of difficulty, with a a crisp, fiery rhythmic figure in the L.H. and a very delicately articulated melody in the R.H. At times the runs of sixteenths, against the continuing L.H. rhythm, may lead the young player into difficulties that can only be escaped via hours of practice - hours well-rewarded by the sheer joy of hearing this piece!

19. The Nurse's Tale is a quirky 2/4 piece in C major which, for all that its key signature has no sharps or flats, is loaded with accidentals. Phrasings include slurs, staccati, and combinations thereof. The main cadences include cascades of octave and unison C's. The middle section features a pedal C in the R.H., repeated on the accented last eighth-note of each bar and tied across to the next bar, while the L.H. ratchets up the drama in chromatic steps.

20. The Witch, possibly a character in the nurse's tale, is an unsettling little E-minor (one sharp) piece in a rapid 6/8 time, i.e. with two beats to the bar each subdivided into three pulses. I called it unsettling because the tonality is left somewhat vague, thanks to weird harmony and a lack of root-position triads. The hands trade back and forth between the weirdly dancing melody and its spare accompaniment. It's got a hint of twisted ritual in it, but the spell seems to take hold toward the end.

21. Sweet Dreams begins to induct the youthful pianist into the world of music where he will find, for example, Tchaikovsky's The Seasons (a more advanced book of pieces depicting the months of the year). A lyrical C-major melody, at first in the R.H., yearns forward in 3/4 time against a L.H. accompaniment that is part countermelody, part off-the-beat strumming. Then the hands switch roles for a while. The technical challenge is to do two things "in character" with the same hand, while the musical challenge in the central part is to make the L.H. sing while the R.H. stays in the background.

22. Song of the Lark, a slow 3/4 piece in G, strikes me as the most advanced piece in this set. It presents more than one technical problem for young problem-solvers to puzzle over. First, there is the rhythm in the R.H. part, with its frequent sixteenth-note triplets. Then there are the frequent "tweety" grace notes, often preceding a note in ledger-lines high above the treble staff. There are also "8va" brackets to deal with, some interesting "5-4-2" chords, and a few brief hand-crossings at the end.

23. The Handorgan Man is a comparatively relaxing 3/4 piece in G, with some L.H. waltz figuration in the first half and, later, an exercise in the R.H. accompanying itself with both a the melody and a strumming accompaniment at the same time. For much of the piece, the L.H. has to do two things at the same time too: holding down a pedal G while oscillating between D and E in the tenor range. I suppose this is the part that is supposed to sound like a hurdy-gurdy.

24. In Church is another slow, pious piece, this time in 2/4 and E minor. Compared to the first number, however, this one is distinctly more sacred-sounding, possibly based on an Orthodox chant tone. Since there isn't much technically challenging about it, the task for the young pianist will be to give expression to its dynamics, which cover a range from mf to ppp and include a new vocab word: perdendosi (dying away, lit. "getting lost"). The final bars are a steady drawing down into darkness and silence over a steadily throbbing pedal E.

Tchaikovsky's piano music for the young would, in my opinion, appeal greatly to an imaginative child who has a couple years of piano lessons under his or her belt, and who is either a reasonably good note-reader or willing to spend time working out problems. The music is very rewarding, reminding anyone who plays it that the same Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker with all its characteristic dances. The music is not at all patronizing, and I daresay even an adult learning to play piano would enjoy it. And, as we shall see as this "piano" thread progresses, it's a lot more kid-friendly than many another "Album for the Young."

Book Binge

I've been fairly good about avoiding bookstores for a while. But yesterday and today, I went on a book-buying binge. I feel so dirty!

At Borders, on my way home from work yesterday, I picked up The Singing by Alison Croggon (#4 of the Books of Pellinor); Savvy by Ingrid Law (a recent Newbery Honor book about a family whose members all come into unique magical powers at age 13), and Graceling by Kristin Cashore (a highly acclaimed fantasy about a princess with the power to kill at a touch). I'm guessing the Harry Potter set will enjoy my reviews of those books.

Today, using a discount coupon at Abebooks, I shopped for some used books that had been on my "shopping list" for way too long. Would you believe that I got all of the following for under $50, including shipping? First, the set of Norse folk tales called East of the Sun and West of the Moon by P. C. Asbjørnsen & J. E. Moe, translated by G. W. Dasent, as well as Popular Tales from Norse Mythology by the same authors. Then Roger Lancelyn Green's Cavalcade of Dragons and Cavalcade of Magicians, as well as The Luck of Troy. Also Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates and The Garden Behind the Moon. Plus The World's Desire by H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang. And finally, A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce.

There were other books I wanted to get, but I had to stop somewhere and $50 seemed like a good place. Although, I was almost sure I had also ordered Thackeray's The Rose and the Ring. I don't know what happened to that, but it didn't turn up on my order confirmation. On the other hand, John Morressy's Dudgeon and Dragons can't be had for less than $150.00. For similar reasons I was deterred from buying Lancelyn Green's Tale of the Lord High Tiger. Bummer.

But as you can see, if I can stir my stumps a bit more than lately, my blog this summer will be aswim in reviews of excellent books, many of them classics in the world of folklore and fantasy. Oooh! It's going to be soooo fattening!!

Random Quotability

"Truth gains more even by the errors of one who, with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think" (John Stuart Mill, 1806-73).

This is an interesting statement. Translated into today's English, it means the mistakes of those who earnestly seek knowledge do more to advance the cause of truth than the correct beliefs of those who merely think what they are told to think. Or, it is wiser to be misled by your personal quest for truth than to conform to someone else's dogma.

I think there is both truth and falsehood in Mill's dictum. Consider, for example, what Paul says about the matter: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Again, "If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain" (1 Timothy 6:3-5).

And again, "Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you" (2 Timothy 1:13-14).

And finally: "In the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:1-7).

So submission to a pattern of received doctrine is not altogether foolish, according to St. Paul. Nevertheless, I would agree with Mill that a constant inquiry into the basis of what we believe is essential for engaging the faithful and defending the faith. The Beroean Christians are therefore commended for "examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). And certainly the content of our common faith should rest on a surer foundation than a mere parliamentary record of what the church, as a human institution, has voted to call its "official position." The official position must always be subject to inquiry... and that inquiry, to the "standard of sound words" that exists prior to our church body.