Come Play for Me Music Studio

The artist is the daughter of a friend. The process is fascinating.

Some musical humor for you. Not sure how to interpret the commentary? Write a comment.

About 280 years ago Georg Frederik Handel wrote a sacred oratorio while he was in Dublin. In a remarkably short period of time he took the libretto created by Charles Jennens and wrote the music to what became "Messiah." It became an instant success in Dublin. London was not so receptive as Dublin because it was felt that sacred music didn't belong in the concert hall. Two years later it was performed twice in London who decided it was a worthy piece after all. By 1784 a mass...ed choir of 500 performed it at Westminster Abbey to great acclaim. Haydn heard a performance in 1791, and was inspired to write his own sacred oratorio "The Creation." During Handel's lifetime his music was performed by professional musicians, but in the nineteenth century choral societies of amateur musicians began to perform "Messiah" at their Christmas Concerts which were the biggest, brashest performances of their concert year. To this day "Messiah" is usually performed at Christmas. The great choruses - And the Glory of the Lord, For Unto Us a Child is Born, Worthy is the Lamb and the Hallelujah Chorus offer hope and joy to so many. See more

A facsimile page of the Heiligenstadt Testament.

Beethoven first noticed the beginning of his hearing loss in 1796 when he was 25 years old. In 1801, as his condition worsened, he took the advise of his Doctor and went to spend some months in Heiligenstadt (a popular retreat). Beethoven was worried that his growing deafness would effect his social standing. In early October of 1802 Beethoven, in despair, wrote a letter to his brothers (Carl and Johann) which became known as the Heiligenstadt Testament. The Testament is a candid description of his suffering and reads almost like a suicide note. He intended to send it to his brothers, but it wasn't found until after Beethoven's death, when it finally revealed his true misery. It is thought that Beethoven wasn't profoundly deaf but was left with a small amount of hearing.

Award winning Canadian pianist, Angela Hewitt, has had major trauma earlier this year. She hired movers to move her Fazoli piano. They managed to drop her piano and ruined it beyond repair. I can't imagine her grief. She talked about how precious the instrument was to her. She recently chose a new Fazoli piano and is happy to be breaking it in.

And now for something from one of my favourite composers:

This sculpture is placed in the pool of a fountain in a housing subdivision called Mahogany. While the piano is three dimensional, the pianist is one dimensional.