He’s the master of harmony and counterpoint, he could effortlessly compose an amazing concerto or cantata, but what if Johann Sebastian Bach was on social media?
To celebrate the 339th anniversary of the great composer’s birth (it’s either today or March 31, depending on Old Style and New Style dates), we’ve imagined what his Facebook page might have looked like.
So sit back and enjoy the Baroque master’s status updates and life events in full Instagram, wall-post and emoticon glory.
1685 ~ Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer birthday (Old Style)
Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in d minor was featured in the Walt Disney movie Fantasia and the new Fantasia 2000
Read quotes by and about Bach
More information about Bach Grammy winner
Lenten Hymn and Devotion 5, Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Brian Stevenson, Pender UMC Director of Handbells and Ensembles, presents a series of hymn-based devotions on Wednesdays during Lent.
The Fifth is Go Dark Gethsemane
“Go to Dark Gethsemane” is a Lenten hymn that spotlights scenes from the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ’s life.
It takes us on a journey from the Garden of Gethsemane where we are charged to stand and watch, to the judgment hall and our denial of him, to the cross where we witness his death and his grace, and finally to his glorious resurrection and our redemption. We become part of the drama of Christ’s passion and resurrection.
The poet repeats the phrase “learn of” at the end of each stanza, charging us to apply each scene to our lives. James Montgomery uses repetition to draw attention to what he considers important about each scene and each stanza.
“Learn of Jesus Christ to pray” encourages us to remember the scene of the garden and to go to God in fervent prayer. “Learn of Christ to bear the cross” is a charge to lay down our lives, take up the cross and follow Christ. “Learn of Jesus Christ to die” is a reminder of what Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
Montgomery, considered one of the most important hymn writers of the English language, wrote this beautiful hymn in 1820. He was born on Nov. 4, 1771, in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of Moravian missionary John Montgomery, and died April 30, 1854, in Sheffield, England.
When Montgomery was 5 years old, his parents moved him to a Moravian settlement at Bracehill, Ireland, near Ballymena in Antrim County. Soon after, his parents accepted a call to the mission field and left him behind in Bracehill. He never saw his parents again. They both died while in the Barbados Islands.
At age 7, Montgomery was enrolled at Fulneck Seminary in Yorkshire, where he would remain for the next nine years. Struggling to meet the expectations of his instructors, he left the school at age 16 and became an apprentice at a chandler’s shop in Mirfield.
After five years, he tired of the work and took an apprenticeship with Joseph Gales, the owner and publisher of the Sheffield Register. For two years he learned about the publishing business, and in 1794, when Gales was forced to flee the country to avoid imprisonment, Montgomery took over the Register and changed its name to the Sheffield Iris.
Montgomery published and managed the Sheffield Iris for 32 years. He used the Iris as a tool to distribute the 360 hymns written throughout his life. His most well-known hymns are “Angels, From the Realms of Glory,” “Go to Dark Gethsemane,” “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,” “Songs of Praise the Angels Sang” and “Stand Up and Bless the Lord.”
Montgomery’s “Go to Dark Gethsemane” is still one of his most widely used hymns, most often sung during Lent or during Holy Week. The first three stanzas are most commonly available in hymnals. The fourth stanza, though often omitted today, has been preserved in The United Methodist Hymnal.
Even though the text is now over 185 years old, it has rarely been altered. Many hymns from this era use language that is no longer common in today’s hymns or speech. Hymnal editors typically remove antiquated language and replace it with modern equivalents, but this hymn has remained essentially intact.
This beautiful somber hymn has stood the test of time. We benefit from the art and poetry of Montgomery still today.
. 1884 ~ Joseph Bonnet, French organist and composer. He founded the organ department at the Eastman School of Music during his time in the U.S.
. 1901 ~ Alfred Newman, Conductor
More information about Newman
. 1917 ~ Nat “King” Cole, American jazz singer and pianist
More information about Cole
. 1930 ~ Paul Horn, American jazz flutist, saxophonist, clarinetist and composer
More information about Horn
. 1938 ~ Rudolf Nureyev, Dancer
More information about Nureyev
. 1944 ~ John Lill CBE, English classical pianist
. 1944 ~ John Sebastian, American pop-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, His group, The Lovin’ Spoonful performed Do You BelieveIn Magic, Summer In The City, Daydream, You Didn’t Have to be SoNice, Nashville Cats His solos include Darling Be Home Soon and Welcome Back
Every year on March 17, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart across the globe observe St. Patrick’s Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green.
.1897 ~ First performance of Ludwig van Beethoven‘s Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60. It is a symphony in four movements.
. 1835 ~ Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer who, together with brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. He was the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim.
. 1873 ~ Lee Shubert, Broadway producer. Theaters in NY and LA named after him. He died in 1953
. 1907 ~ Jimmy McPartland, Jazz musician: cornetist; played for the Wolverine Orchestra, Embassy Four; bandleader; played at Newport Jazz Festival with wife, Marian
. 1916 ~ Harry James, American jazz trumpeter and bandleader, married to Betty Grable (second of four wives)
. 1918 ~ Lili Boulanger, composer, died at the age of 24
More about Boulanger
. 1933 ~ Cecil Taylor, American jazz pianist and composer
. 1944 ~ Sly Stone, American soul-rock singer and instrumentalist
. 1956 ~ “My Fair Lady” opened at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York City for 2,715 performances
. 1959 ~ The musical, No Strings, opened on Broadway at the 54th Street Theatre. Richard Kiley and Diahann Carroll starred in the show. Also featured was the show’s composer in an acting role, singing his own lyrics. The composer was Richard Rodgers.
. 1968 ~ LIFE magazine called Jimi Hendrix, “the most spectacular guitarist in the world.”
. 1987 ~ Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Starlight Express” opened on Broadway. This was the first ever roller-skating musical.
. 1964 ~ My Fair Lady, by Lerner and Loewe, opened on Broadway. It ran for 6-1/2 years before 2,717 audiences. It became, thanks to Rex Harrison and an outstanding cast, the longest-running musical to that time.
. 1970 ~ The musical, Purlie, opened a run of 680 continuous performances on Broadway.
. 2001 ~ Ann Sothern died at the age of 92. She was an actress who starred as the saucy, liberated showgirl in MGM’s “Masie” movies during the 1940s and played single working women on TV in “Private Secretary” and “The Ann Southern Show.”
Everyone knows we’re supposed to beware the Ides of March and may even remember they’re from William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” but what exactly do they mean?
The Ides of March marked the day the Julius Caesar was assassinated by members of the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.E.
A soothsayer, or psychic, warned Caesar to beware the day, but Caesar doesn’t heed him.
He was then stabbed 23 times by about 60 conspirators, including his friend Marcus Brutus, as immortalised by Shakespeare’s “Et tu Brute?”
I remember learning all about this in Latin class in High School.
I remember another movie, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, discussing the Ides of March and someone asked why a month would need an “idea”.
We found Bill and Ted purely by accident. We were looking at videos for rent in a grocery store and one of the bag boys (remember them?) recommended this one.
There is also another work based on π called What pi sounds like
Today is pi day, and to celebrate, we bring you a musical representation of π, to 31 decimal places, at 157 beats per minute (which, incidentally, is 314 divided by two).
Lenten Hymn and Devotion 4, Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Brian Stevenson, Pender UMC Director of Handbells and Ensembles, presents a series of hymn-based devotions on Wednesdays during Lent.
The Fourth is Beneath the Cross of Jesus
1. Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land;
a home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.
2. Upon that cross of Jesus
mine eye at times can see
the very dying form of One
who suffered there for me;
and from my stricken heart with tears
two wonders I confess:
the wonders of redeeming love
and my unworthiness.
3. I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face;
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss,
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all the cross.
National Mario Day is observed each year on March 10th and honors Mario from the popular Nintendo game. It is celebrated on March 10th because of the way the date appears, when abbreviated (Mar.10), it looks just like the name Mario.
And
. 1832 ~ Muzio Clementi died. He was an Italian-born English composer, pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer.
. 1844 ~ Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist
. 1879 ~ Ignaz Moscheles died. He was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso.
. 1892 ~ Arthur Honegger, French composer Read quotes by and about Honegger More information about Honegger
1903 ~ “Bix” Beiderbecke, American jazz cornetist More information about Beiderbecke
. 1910 ~ Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, composer, died at the age of 85
. 1935 ~ Nelson Eddy recorded Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life for Victor Records. The song came from the film, “Naughty Marietta”. Later, Eddy recorded the classic tune with Jeanette MacDonald.
. 1937 ~ An audience of 21,000 jitterbuggers jammed the Paramount Theatre in New York City to see a young clarinetist whom they would crown, ‘King of Swing’ on this night. The popular musician was Benny Goodman.
. 1940 ~ W2XBS-TV in New York City originated the first televised opera as members of the Metropolitan Opera Company presented scenes from “I Pagliacci”.
. 1956 ~ Julie Andrews was 23 years old this night when she made her TV debut. She appeared with Bing Crosby and Nancy Olson in the musical adaptation of Maxwell Anderson’s play, “High Tor”.
. 1977 ~ E Power Biggs, English organist/composer (CBS), died at the age of 70
. 2003 ~ Lionel Dakers, who directed the Royal School of Church Music for 16 years, died at age 79. Dakers was a stickler for high musical standards and opposed some of the modernizing trends in English church music. Dakers was organist at Ripon Cathedral from 1954 to 1957, then moved to Exeter Cathedral before his appointment as director of the Royal School of Church Music in 1972. In 1976, he was appointed a director of Hymns Ancient & Modern, publisher of some of the most widely used Anglican hymnals.
. 2016 ~ Keith Emerson died. He was an English keyboardist and composer with English rock musician Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
. 2017 ~ (Joan) Joni Sledge, vocalist (Sister Sledge “We are Family”), died at the age of 60
Grammy winner
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