Bother!!

Have you ever known the frustration of finding that your favorite piece of music was not well liked in its nascency and consequentially sheet music for it does not exist?

I have and it is rather irksome.

Stress Reliever

Accept, O Lord, my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my will, all that I am and have thou hast given it to me; and I give all back to thee to be disposed of according to thy good pleasure. Give me only the comfort of thy presence and the joy of thy love; with thee I shall be more than rich and shall desire nothing more.

~Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Thank You Ceil.

The Search for Wedding Music Continues:

While trying to solidify our list of wedding music, we recently contacted someone we supposed to be an expert on musical matters. The following should illustrate why experts' opinions are only worth so much, and why they are in any case strictly limited to the context of the original inquiry:

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Dear Mr. Music,

I have heard from several reliable sources that you are an expert on music, among other things. I was wondering, what is the most exultant piece of music in history?? Thank you for your help.

~A Music Lover

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Dear Music Lover,

Some would argue that the most exultant piece of music ever was the music played on Nebuchadnezzar's command at the worship of his image. Unfortunately, the original score of the piece has been lost and all we have left is a record of the instruments in the ensemble, including, per the KJV, a delightful little instrument called the sackbut. In all likelihood, it was not the same as the 16th Century AD instrument of that name.

Another strong contender which must likewise be disqualified because of present ignorance is the music from the dedication of Solomon's temple.

Constraining ourselves to currently known music, I think I can put together my top five. Note that this list puts a high premium on the story-telling aspect of the piece. Some pieces (Glazunov's Solemn Processional, Joseph Wagner's Under the Double Eagle, and Suppe's Light Cavalry Overture come immediately to mind) are not included because the do not lay out what the exultation is compared to, what the joy stems from, or what the hardship overcome is.

Hon. Mention) Ludwig von Beethoven: Symphony no. 9 ("Chorale") - the finale with the "Ode to Joy" is a high and moving moment of exultation in the triumph of man over nature. It takes an hour to get to this point, however, and as nice as the music building up to it is, it does not lay out sufficient groundwork to point to the purpose of the joy.

5) Johannes Brahms: Ein Deuches Requiem - the jubilance in this piece is very calm and peaceful, which prevents it from taking the top prize, but nonetheless, a exultant look at the temporal and eternal fate of man.

4) John Williams: Star Wars (particularly the opening titles and the final scene of "A New Hope") - Although there is a lot of "incidental" music to accompany various scenes in this film score, the opening titles provide a forecast of the glorious victory to come for the Rebel Alliance. The music in the final scene gives a sense of the hero's welcome and jubilation for the victory over the greatest implement of death in its day (and galaxy).

3) Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco - this nationalistic opera begins with the children of Israel in captivity in Babylon. Their return to Israel makes for great exultation.

2) Pyotr Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture - Battle and hardship give way to great rejoicing, celebratory artillery fire, and pealing bells. Who wouldn't be happy when the French have left?

1) George Frederick Handel: Messiah - Man is in a hopeless position, God promises salvation, He sends His son to effect that salvation at great price. Music demonstrates pathos, soars to exultation. Hallelujah!

Mr. Music

Invitations

Our invitations have been ordered and the post office has kindly delivered them. When these summons arrive in your mailbox, you will have everything you need to be a good guest. If you are not sufficiently supplied with wedding etiquette, please contact this lady.

A Few Vital Stats

No promise of more details later, but for what it's worth:

Means of meeting: Jenny directed Shaw's Arms and the Man in which I was the lead actor.

Credits for the beginning (The short list that leaves important people out): Our four parents, Beth (and her parents), David, David, Joanna, Kent & Rosaria, Thomas & Carrie.

Beginning of official courtship: December 2003 (Yes, I do know the exact day, but do you need to know... ;-)

Means of Approach: Letter of introduction followed by phone interview (Her parents were already familiar with me because of her conversations with them, so fortunately, the introduction was minimally awkward as far as this sort of thing goes.)

Random bit of trivia: I only had about 6 minutes left on my calling card (remember back when people used to use those things? :-D) when I called Jenny's father about us-hood, so I ended up making the call on my ever-generous roommate's cell phone.

Engagement: March 6, 2005 in Occoquan, Virginia. Dinner at Sea, Sea, & Co., then a walk that "happened" to run across a footbidge spanning the Occoquan River near a waterfall.

Ring: Ask in person

Wedding: February 25, 2006

Wouldn't It Be Nice

Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long
And wouldn’t it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong
You know it’s gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through
Happy times together we’ve been spending
I wish that every kiss was neverending
Wouldn’t it be nice

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true
Baby then there wouldn’t be a single thing we couldn’t do
We could be married
And then we’d be happy
Wouldn’t it be nice

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But lets talk about it
Wouldn’t it be nice

~The Beach Boys

Venue II

We ought, perhaps to say, we intended to join our church this fall. Happily that event coincides with our wedding plans, allowing us to use the chosen building. It is not as though we would have joined another church just to use their building....though we were tempted!

Venue

We have sent in all the information in our application to use the church building. Additionally, we have begun membership classes at our church so that we will be allowed to use the building come February.

The Beginning

This is now our wedding web page. Mostly, it is just the bare bones information that people want. We may surprise you every once in a while, however. Oh, and the registries are on the right.