The Hardship of Being a Beginner - Ira Glass

Whether you are an aspiring writer, artist, or musician, here is a piece of excellent advice from American public radio personality, Ira Glass.

Encouragement from St. Catherine of Siena

I have been given the opportunity of reading one of the letters of St. Catherine of Siena once a week this semester. I only relatively recently began to have a strong devotion to her, and I believe that she has a great deal to teach me particularly in regards to loving Mother Church in spite of her faults and failings.    Catherine's motherly spirit comes across through her letters. She wrote to people of every station and class, from bishops to poets to friars.  One of her closest friends and confessors was Friar Raimondo of Capua, a wise but timid soul. Below are some words of encouragement from Catherine to Raimondo due to his fear of martyrdom.

"Be strong to slay yourself with the knife of hate and love, that you may not hear the derision, the insults, the reproaches of the world, which the persecutors of Holy Church would offer you. 

Let not your eyes see things as impossible to do, nor the torment that may follow; but let them see with the light of faith that through Christ crucified you can do all things, and that God will not impose a greater burden than can be borne."

-- St. Catherine of Siena in her letter to Friar Raimondo de Capua when he was in Genoa.

Statue of St. Catherine of Siena in Rome, Italy

Fresco of St. Catherine at her home in Siena

Christ: the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth

Take refuge in My pierced side
when you are tempted to look for love in any creature.
I have created you for My love,
and My love alone can satisfy the desires of your heart.
Enter, then, the wound in My side
and, penetrating even into My Heart,
drink deeply of the springs of love that will refresh and delight your soul,
and wash you in preparation for the wedding of your soul with Me,
for I am the Bridegroom of your soul,
your Saviour from all that would defile you,
and your God who is love and mercy
now and unto the ages of ages.

-- Taken from In Sinu Jesu, the Journal of a Priest.

“But in order that you should have life, it is not enough that My Son should have become the Bridge, unless you pass over this Bridge.”   ~ God the Father to St. Catherine of Siena in The Dialogue

As fragile as the wings of a butterfly, this delicate piece of paper lace also alludes to the metaphor of the bridge. In her dialogues St. Catherine of Siena uses the metaphor of Jesus Christ as the magnificent bridge between heaven and earth.

Happy Feast of the Annunciation!

"The Angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary, and she conceived of the Holy Spirit...

Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to Thy Word..."

"... And the Word Became Flesh and dwelt among us."

Wishing you a Happy Feast of the Annunciation with music 

and a beautiful meditation from St. Bernard of Clairvaux!

Above is a video of my beloved alma mater's Schola Cantorum Franciscana singing part of the chant version of "Ave Maris Stella," then part of Josquin's setting of the same chant hymn, definitely well worth a listen! The Schola sang this at the Vespers of the Blessed Virgin Spring 2011, while I was studying abroad in Austria. The hymn begins, "Hail Star of the Sea ..."

In the second verse, the hymn sings of the Annunciation: "Receiving that 'Ave' from the mouth of Gabriel, establishing us in peace, transforming the name of 'Eva.'"

The unimaginable generosity of God shown in the Annunciation and Incarnation required one thing: Mary’s assent. Reflecting on this mystery, St. Bernard of Clairvaux imagined the tension that creation felt in waiting for Mary’s response to the plan that the angel announced:

“If you consent, we shall immediately be set free. We all have been made in the eternal Word of God, and look, we are dying. In your brief reply we shall be restored and so brought back to life… My lady, say this word which earth and hell and heaven itself are waiting for. The very King and Lord of all, he who has so desired your beauty, is waiting anxiously for your answer and assent, by which he proposes to save the world. Him whom you pleased by your silence, you will please now even more by your word. If you let him hear your voice, then, he will let you see our salvation.”

The Purpose of Art

Below is an excerpt from a documentary titled "Why Beauty Matters," by Roger Scruton, a British writer and philosopher.  In this documentary he delves into the meaning and the purpose of art, what it meant in the past, what it means today, and how these changes have affected humanity and our culture. I hope to watch more of the documentary once midterms have ceased, but for now I shall be content with this quote, which is jam-packed with insight into the historic and modern view of art.

Detail of St. Cecilia by Stefano Maderno

"The great artists of the past were aware that human life is full of chaos and suffering. But they had a remedy for this and the name of that remedy was beauty - the beautiful work of art brings consolation in sorrow and affirmation in joy. It shows human life to be worthwhile. Many modern artists have grown weary of this sacred task. ... No longer does art have a sacred status. No longer does it raise us to a higher, moral, or spiritual plain. It is just one human gesture among others, no more meaningful than a laugh or a shout. Art once made a cult of beauty. Now we have a cult of ugliness instead. Since the world is disturbing, art should be disturbing, too. Those who look for beauty in art are just out of touch with modern realities. Sometimes the intention is to shock us, but what is shocking first time round is boring and vacuous when repeated. This makes art into an elaborate joke, though one by now that has ceased to be funny. Yet the critics go on endorsing it, afraid to say the emperor has no clothes."   -- Roger Scruton, British writer and philosopher.

Happy Birthday Mozart!

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest musicians who ever lived, Herr Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A year ago today I was preparing to depart for Salzburg, his birthplace, to visit the cathedral where he once performed, the house where he was born, and to meander the streets which he himself had walked. It so happens that we are also performing some of his music this semester, as the theme of our spring concert is sacred music of the Viennese Classical period. Below is one of my absolute favorite Mozart pieces of all time, "Laudate Dominum," which I will probably be accompanying on the organ at the concert. If I was a voice major and a soprano, it would be a dream come true to sing the solo in this magnificent piece.

And then, of course, one of the greatest as well as most popular pieces of music that Mozart ever wrote, his "Ave Verum Corpus," which apparently he wrote for a small parish while vacationing with his wife during the last year of his life. I had the opportunity of being able to sing this motet at Mass at the Mariathron Chapel at the Kartause, Gaming with a small group of people while traveling in Europe last semester.  This piece still brings tears to my eyes listening to it. Please, take a moment out of your day for a little Mozart in honor of his birthday! Below are some neat little quotes I've included from the Salzburg composer (fun fact: Mozart was not technically an Austrian as Salzburg was not part of Austria when he was born -- rather, in the words of the Mozarteum organ professor Heribet Metzger, he was a "Salzburgian"! I like how even Mozart saw the organ as the king of musical instruments -- Pope Benedict XVI thinks so, too! His appreciation for Bach 

and for the need for practice -- yes, even the child prodigy -- are also much appreciated!

The Mozart quotes are courtesy of Mozart's Music Blog.

Mozart recalls a conversation with a friend to his father in a letter from Augsburg (his father's birthplace), October 17, 1777 at the age of 21.
"When I told Herr Stein that I would like to play on his organ and that I was passionately fond of the instrument, he marvelled greatly and said, "What, a man like you, so great a clavier player, want to play on an instrument which has no douceur, no expression, neither piano nor forte, but goes on always the same?" "But all that signifies nothing; to me the organ is nevertheless the king of instruments."


One Wolfgang's favorite composers was Johann Sebastian Bach. While in Leipsic in the year 1789, at the age of 33, he heard a performance of Bach's "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied," of which he exclaimed,
"Here, at last, is something from which one can learn!"


This letter shows that even Mozart had to practice! He writes here to his father from Vienna on April 28, 1784, at the age of 28. The man Herr Richter is a pianist on a concert tour.Herr Richter plays much and well so far as execution is concerned, but--as you will hear--crudely, laboriously and without taste or feeling; he is one of the best fellows in the world, and without a particle of vanity. Whenever I played for him he looked immovably at my fingers, and one day he said, "My gosh! How I am obliged to torment myself and sweat, and yet without obtaining applause; and for you, my friend, it is mere play!" "Yes," said I, "I had to labor once in order not to show labor now."

Getting to Know Franck and Vierne

Happy New Year to all! It promises to be an adventurous year, full of many challenges, changes, and decisions.  My strategy is to take them one step at a time. I go back to school on Sunday to complete the last semester of my senior year, giving my senior recital in April and graduating in May -- most certainly an idea that takes some getting used to.
I'm currently beginning work on my music history research paper (yes, one week before school starts the books for my research, which I ordered through interlibrary loan, finally decided to come in, haha). Nevertheless, already I am becoming intrigued. It's fascinating getting to know the character and personalities of the composers whose music I have been learning and performing over the past year -- Louise Vierne, Cesar Franck, Charles-Marie Widor. My paper is going to focus mainly on the work of the heavily influential Romantic organ-builder, Aristide Cavaille-Coll, a Frenchman who revived the art of organ-building and had a major impact on the compositions of the Romantic period. I'm just beginning to learn about him.

Cesar Franck,
French Romantic organist and composer

Meanwhile I am becoming acquainted with Vierne, Widor, and Franck. Franck and Widor both taught at the Paris Conservatory, and both were teachers of Louis Vierne, a late Romantic period composer and the organist at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Vierne idolized Cesar Franck from a very young age. He began studying composition with the organ professor prior to entering the Conservatory. No sooner had Vierne entered the Conservatory then Franck passed away, devastating the young Vierne. It was Widor who was selected to assume Franck's position after his death. Widor was a major contrast to the personality of his predecessor, though his skills as a teacher and his care and concern for his students were equal. Franck was challenging but very sweet, nurturing the individuality of each student and placing a great deal of emphasis on the art of improvisation. Widor, on the other hand, was much stricter, focusing on technique before even considering improvisation. Vierne grew to appreciate and love Widor, but Franck always held a special place in his heart. Here are some passages on the relationship between Vierne and Franck that I found particularly sweet. Vierne's uncle and aunt also worked at the Conservatory and had extolled Franck's virtues to their young nephew, while also keeping Franck posted on the progress of the budding musician. Vierne gives an account of his first meeting with Franck at age fifteen.


"How pale you are, my dear child. Do I frighten you so very much?" (Vierne had been born legally blind and was an extremely sensitive child).
"Oh yes, Monsieur Franck."
"Why?"
"Because you are a genius."
"Genius? Who told you that?"
"My Uncle Charles and everybody here. I heard you at Saint Clotilde when I was ten, and I nearly died from happiness."
"Why?"
"Because it was too beautiful. I wanted it never to end."
"As beautiful as that? And why did you think it beautiful?"
"Because it sang. It took hold of my heart. It hurt me and made me feel good at the same time. It transported me to a place filled with such music."
"In that place, my dear child, the music is better. Here, we learn. There, we shall know how. . . . Next year you will begin studying the organ. Apply yourself with all your might, and when the time is ripe I shall take you into my class at the Conservatory."

Louis Vierne, late Romantic composer
and organist at Notre Dame Cathedral

Uncle Charles had told Vierne of the beauteous music Franck made upon the organ, but even he could not prepare Vierne for the pain and rapture he felt when hearing the organist play at St. Clotilde. "Certain melodic turns, certain harmonies made me feel a kind of nervous malaise that was at the same time voluptuous pleasure. I could not keep back the tears." Vierne felt "A vague presentiment of the true purpose of music." At age 10 Vierne told his Uncle Charles, "It is beautiful because it is beautiful. . . . I do not know why. It is so beautiful that I would like to do as much and then die just after." (Vierne's words eventually came true, as he died moments after giving his last organ recital).


Upon Franck's death, Vierne struggled with the prospect of studying at the Conservatory without his beloved mentor. However, Vierne remembered, "To serve- [Cesar] Franck had once said, after an especially happy lesson- to serve always, in spite of everything, no matter what might happen, to love God, and next the love of God to love one's art, mindful of the good it could achieve, this Franck announced as his creed, which Vierne was to hand down in turn. 'These thoughts gave me courage. I was filled with elation at the idea of joining battle with routine, officialdom, the powers that be, of avenging the lack of appreciation, the jeers of which he had been the object.' To do less was cowardly betrayal."
This courage was tried and found true under the direction of Widor, Franck's successor. But Widor shall be left for another post. 


In the meantime, some exciting news -- I think I may be organistically related to J.S. Bach! I was doing a little digging, and some of my research demonstrates that I may be able to trace my line of organ teachers to Marcel Dupre and on to Vierne, Franck, and Widor, who if you follow his line of organ teachers far enough, reaches all the way to J.S. Bach! Oh joy! Rapture!