Methody

What's up with goofy church anthems?  I'm not religious at all, but I was in church Sunday morning for my niece's baptism.  They sang this anthem called Hurry, Shepherds, Run! and I had to really struggle to keep from convulsing in laughter.  Has anyone heard this one?

I received the good news that my Orchestra of St. Luke's commission will be given a repeat performance at the new Dia Beacon.  So, if you're interested and can't make the June 11 premiere at the Chelsea Art Museum, you have another chance June 12.  The Dia Beacon looks gorgeous - I can't wait!  The piece will be for flute quartet.

I saw Spiderman 2 (yes I'm a bit behind the times) and really liked it - I'm sure it was much more impressive on the big screen, but it was good entertainment.  Began Goodbye, Lenin and love it as well - will finish that tonight. 

Finally, further evidence of the delusional state of our current government:

'"Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job," White House chief of staff Andrew Card told ABC's "This Week."'

Well, I suppose that's accurate if you apply a very literalistic definition of 'spectacular', but somehow I doubt that's what Mr. Card meant....

Comments

[Andrew Howzer]

For good church anthems, look into the choral music of Vaughan Williams

[Marcus]

Absolutely! I love most of the Anglo-Catholic/Episcopal church music - RVW, Howells, Finzi, Stanford, Leighton, etc. The likelihood of hearing any of that in a Methodist church in small town Texas is slim to none though...

[Michael]

It's quite frustrating to me that there is a wealth of liturgical music available to the "non-liturgical" or mainline Protestant denominations that isn't crap, and yet music directors opt for the easy way out. Laziness and complacency usually inform music programming in the offending houses of worship. I can't make this statement more vehemently: a charismatic conductor can get the most reticent and untrained of choirs to do anything. Though I could make the claim that this is a matter of stewardship and vocation, even the strictest atheist with a shred of aesthetic inclination can see the folly of inflicting musical terrorism on the silly putty that is a congregation.