Goodness me, what is happening to me?
Two posts in a row focused on music? That is waaay beyond my expertise and comfort level.
This last New Year’s Day we took my mother for a drive. I turned on Concert FM, hoping to find some ambient memory-sparking classical piano music for her to enjoy. Her immediate response was, “You know Dad never played music in the car.” “What? Why?”, was my response. “Because the noise of the car on the road interfered too much with the music.” Yikes. Is it any wonder that my own piano career never took off — alongside the minor matter of being in such a small boarding school that my piano teacher, F. Sharp, doubled-up as my cricket coach. It was difficult to stay on topic…
Great musicians tended to pass through Delhi in those days and Dad would drag us along to a concert here and there. On one occasion it was Daniel Barenboim and Jacqueline Du Pre, which will make a few readers salivate. On another occasion, the long, tedious evening finally came to a close. I stood up and started walking down the row towards the ‘exit’, overwhelmed by relief. And I clapped, as you do, as I walked — and over the years, Dad was always quick to remind me of the night I offered a standing ovation.
However, in these years since Dad passed away, I’ve absolutely loved listening to classical piano pieces. They are my favourite companion while I work. I love to recline my chair on a plane, as much as I can (!), and listen to it for hours. When I signed-up to Spotify, I developed a ‘Classical’ playlist (23hr 53min and counting — seven minutes short of a day!), loading it with pieces that remind me of Dad — and all these years later I can still become misty-eyed as I listen.
So on this eleventh anniversary, I offer eleven (shorter) pieces for Dad. When I think of him as a pianist, it is always Chopin that comes to mind. So we’ll both open and close with a couple of Chopin pieces — and then find seven different composers to place in the sandwich. Enjoy.
1. Here is 13 year old Tiffany Poon playing Chopin’s Nocturne in B-flat Minor, Op.9 No.1
6. Schubert’s Ständchen (“Serenade”)
7. Schumann’s Träumerei (Kinderszenen Op.15 No.7)
8. Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte (“Pavane for a Dead Princess”)
9. Grieg’s Wedding Day at Troldhaugen
And back to Chopin for the final two… it is hard to beat those Nocturnes!
Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A-minor — played by Arthur Rubenstein himself
About Me
the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.
Recent Posts
Football helps me train preachers. See, when you speak to me about football—or, ‘footie’—I need to know where your feet are before I can understand what you mean. Are your feet in Ireland, or Brazil, or the USA, or NZ—or in crazy Australia? It must be the most fanatical sporting nation in the world. Within…
Having been born in 1959, I don’t remember much about the 1960s. But I have heard a lot. Hippies. Drugs. Rock ‘n Roll. Assassinations. Moon-walking. A quick trip across to ChatGPT informs me immediately that it was ‘a transformative decade across the world’—marked by the civil rights and feminist movements, Cold War tensions, consumerism and…
Well written, Paul. Your memory is better than mine but there are many pieces that remind me of Dad. I will enjoy listening to your choices.
Like I say, I don't remember Dad playing all of these pieces — but most of them are from the (post) romantic period which I find has such soul and emotion in it, something I associate with him. Thanks, Mark
Thank you for sharing, Paul!… These memories are sacred. Finding the beauty of God through music, and even more so through fatherhood, is something rare, yet profound and transformative. A big hug in the company of the piano.