“People who insist upon dressing casually also want to think casually. And in a fallen world, thinking casually means being wrong more often than not.”
― Douglas Wilson, The Paideia of God: And Other Essays on Education
PSALM 122
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 Our feet have been standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together,
4 to which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 There thrones for judgment were set,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions’ sake
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.
ART APPRECIATION
Franz Marc
Marc painted many animals, and his style of The Fox is another form of abstract art called Cubism. It is almost like looking at the fox through a broken mirror. One can see different parts of a three-dimensional fox on a two-dimensional surface.
1
Franz Marc (1880-1916) was a leader in the abstract art movement. Born in Munich, Germany, he studied at the Munich Art Academy. He traveled to Paris, where he saw Impressionist works. Although Marc revered the Impressionists, he would develop his own style of art. With fellow artist Kandinsky, he organized art exhibitions in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Marc is known for his works of bright color and for basing his work on intense emotion. His style of art is known today as Expressionism, where an artist portrays the world from a distorted view to evoke certain moods or ideas. Sadly, Marc was killed during service in World War I at the age of 36.
2
MUSIC APPRECIATION
| “Sacrificial Dance” from The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky |
The Rite of Spring, ballet by Russian modernist composer Igor Stravinsky that premiered at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris on May 29, 1913. It is considered one of the first examples of Modernism in music and is noted for its brutality, its barbaric rhythms, and its dissonance. Its opening performance provided one of the most scandalous premieres in history, with pro and con members of the audience arguing so volubly that the dancers were unable to take their cues from the orchestra. The Rite of Spring still strikes many contemporary listeners as a startlingly modern work.
3
Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was born in Oranienbaum (now Lomonosov), a Baltic resort near St Petersburg, the third son of Feodor Stravinsky, one of the principal basses at the Maryinsky (later Kirov) Theatre in St Petersburg. Stravinsky’s musical education began with piano lessons at home when he was ten; he later studied law at St Petersburg University and music theory with Fyodor Akimenko and Vassily Kalafati. His most important teacher, though, was Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, with whom he studied informally from the age of twenty, taking regular lessons from 1905 until 1908.
Although Stravinsky’s first substantial composition was a Symphony in E flat, written in 1906 under the tutelage of Rimsky-Korsakov, it was The Firebird, a ballet commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev and premiered by his Ballets Russes in Paris in 1910, that brought Stravinsky into sudden international prominence. In the next year he consolidated his reputation with Petrushka, like The Firebird a transformation of something essentially Russian into a work of surprising modernity. Stravinsky’s next major score – a third ballet commission from Diaghilev – is one of the major landmarks in the history of music: the blend of melodic primitivism and rhythmic complexity in The Rite of Spring marked the coming of modernism in music and was met with a mixture of astonishment and hostility. Stravinsky became established as the most radical composer of his age.4
- Lange, Krista, and Leigh Lowe. First Grade Enrichment: Classical Core Curriculum. Teacher Guide. Memoria Press, 2017. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- “The Rite of Spring.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 9 Jan. 2025, http://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Rite-of-Spring.
↩︎ - “Igor Stravinsky: Composer: Pacific Northwest Ballet.” Composer | Pacific Northwest Ballet, 1 Aug. 2024, http://www.pnb.org/repertory/igor-stravinsky/. ↩︎
Providence School of Tifton 