“I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue, unexercised and unbreathed, that never sallies out and sees her adversary, but slinks out of the race where that immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat. ”
― John Milton, Areopagitica
HEBREWS 12:1-10
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven: Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.
ART APPRECIATION
The Last Supper, a mural painting at the end of a dining hall at a monastery in Milan, is one of the greatest and well-known works of the Renaissance. Because da Vinci did not paint on wet plaster, this work is not considered a fresco. The original mural deteriorated within a few years of its completion, but The Last Supper underwent a twenty-year restoration from 1978-1998.
The Last Supper portrays that reaction given by each apostle when Jesus told them that one in the room would betray him. From left to right, the apostles are identified thanks to a notebook of da Vinci’s found in the nineteenth century. Not all the apostles may be seen in our copy of the artwork. Bartholomew, James the Less, and Andrew form a group of three. They looked surprised. Judas Iscariot, Peter, and John form another group of three. Judas clutches a bag and looks taken aback, Peter looks angry and clutches a knife, and John, the youngest apostle, looks as if he will faint. Jesus is in the middle of the picture looking calm and accepting of the suffering he will endure. Thomas, James, and Philip are the next group of three. They look upset and request an explanation from Jesus. Matthew, Jude, and Simon are the final group. We can see them talking among themselves, trying to understand what Jesus has said.
1
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was accomplished in art, music, science, mathematics, and engineering. Da Vinci was considered to be exceptionally smart. He designed weapons, buildings, machinery, churches, and fortresses He also drew very detailed anatomical studies that scientists respect to this day.
Da Vinci was left handed and often wrote backwards, though this was easily deciphered using a mirror. He drew sketches of submarines, a parachute, flying machines–things that weren’t invented until centuries later. The famous de’ Medici family were patrons who supported da Vinci’s work. Later, he met King Francis of France for whom he worked until his death in 1519.
2
MUSIC APPRECIATION
| Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23: I. “Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito” |
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23, concerto for piano and orchestra by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The work is particularly famed for the sequence of pounding chords with which the soloist’s part launches the first movement. The piece premiered in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 25, 1875.
Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23. The second movement, “Andantino,” of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23.
Possessing limited piano skills, Tchaikovsky wrote the concerto intending to persuade a colleague to give the premiere performance. He first approached Nikolay Rubinstein, a pianist and the director of the Moscow Conservatory at which Tchaikovsky taught. Rubinstein condemned the work as badly written and refused to play it unless substantial changes were made. Tchaikovsky declined to revise the piece and offered it instead to the German virtuoso Hans von Bülow, who, finding more to admire than had Rubinstein, agreed to perform it. The premiere, given during an American tour, was an immediate success, and the piece soon became equally popular in Europe. In the face of the new concerto’s undeniable success, Rubinstein withdrew his earlier criticism. He agreed to conduct the Moscow premiere and even made the concerto part of his own repertory.
3
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was was the most popular Russian composer of all time. His music has always had great appeal for the general public in virtue of its tuneful, open-hearted melodies, impressive harmonies, and colorful, picturesque orchestration, all of which evoke a profound emotional response. His oeuvre includes 7 symphonies, 11 operas, 3 ballets, 5 suites, 3 piano concertos, a violin concerto, 11 overtures (strictly speaking, 3 overtures and 8 single movement programmatic orchestral works), 4 cantatas, 20 choral works, 3 string quartets, a string sextet, and more than 100 songs and piano pieces.4
- Lange, Krista, and Leigh Lowe. First Grade Enrichment: Classical Core Curriculum. Teacher Guide. Memoria Press, 2017. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- “Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., http://www.britannica.com/topic/Piano-Concerto-No-1-in-B-flat-Minor. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
↩︎ - “Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 18 Feb. 2025, http://www.britannica.com/biography/Pyotr-Ilyich-Tchaikovsky. ↩︎
Providence School of Tifton 