Friday, March 26, 2010

Come to Jesus

My granduncle (great uncle) passed away suddenly on Monday morning from heart failure. His sudden departure came as a shock to all of us. He just came to my house a month ago to celebrate Chinese New Year. He was a pastor, and though officially retired, was still very active in missions. I have friends in Shanghai who got to know him as well. From the eulogies, I learned that he was a very well loved man and prolific in missions and the Boys' Brigade. In fact he had just come back from a mission trip to Uganda.

Today was the funeral and cremation. His daughter sang this song by Chris Rice and his son, a professional musician, played the piano. It was very moving, and the song is beautiful. I'd like to share it here:



Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)
Written by Chris Rice

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for Love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burdens lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain...so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby
Dont be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk, sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain...then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you cant contain your joy inside...then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on glorys side...and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Be Thou My Vision in OLD Gaelic

I got this video of my all time favourite hymn, Be Thou My Vision, in old Gaelic from a lady who posted a comment on my original post of the same topic. This is so cool! Thanks, Sheila!!



Lyrics:

Rop tú mo baile, a Choimdiu cride:
ní ní nech aile acht Rí secht nime.
Rop tú mo scrútain i l-ló 's i n-aidche;
rop tú ad-chëar im chotlud caidche.

Rop tú mo labra, rop tú mo thuicsiu;
rop tussu dam-sa, rob misse duit-siu.
Rop tussu m'athair, rob mé do mac-su;
rop tussu lem-sa, rob misse lat-su.

Rop tú mo chathscíath, rop tú mo chlaideb;
rop tussu m'ordan, rop tussu m'airer.
Rop tú mo dítiu, rop tú mo daingen;
rop tú nom-thocba i n-áentaid n-aingel.

Rop tú cech maithius dom churp, dom anmain;
rop tú mo flaithius i n-nim 's i talmain.
Rop tussu t' áenur sainserc mo chride;
ní rop nech aile acht Airdrí nime.

Co talla forum, ré n-dul it láma,
mo chuit, mo chotlud, ar méit do gráda.
Rop tussu t' áenur m' urrann úais amra:
ní chuinngim daíne ná maíne marba.

Rop amlaid dínsiur cech sel, cech sáegul,
mar marb oc brénad, ar t' fégad t' áenur.
Do serc im anmain, do grád im chride,
tabair dam amlaid, a Rí secht nime.

Tabair dam amlaid, a Rí secht nime,
do serc im anmain, do grád im chride.
Go Ríg na n-uile rís íar m-búaid léire;
ro béo i flaith nime i n-gile gréine

A Athair inmain, cluinte mo núall-sa:
mithig (mo-núarán!) lasin trúagán trúag-sa.
A Chríst mo chride, cip ed dom-aire,
a Flaith na n-uile, rop tú mo baile.


Original post: http://favian-music.blogspot.com/2009/11/be-thou-my-vision-in-original-gaelic.html

I Love My Azumi

I'd like to mess with people and tell them I have a Japanese girlfriend, but too bad most of them already know I was going to get a flute. Well, here's the actual piece, played by the lady who sold it to me (she plays much better than me, of course). Susan took the time to record a flute test for me and answered a load of my questions, and it was great doing business with her! I wasn't planning to get a flute till the end of the year, but 2nd hand Azumis in good condition are rare (actually 2nd hand Azumis are rare to start with), so after some prayer and consideration, I decided to go for it. It's a lovely flute. You can visit Susan's website at http://flutastic.com/. She's got a bunch of other instruments for sale. No more Azumis at this point of writing though.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the video:

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Dizi Head for Boehm Flute

Ok. This is weird. I play the Dizi and the Boehm, but the way this tries to make East and West meet takes the cake (and I thought Quena headjoints for Boehm flutes was weird).



I think he ought to play Chinese music instead of classical and see how it sounds.