Sharron Whipple Music Studio

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the letters SDG at the bottom of every piece of music he ever composed.

Soli Deo Gloria. To God alone be the glory.

Not just on his church music. Not just on his cantatas and passions and oratorios. On everything. On dance suites. On instrumental pieces. On the exercises he wrote for his children and students. Every single composition carried that dedication — a deliberate, consistent act of attribution that said everything about how Bach understood what he was doing.

He also wrote JJ at the top of most scores before he began. Jesu Juva. Jesus help me.

Every composition began with a prayer and ended with a dedication.

Bach is widely considered the greatest composer who ever lived — a status that even his rivals and critics in his own era struggled to deny. The Well-Tempered Clavier. The Goldberg Variations. The Mass in B Minor. The St. Matthew Passion.

The Brandenburg Concertos. Music of such mathematical perfection and emotional depth that musicians and composers two and three centuries later found it inexhaustible.

What most people don't know is that Bach was also a serious biblical scholar. He owned and annotated a three-volume theological commentary on the Bible — his annotations are still studied by scholars today. His understanding of Scripture was not casual or conventional. He brought the same rigorous intelligence to theology that he brought to counterpoint.

He saw music as a branch of theology. He believed that well-ordered music was a glorification of God and had a practical effect on the soul.

Albert Schweitzer — himself a concert organist as well as a theologian and physician — wrote that Bach's music embodied a relationship with God that was far more profound than what many theologians had managed in words.
SDG. At the bottom of every page.

Share this with someone who loves Bach and doesn't know this about him.

"Make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing." — Psalm 98:5

ENGLISH LITERATURE

"The Arrow and the Song" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a prominent figure in American literature, is celebrated for his accessible and evocative poetry. "The Arrow and the Song," one of his shorter works, encapsulates his talent for blending simple language with profound meaning. This poem explores the enduring impact of our actions and words, using the metaphorical imagery of an arrow and a song.

《 Analysis 》
In "The Arrow and the Song," Longfellow presents a metaphorical journey of two actions: shooting an arrow and singing a song. The poem is structured in three quatrains with a consistent ABAB rhyme scheme, lending it a rhythmic and lyrical quality.

The first stanza describes the speaker shooting an arrow into the air, only to lose sight of it. This symbolizes the physical actions we take, whose outcomes we cannot always predict or immediately observe. The arrow represents the direct, often tangible deeds that can have unforeseen consequences.

●In the second stanza, the speaker breathes a song into the air, similarly losing track of where it goes. The song symbolizes words, emotions, or artistic expressions that, while intangible, have the power to spread far and wide. This highlights the theme of unseen influence, where our words can affect others in ways that are not immediately visible.

The final stanza reveals the lasting nature of both the arrow and the song. The arrow is found intact in an oak tree, and the song is discovered in the heart of a friend. The oak tree symbolizes strength and endurance, suggesting that our actions can leave long-lasting impressions. Finding the song in the heart of a friend emphasizes the profound and enduring impact that words and emotions can have on others.

Longfellow's "The Arrow and the Song" is a reflective meditation on the far-reaching effects of our actions and expressions. The poem invites readers to consider the lasting impacts of what they do and say, encouraging mindfulness and awareness of the influence one can have on the world and those around them.