One night Toscanini, the famous Italian conductor, led the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a very difficult piece to conduct. So majestic was the music that the audience stood for ten minutes of applause. Toscanini took his bows again and again. He turned to the orchestra; they bowed. The audience continued to clap and cheer. Finally Toscanini turned his back on the audience and speaking only to the orchestra said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen. I am nothing, you are nothing, Beethoven is everything!’
C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘To love and admire anything outside yourself is to take one step away from utter spiritual ruin; though, we shall not be well so long as we love and admire anything more than we love and admire God.’
Continue Reading…
My purpose in creating my blog MyBlackPiano was always to record my journey towards the launching of my musical ‘The Cross & The Switchblade’ on the world’s stage – while also inspiring others to dust off their own dreams and go again.
And in the process I have decided that all the way through I am going to be transparent in all my communications. You are going to read and watch (with my upcoming video blogs) my heart.This will achieve one of two things – understanding or ridicule. Well that’s cool, because the saints of old experienced the same. So I am in grand company.
November 24, 2009
On this day my father’s eldest sister, who is 79 years old, was led to write me a letter. She knew nothing of my musical, and we had not communicated in this manner for quite some time. Here is a portion of the letter…
‘Whilst going through past history, I came across the tape ‘Destiny’. (This was a recording I made in the 80′s.) Nostalgia filled me as I listened to the music and words. My spirit was stirred up with praise, overflowing joy and Holy Spirit fire. I continued to play it over and over again. I received a knowing to contact you.
Continue Reading…
One night Toscanini, the famous Italian conductor, led the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a very difficult piece to conduct. So majestic was the music that the audience stood for ten minutes of applause. Toscanini took his bows again and again. He turned to the orchestra; they bowed. The audience continued to clap and cheer. Finally Toscanini turned his back on the audience and speaking only to the orchestra said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen. I am nothing, you are nothing, Beethoven is everything!’
