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Welcome to my Blog! Music and God coming together

These regular weekly blogs are giving me an opportunity to share my life-long passion of discoving how the great themes of Music and Theology can come together, and I want to express my deep appreciation of my good friend Dr Paul Kybird for his encouragement, wisdom and deep insight in this adventure.
I have found that the telling of a story by a violin – through its many years of varied experiences – has created a fascinating way of engaging with these ultimate concerns of life.
So here goes –
I am a Violin, with a great story to tell, and on this platform I want to present and play the events of my long life –
By telling about my origins, how I was made, and where I feel my unique sound comes from, engaging with my whole body – mind & heart, violin and bow – in the pursuit of beauty, truth and goodness;
By including the historical soundscapes of the different places I have lived in, and sharing how it feels to be touched and embraced by the rich variety and diversity of musicians who have owned and played me over these many years;
By giving a voice to my emotions at times of suffering, when I was broken, and when I was ‘stolen’, sharing my feelings about the damage inflicted on my body, the permanent blemishes and unexpected ‘growths’;
By sounding out clearly, not supressing or muting, times of rejection, isolation and abuse;
But most importantly, by playing my story for the sheer joy and delight of it, and daring to hope that echoes and whispers of the mystery of God might be caught.
‘Am I in Tune?’ – A spiritual Intermezzo
At all events, August Manns did a great service by consistently pressing for the standard pitch of 440 cycles per second, and consequently my pegs, as well as…
4 min read
1863 onwards – the Crystal Palace Years
The Fair at Wroxham drew large crowds every year, and 1863 was no exception. Consequently, I felt ‘used’ again! I was handled, picked up, and fiddled with, by…
4 min read
1849-1863 – The ‘Fly Sheets Controversy’, and more
The next few years witnessed some very serious discontent within the Wesleyan community, with North Norfolk particularly badly affected. It was such a serious dissonance that a number…
4 min read
1848 – Revolution!
On our adventurous train journey out of London, I could hear anxious voices above the hissing steam engine and rattling machinery as the passengers discussed the news of…
4 min read
Changing hands yet again & back to Norfolk
Early in 1845 my friends Isaac and Esther Richardson back in Norfolk had seen a newspaper advertisement for a female domestic servant in the home of a prominent…
4 min read
1837-1848 In the hands of the Master of the Queen’s Musick!
After four years of ‘being made use of’, I was finally rescued by the Master of the (new) Queen’s Musick, Franz Cramer. Of all the luminaries around John…
4 min read