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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.
1833-1837 – Changing hands again!
Samuel Wesley told the truth about my being stolen to his close friend Vincent Novello. Perhaps it was at a Freemason’s Lodge Meeting, where all manner of secrets…
4 min read
1828 onwards – a new world, with ‘stimmung’
For a couple of years Isaac and I travelled relentlessly from one Methodist meeting to another across swathes of north Norfolk, accompanying the hearty singing of these well-meaning…
4 min read
Isaac has to deal with Discordant feelings!
When we entered The Black Swan, we interrupted a Methodist Class Meeting led by Benjamin Gregory, a charismatic character, very popular among the poor in the area. Isaac’s…
4 min read
Enter the Richardson family
While Samuel Wesley and I were caught up in this ecstatic musical crucifixion, I was aware of a young tall bearded man standing at the back of the…
4 min read
1827 – Meeting Samuel Wesley
In the summer of 1827, back in England, Sir George took me to Norwich to take part in the fashionable Norfolk and Norwich Triennial Festival. He had been…
4 min read
1825 – My bizarre encounter with Beethoven
My new association with Sir George Smart, and his playing of me, profoundly resonated with the pervasive and new ‘Romantic’ way of thinking sweeping across Europe in the…
4 min read