I think part of suffering from the doldrums yesterday afternoon was the fact that I had to return to church in the evening for an annual meeting. I also have a funeral today. I’m still feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I decided to title my piano trio: “Stirred Hearts and Souls.” I took the phrase from the hymn, “Blessed Jesus at thy word.” I use the melody from this hymn in the B section of the piece. We are singing it next Sunday and I’m planning at this point to perform the piano twice: once for the prelude and once for the postlude.

I admit that I plopped the hymn tune into the trio after basically composing the A section which is repeated after the B the section. I deliberately looked at the hymns scheduled for the Sunday I wanted to perform the piece and chose the tune from one of the hymns. So it’s not related motivicly, but I still think it works nicely.

It looks like I will probably be able to practice organ today at Rhonda’s church. I still plan to approach the teacher at Hope College, but today is already full and Rhonda and I have been texting back forth about this possibility.

Review: Jeremy Denk and His Piano Take a 600-Year Tour – The New York Times

 Six and a half centuries of music in two hours

 Music review: Pianist Jeremy Denk – Richmond Times-Dispatch: Music

This are three reviews of what sounds like the same concert given three different times. I am a fan of Mr. Denk.

And I like creative programming. I hope to do some of this myself soon at my church. I especially like the breadth of his program and that he included a Philip Glass etude. I continue to practice and learn these.