Merry Christmas 2022

Features
Written By Edward Wolfe

To each of my wonderful subscribers, in this special holiday blog, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and the gift of music!

For some lovely Christmas music, may I make two suggestions:

  • Listen to Handel's Messiah.  If you have a favorite, traditional recording, listen to it.  Of if you'd like to hear a new rendering, consider Wheaton College's performance from a few year's back.  What it might lack in professional polish, it more than makes up for in youthful enthusiasm.  Or, if you prefer a dazzling professional performance, listen to this one recorded live in December 2019 from the Sydney Opera House.  The audience was thrilled with the multiple choirs, the orchestra, and the soloists--one of whom was a counter tenor. This performance occurred just before the pandemic lock down.  My son in China made me aware of this lively, majestic recording. 

  • Listen to a beautiful 70s pop opera on the Christmas story, listen to the 40-minute 'Specially for Shepherds by Ralph Carmichael.  It is in four parts: The Prophets, Mary, Joseph, 'Specially for Shepherds.  I've had the privilege of singing in and on another occasion directing this musical.  My wife has performed live the part of Mary.  My wife and I love hearing this piece every Christmas. 

On a personal note: my wife and I in our morning scripture reading decided to read through the libretto (word book) of Handel's great work, The Messiah.  Just the words, without the music, are amazing and are from the Bible, mostly the Hebrew Bible!  The Messiah is in three parts, untitled and yet thematically linked: 1) the prophets and the birth of the Messiah; 2) Messiah's suffering, death, and resurrection; 3) the hope of resurrection for Messiah's followers.  So the scope of the libretto is practically the entire sweep of scripture.  The majestic, beautiful lyrics set to Handel's vibrant music make it a perennial favorite since introduced in 1742. 

Edward Wolfe

Edward Wolfe has been a fan of Christian apologetics since his teenage years, when he began seriously to question the truth of the Bible and the reality of Jesus. About twenty years ago, he started noticing that Christian evidences roughly fell into five categories, the five featured on this website.
Although much of his professional life has been in Christian circles (12 years on the faculties of Pacific Christian College, now a part of Hope International University, and Manhattan Christian College and also 12 years at First Christian Church of Tempe), much of his professional life has been in public institutions (4 years at the University of Colorado and 19 years at Tempe Preparatory Academy).
His formal academic preparation has been in the field of music. His bachelor degree was in Church Music with a minor in Bible where he studied with Roger Koerner, Sue Magnusson, Russel Squire, and John Rowe; his master’s was in Choral Conducting where he studied with Howard Swan, Gordon Paine, and Roger Ardrey; and his doctorate was in Piano Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature, where he also studied group dynamics, humanistic psychology, and Gestalt theory with Guy Duckworth.
He and his wife Louise have four grown children and six grandchildren.

https://WolfeMusicEd.com
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