Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Sorrow into Joy - Music Story

Garritan Weekend Challenge, July 18, 2014: create a melody using all twelve keys on the keyboard and loop it. Then publish it on SoundCloud.

A melody that hits all seven white keys can be joyful. But what if it has to include the missing black keys? Twelve tone compositions are typically chaotic, atonal, have no home note, no resting place. But I realized that if a twelve tone melody had a resting place it would fit Psalm 30.

“Suddenly my courage was gone; I was terrified and panic-stricken. I cried to you, O Lord … Then he turned my sorrow into joy!” (The Living Bible)

I wrote Sorrow into Joy, but before I could upload it to SoundCloud my life hit the black keys. This is how I described it:

“There have been a lot of ‘black keys’ in the melody of my life the last six weeks.
We managed to rip all the carpeting off the second floor without injuring ourselves. Then...
When we moved the credenza, my printer fell off and hit the floor. It no longer prints. Office Depot says it is cheaper to replace than repair it.
The toilet tank in the upstairs hall bath cracked and leaked water for several hours before we discovered it. There is extensive water damage to the living room ceiling.
I broke my bicycle 14 miles into a 28 mile ride. The gears tore off when they hit the spokes. Our bike shop couldn't repair it. Bob disassembled it and mailed the frame to the manufacturer for repairs. It's in pieces in the garage waiting to be reassembled.
I was admitted to the hospital with abdominal pain and a fever, had emergency surgery, and a five day in-patient stay. This exacerbated another problem. I need another surgery.
A few days after I got home from the hospital the new flooring was delivered. It reeked of formaldehyde. I had severe headaches and dangerously high blood pressure. My doctor ordered me out of the house!
The hard drive on my computer died. Tiger Direct replaced it and Dell walked me through formatting it. I lost lots of files, but am so glad I didn't lose this song.

God wove the ‘black keys’ of my life into a joyful melody!”

From the album “This & That – A Little Bit of Everything” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Sorrow into Joy.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

Click here to see the #weekend challenge.

Atonal music reflects a worldview. See chapter 1 in Vishal Mangalwadi’s book The Book that Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization

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