Tag: Death

Samuel Barber: Agnus Dei (tune ‘Adagio for Strings’) #Musical Monday

On December 15^th, 1999, my mother passed away without warning. She’d been battling cancer but had been given a good prognosis a week before. Then, on that afternoon, she lay down to take a nap and never woke up.

Mother had been involved with the local arts council in Sheridan, Wyoming. One of the performances this organization brought to town on a regular basis was a symphony orchestra from Billings, Montana, about 150 miles north of Sheridan. A month after she passed, when the orchestra came to town for their annual concert, in my mother’s memory, they started the program by playing an instrumental version of the choral piece I’m featuring today.

According to Wikipedia, Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings was arranged for a string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year he wrote the quartet. The Adagio for Strings was performed in November of 1938 during a radio broadcast by Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra also played the piece on its South American tour in 1940. It’s the setting of Barber’s 1967 choral arrangement of Agnus Dei, which I’m featuring today. Click here to learn more.

Although I like the string version, when a friend sent me this video containing the choral version, that moved me to tears more than any string orchestra version. So, I’m sharing it today in loving memory of my mother.

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A Novel About Reconciliation #Friday Fun Reads, #Reblog

Note: I posted this review last spring when the book came out. It was recently discussed by one of the groups in which I participate. So, I thought it worth a second look.

Goin’ Home

by Phyllis Staton Campbell

What Amazon Says

Pastor Jim, blinded in Iraq, and his wife Amy settle down after the storm that has almost destroyed the town, only to find that the most peaceful garden can harbor a serpent. The town is thrown into chaos, when a mass killer is returned home to die after fifty years in prison. The town is divided and they find themselves in the middle.

There is humor when the new church secretary confuses names, and sends the hearse to pick up a dog. A country music singer appears on the scene, and Jim learns a secret from the past.

For readers who enjoy the Mitford series by Jan Karon.

My Thoughts

I met Phyllis Staton Campbell several years ago through Behind Our Eyes, an organization of disabled writers to which I belong. Goin’ Home is the sequel to Where Sheep May Safely Graze, which I reviewed here.

I was riveted from the first page. I laughed, got mad, but was finally rewarded in the end. I love the way the parsonage cat appears in the first and last chapters. I was left wanting more.

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By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.

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Bailing Mamma Out #It’s Six-Sentence Story Thursday Link Up

While driving through the streets in my pick-up truck late one night, I was listening to a country song about a man who was drunk when his mamma got out of prison, and before he could pick her up at the station, she was run over by a train. Well, that wasn’t exactly my story, but it was close enough. My mamma was the one who was drunk, not me. I was driving to the police station because she’d hit another vehicle, killing the driver. This wasn’t the first time she’d drunk and driven. She’d probably end up in prison and never get out.

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The above story was inspired by the song in the video below and is my response to this week’s six-sentence story prompt. The word is “station,” and the trick is to write a story or poem of no more and no less than six sentences, using this word. Click here to learn how to participate, or leave your story in the comment field.

By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. Thank you for reading. Stay safe, happy, and healthy, and may you always have positive experiences.

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Your Song #Musical Monday

I wish I’d sung this song to my late husband Bill when he was alive, but the thought never occurred to me until after he passed. How wonderful life was when he was in the world, and it’s still wonderful today, even though he’s gone. One of these days, maybe I’ll sing this song. Meanwhile, here’s Elton John.

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