• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • FaceBook
  • RSS Feed
  • Get Published
  • Book Proposals
  • Book Business
  • Writing Craft
    • Conferences
    • Copyright
    • Craft
    • Creativity
    • Grammar
  • Fun Fridays
Home » lent

lent

40 Days with One Composition

By Steve Laubeon April 2, 2018
Share
Tweet
6

For the last few years I’ve used the forty days of Lent as an auditory discipline. I try to listen to one collection of music during the entire season. This year’s choice was Franz Joseph Haydn’s “The Seven Last Words of our Savior on the Cross.” I listened to the string arrangement performed by the Callino Quartet.

First performed in a somber setting on Good Friday 1787 in Cadiz, Spain. Years later Haydn himself was asked to write a preface to a new publication of the work and he described the first performance with these words:

The walls, windows, and pillars of the church were hung with black cloth, and only one large lamp hanging from the center of the roof broke the solemn darkness. At midday, the doors were closed and the ceremony began. After a short service the bishop ascended the pulpit, pronounced the first of the seven words (or sentences) and delivered a discourse thereon. This ended, he left the pulpit and fell to his knees before the altar. The interval was filled by music. The bishop then in like manner pronounced the second word, then the third, and so on, the orchestra following on the conclusion of each discourse. My composition was subject to these conditions, and it was no easy task to compose seven adagios lasting ten minutes each, and to succeed one another without fatiguing the listeners; indeed, I found it quite impossible to confine myself to the appointed limits.

Haydn considered this work his finest composition. Whenever it was performed he insisted that the words of Christ be spoken as part of the performance. In recent years that practice has, unfortunately, not been followed very often. Even the recording I used only went from song to song.

My Experience

Since the recording did not indicate which saying was being interpreted I tried to say aloud the appropriate saying during each section. That alone is quite a meditation.

Then I tried to imagine the extraordinary creativity it took to compose it. I’m not a composer so it is even harder to comprehend how such music could develop in one’s mind. Imagine taking one of the most dramatic scenes in the Gospels and create music that expresses the mood, emotion, drama, and pathos of the events. But Haydn was gifted by God to do so. Two hundred and thirty one years later I was blessed by those efforts.

In Sonata Five, “I Thirst”, the music is slow and melodic in the beginning, but at the one minute mark the intensity of a painful thirst is driven home. (listen for yourself here.)

After forty or so minutes of music it ends with “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” One might think the concert is finally over and time to go home. But no. Instead Haydn ends the entire piece with a short, less than two minute, explosion played fortississimo (triple forte…ƒƒƒ…or really loud). The title of the piece is “Il terremoto (Earthquake) in C minor.” After the melodic and somber sections before it, the sounds feels like an earthquake. Below is a video of an ensemble performing it beautifully (the applause at the end of the video lasts for over a minute).

Take Away

Focusing for forty days on anything is a journey of delight, boredom, distraction, understanding, and ultimately focus. A veritable smorgasbord for the soul. To be able to think, and look forward to thinking, about the Cross every time I got in the car or flew on a plane is impossible to put into words.

I can only say “He is Risen.” And because He is, I am forgiven. “He is risen indeed!”

Leave a Comment
Category: Creativity, Personal, TheologyTag: Creativity, lent, Theology

A 40 Day Experience with Music

By Steve Laubeon April 6, 2015
Share
Tweet23
4

Last year I tried a musical experiment during the days of Lent (I wrote about it here). This year I attempted to do something similar. My musical choice was the “Suites for Keyboard” by George Frederic Handel. We are most familiar with Handel because of his famous “Messiah” oratorio. I did not realize that he also composed solo pieces for the keyboard. I am glad to have learned …

Read moreA 40 Day Experience with Music
Category: Craft, Creativity, Personal, Writing CraftTag: Creativity, lent, music

Add Something Good for Lent

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 2, 2015
Share
Tweet
5

We are nearing the end of the annual season of Lent, a time from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, set aside to prepare and focus believer’s hearts and minds on the death and wonderful resurrection of Jesus. Some use this as a time to forego chocolate or some other pleasure, a sort of fasting from something that matters to them. Ultimately it is the discipline to resist temptation, since Jesus …

Read moreAdd Something Good for Lent
Category: Christian, FaithTag: Faith, lent

What Will You Give Up for Lent?

By Karen Ballon February 26, 2014
Share
Tweet
18

Believe it or not, Easter is just around the corner. Which means something else is almost upon us:

Lent.

I love the idea of a 40-day preparation for Easter, of refocusing our hearts and minds to spend more time in prayer and contemplation of what Christ has done for us. And I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of “giving up” something for those 40 days. Even more intriguing—and sometimes …

Read moreWhat Will You Give Up for Lent?
Category: Career, Christian, Faith, Karen, Personal, TheologyTag: Career, Faith, lent

Sidebar

Get Blog Updates

Enter your email address to get new blog updates delivered via email. You can unsubscribe at any time.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Grow as a Writer


Find Out More →

Popular Posts

Top Posts on Book Proposals
  • Hints for a Great Cover Letter
  • The Keys to a Great Book Proposal
  • What Steve Laube is Looking For
  • Book Proposals I’d Love to See – Tamela Hancock Murray
  • What I’m Looking for – Bob Hostetler
  • What I’m Looking for – Dan Balow
  • What I’m Looking for – Lynette Eason
  • What’s the Best Way to Submit My Self-Published Book?
  • What Is the Agent Doing While I Wait?
  • God Gave Me This Blog Post
Top Posts on The Business Side
  • When Your Book Becomes Personal
  • The Myth of the Unearned Advance
  • How Long Does it Take to Get Published?
  • What Are Average Book Sales?
  • Can You Plagiarize Yourself?
  • Never Burn a Bridge
  • Who Decides to Publish Your Book?
  • That Conference Appointment
  • Goodbye to Traditional Publishing?
  • Who Owns Whom in Publishing?
  • Ten Commandments for Working with Your Agent
  • Writers Beware! Protect Yourself
Top Series
  • Book Proposal Basics
  • Publishing A-Z
  • A Defense of Traditional Publishing
Top Posts on Rejection
  • The Slush Pile: Enter at Your Own Risk
  • Even the Best Get Rejected
  • Five Reasons Why You May Never Get Published
  • The Unhelpful Rejection Letter
  • Writers Learn to Wait

Blog Post Archives by Month

  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · The Steve Laube Agency · All Rights Reserved · Website by Stormhill Media