Chineke! Orchestra
1 Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
* that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see.
Voices United 266
Some of you will have read my comments along the way that I wouldn't care if I never heard or sang Amazing Grace again. This may seem harsh but I've heard this 250-year-old hymn written by the bawdy slave trader, John Newton, whose conversion to Christ eventually led him to Christian ministry, far too many times. It's estimated that Amazing Grace is sung ten million times annually and some years I feel that I've heard them all.
And yet...there are occasions when it touches me because it is so direct in its honesty, and in offering the powerful gospel message of repentance and forgiveness. Hey, there are times in life when I have been wretched and felt like a wretch, so a song about God's abundant grace is meaningful.
I would love to be in the audience for a new orchestral and choral piece which celebrates the important place of Amazing Grace in the Civil Right movement of the United States. The title is Freedom and the musicians are Black and ethnically diverse.According to an article in The Guardian:
...the award-winning poet Rommi Smith is writing the libretto for music composed by the leading operatic baritone Roderick Williams. Their piece will be premiered this summer by Britain’s much-garlanded Chineke! Orchestra as part of the Milton Keynes International Festival.
John Newton eventually became friends with William Wilberforce, the British Member of Parliament, whose Christian faith motivated him to work toward the abolition of slavery.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once observed that 11:00 o'clock on Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in America which was antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q881g1L_d8
I imagine that if Dr, King was still alive today at the age of 93 he would appreciate Freedom and what it represents in honouring civil rights for all.
2 comments:
Video of MLK:
He was only about 31 in that clip. But such gravitas. -KB
What were we up to at age 31, and how many people in history spoke with that sort of moral authority in their early thirties, or even twenties in King's case. Thanks Kathy.
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