George Gershwin was one of...
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George Gershwin was one of the greatest of American composers, and "Rhapsody In Blue" is one of his best-known pieces. Few people, though, know how it came to be written.
Gershwin wrote the principal theme to "Rhapsody in Blue" on a train. New York to Boston. Clickety-clack ... shake, rattle, and roll. Babies crying ... newspapers rustling ... conductor shouting, "Tickets!" ... all the confusion and cacophony of an early twentieth-century railway journey.
And there in the midst of it all, hunched over a dining-car table, sits Gershwin the composer. He's putting pen to paper and sketching out the notes, quick as you please. How could he ever do it?
Gershwin could do it because he had a rare talent for concentration. He was able to focus on that which is truly essential. He used to say of himself, "I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise."
The temple in Jerusalem was a cacophonous place. The shouts of the vendors, the bleating of the animals -- it was hard to focus on the truly holy. Jesus has the ability to focus on what's most important, spiritually. That's why he picks up his whip of cords, and clears the temple courtyard of all that's distracting from the true worship of God. He could hear the music of worship in the very heart of noise, and he wanted others to hear it, too.
Gershwin wrote the principal theme to "Rhapsody in Blue" on a train. New York to Boston. Clickety-clack ... shake, rattle, and roll. Babies crying ... newspapers rustling ... conductor shouting, "Tickets!" ... all the confusion and cacophony of an early twentieth-century railway journey.
And there in the midst of it all, hunched over a dining-car table, sits Gershwin the composer. He's putting pen to paper and sketching out the notes, quick as you please. How could he ever do it?
Gershwin could do it because he had a rare talent for concentration. He was able to focus on that which is truly essential. He used to say of himself, "I frequently hear music in the very heart of noise."
The temple in Jerusalem was a cacophonous place. The shouts of the vendors, the bleating of the animals -- it was hard to focus on the truly holy. Jesus has the ability to focus on what's most important, spiritually. That's why he picks up his whip of cords, and clears the temple courtyard of all that's distracting from the true worship of God. He could hear the music of worship in the very heart of noise, and he wanted others to hear it, too.
