August 2016 – sevennotesofgrace

“God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call “our own life” remains agreeable we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make “our own life” less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible sources of false happiness?”

(The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis, p.96–97)

http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/c-s-lewis-on-heaven-and-the-new-earth-god-s-eternal-remedy-to-the-problem-of-evil-and-suffering

They’ve been married for over 65 years: when this couple sit at the piano, something magical happens.

Composer and pianist György Kurtág is one of the most important figures in music from the past 100 years. He has also played with his wife, Márta, another very accomplished pianist, for many years. Recent footage taken from a live concert in Budapest reveals the depth of their musical understanding.

The couple play transcriptions made by the composer of Bach’s choral preludeDas alte Jahr vergangen ist BWV 614, his Duet BWV 804 and a movement from the Baroque composer’s cantataActus tragicus.

György was born in Romania in 1926, moved to Hungary in 1946 and married pianist Márta Kinsker in 1947. The two have duetted ever since.

This is what it sounds like when you live and play Bach together for 70 years: