Carol Ann Castagna Writes: A Kiss from God (Excerpt from Chapter III The Composer, The Listener)

The Composer

Looking back, I realize that my compositions follow a significant life event which draws out intense feelings, all the way from joy to grief.  Whatever emotion surrounds me also brings me an immeasurable closeness to my Creator, a deep intimacy that produces poetry, music, and lyrics. These rise up like a fountain from the Lord in my mind, then flow through my fingers to the piano, and then to sheet music in the form of hymns.

I experience the stream of music and words quickly and simultaneously. Reviewing the melody in my head, I play the notes on the piano, then swiftly write down the words before I lose the surge of inspiration. God is always the center of my composing experience. Some composers have similar kinds of inspiration, while others find their words and music in quite opposite ways. I treasure the way that God bestows his gift on me, being humbled and blessed beyond measure.

The Listener

In the same way that music is birthed in a composer, it also produces a special meaning for each listener. This special connection brings the composer’s music to the listener in a way that each person’s enjoyment is subtly unique from what others experience with the same piece. Music has the distinctive ability to spark an intercourse of the minds, creating an invisible interplay between the composer and the listener.  As Downes writes of Tchaikovsky in The Lure of Music:

      “All have been stirred by

      the human documents

      which he wrote with

      His heart’s blood in

      little black characters

      on music paper.”

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  NKJV

Praise him with castanets and dance,
    praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
    praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
    Hallelujah! Psalm 150: 1  The Message (MSG)