News:

If you have difficulty registering for an account on the forum please email antespam@gmail.com. In the question regarding the composer use just the surname, not including forenames Charles-Marie.

Main Menu
Menu

Show posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Show posts Menu

Messages - Paul Duffy

#61
Just to give this thread a massive bump, I can put up with Brides' personal preferences, I just wish they would turn up on time, or at least just a few minutes late, as is tradition. The modern trend appears to be: "I'll roll up when I bloody well like". I hit a record this year: 1 hour 10 minutes late. Can anyone beat that?

Best wishes,
Paul Duffy
#62
Hello everyone, hope you are all well.

Here are two organ pieces 'wot I wrote'! Hope you enjoy them. And if you don't you can always use them as toilet paper. Just remember to print them out first.......

http://musescore.com/user/118847/scores/129634
http://musescore.com/user/118847/scores/131124

Incidentally, for all the composers out there, I cannot recommend Musescore highly enough.

Best wishes,
Paul Duffy
#63
An interesting post again!. I am now beginning to understand the thrust of your argument. You are quite correct in your assertion that far too many people are quite willing to annihilate others in the name of God, and it is their obsession with the afterlife which is blurring their ability to see the sanctity of life, human or indeed, animal, in the here and now. I accept that the world is slowly sliding towards a major war in the middle east. The west's eagerness to get involved in Syria has the serious potential to tip us all into a global war when you consider the superpowers lined up on opposing sides. Add religious fervour into the mix and you have a recipe for disaster. But belief is a force for good in the world, too. There are lots of men and women of faith who are thoroughly decent people, indeed, salt to the earth. It is just sad that a murderous, bestial minority undermine them.

Best wishes,
Paul
#64
David, the idea that Bible passages contain two meanings (a literal one and a metaphorical one) actually came up during mass last Sunday. It was Pentecost, and, to my dismay, our parish priest suggested that the whole 'speaking in tongues' thing could mean that they were all speaking in the language of faith. In my opinion, that is a dangerous road to start down because other Bible stories could then not be taken literally. If the bible is open to interpretation, then the whole thing begins to fall apart. We know that the earth is more that eight thousand years old, that there are no dinosaurs mentioned in Genesis, that we can't drink arsenic and live. But are we now supposed to accept that the Bible does not mean what it says on anything? No doubt this interpretation could get the clergy out of some sticky situations, not least the thorny question of "where did Cain get his wife from"? but it actually renders their vocation (and our faith) pointless. Maybe that is the Bible's biggest flaw, that it can be open to interpretation by humans for their own ends.

The thing that has always troubled me is the need to pray squared with an all-knowing God. Oscar Wilde said that by praying we are seeking to control God and change His plans. If God loves us and knows what we need then prayers are not necessary. You can't trust things to God's will AND pray, it seems.

Anyway, just some random thoughts for you there, David. Hope you enjoyed Cannes!

Best wishes,
Paul.
#65
David, if I may say so, you have an unusual perspective on faith. You were in church, which implies that you have some type of belief in the Almighty, yet you seem hell-bent on searching for double-meanings in Bible passages. There is nothing wrong with an enquiring mind, but your attempts to show Jesus as a fake have perhaps not gone unnoticed by your preacher, and will ultimately destroy what little faith you have. For if JC didn't cure the lame, then he didn't rise from the dead. And if we all swallowed that, then church organists like myself could have a lie-in every Sunday. There would be no need for churches, and there would be no need for church organs.

If you keep peeling the layers of an onion away, you end up with nothing. Check out the perspective of religion during the French Revolution.

Best wishes,
Paul
#66
Wars could be just if political ambitions and egos weren't involved, but on the whole, wars are bad. Even the Crusades occurred through political aims: holy relics were big business in those days. I don't see how you can try to follow Jesus' teachings AND think wars are good. Christians are told not to fight violence with violence. Of course, we have a problem. The great cheerleader of holy wars, the Roman Catholic Church, does not follow Jesus' teachings anyway, (e.g. lay not up treasure for thyself upon earth), and changes its mind regularly (e.g. the church's hand in Joan of Arcs death as a heretic and later canonization). No, nothing good comes of wars. All that occurs is the mass slaughter of innocent humans, followed some years later by business deals secured between the main protagonists.

In short, I think it is useful for students to be asked these questions. These are revision notes in which clearly the student has outlined the main points and made her own decisions. I sincerely hope that is the case anyway or the next generation is truly sunk.

Best wishes,
Paul
#67
Hello everyone,

My name is Paul and I'm an organolic!

I am organist at my local Catholic church and have recently started writing my own music using the excellent (and free) Musescore, and have done the odd organ recital in the past. The pipe organ at church is one built many years ago by Ainscough of Preston which still has its handpump in situ. I also have a Hammond Super CX 3000 at home for practice.

Best wishes,
Paul