The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun: Alleluia!
In the Lutheran tradition (and other Christian churches, I'm sure), the funeral service emphasizes the Resurrection, with corresponding hymns. I couldn't think of a better prelude to my remembrance of my high school orchestra teacher, Gerrit Van Ravenswaay. This was originally posted on Facebook:
Today I learned of the passing of my high school orchestra teacher, Gerrit Van Ravenswaay, or as most of his students called him, “Mr. Van”. Although it’s been over thirty years since I last played under his baton, the lessons I learned in his 5th period orchestra remain with me to this day. My first concert with the orchestra featured the Grand Rapids-based Jubal Brass Ensemble, who joined us on the finale for a performance of the last movement of Mendelssohn’s “Reformation” Symphony. As a lowly sophomore tooting away on my Bundy trombone, I felt overwhelmed, overmatched, and really out of place. He didn’t have to say anything; the expectation was that I would improve, and even though I earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music, I’m still practicing, forty-plus years later.
The music was always important, and Mr. Van challenged us with the
best. Symphonies by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Haydn, student performances of
concertos by Lalo, Wieniawski, and Gordon Jacob, and Wagner’s Parsifal were all
on the program during my time at Holland High.
He encouraged us to seek out more demanding performance venues, like
Grand Rapids Youth Symphony, music camps, and All-State ensembles.
But the music, as exalted as much of it was, paled in comparison to the
life lessons we learned. He had so much
to teach that would make us better people and better citizens, and I remember
the orchestra would sit patiently while Mr. Van held forth on some topic
totally unrelated to what we were playing that day. It never seemed like preaching—although I can
imagine some folks might have seen it that way—and I often wondered what his sons Steve and
Gary, as well as his daughter Julie, were thinking as we sat together in class.
The people with whom I performed in the Holland High School Orchestra
have grown up and grown older, and some perform on the instruments they did in
high school, but most have gone on to other things. I won’t say I was one of
the lucky ones; even though a good part of my adult life has been spent
performing music of the great composers—which is truly a blessing, make no
mistake—the greater blessing was to have learned life lessons from Mr. Van as a
trombonist in his orchestra, and later as a teaching colleague and trusted
friend. Thank you, Mr. Van, and well
done, thou good and faithful servant.
Amen.
Onward.
Music: Victory (Palestrina), Giovanni P. da Palestrina, Magnificat Tertii Toni, 1591
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