A conversation with Daniel Kellogg

I enjoyed interviewing composer Daniel Kellogg yesterday at Copley Symphony Hall in San Diego. The interview took place shortly after the San Diego Symphony’s third and final performance of the composer’s SDG-commissioned oratorio, The Fiery Furnace. Here are a few clips from our conversation:

Kellogg recalls his beginnings as a composer.


The emotion and spirit of The Fiery Furnace.


How the project has impacted the composer.

. . .

April 28, 2008 | Filed Under Kellogg: The Fiery Furnace, Videos | Leave a Comment 

Striking gold

Jahja Ling leads the dress rehearsal of The Fiery Furnace

I’m at a bit of a loss in relaying all the news on composer Daniel Kellogg’s SDG-commissioned oratorio The Fiery Furnace, which was premiered here in San Diego yesterday evening. I’ll take the shortest route first in saying simply that Kellogg’s new work is a gem and that the performance, given by the San Diego Symphony and conductor Jahja Ling, was a great success. A large crowd gathered in Copley Hall and was unmistakably taken in by Kellogg’s new work. For any new piece of classical music to be welcomed into the world with a standing ovation is significant enough. That the audience would rise to their feet to applaud a new work whose conclusion marked only the end of the concert’s first half is a real rarity–and that’s exactly what happened last night.

Contemporary classical music has a stigma that follows (or is earned by, perhaps?) a scenario repeated throughout its history and made especially familiar in the last century of musical development; a new work is premiered and found to grate upon the listener’s ears with complexities and extremes seemingly beyond reach. But history has taught us to keep an open mind as occasionally the brilliance of certain works–for example, Stravinski’s Rite of Spring–simply eluded us at first. Turns out the composer was a step ahead of us all and before we could appreciate and enjoy the music, we just needed a little time and perspective to catch up. Of course, there have doubtless been other works much easier to swallow at first but which eventually proved to be of lesser substance and lost lacquer soon after their first hearing. As best I can tell, Daniel Kellogg’s new work managed to communicate and connect with its premiere audience immediately but without sacrificing anything in the way of musical sophistication and integrity. The phrasing, orchestration and harmonic language of the piece are rich and varied, but solidly cohesive. Built upon a compelling libretto, which Kellogg assembled himself, The Fiery Furnace is a work more than just a well-written, it is an grand emotional and spiritual statement.

Dress rehearsal of The Fiery Furnace

I’m no music critic, and I’m wary of rambling on or overstating the merits of Kellogg’s new work (especially since my bias as director of the commissioning organization is all but unavoidable!), but before hanging up on this post I’ll relay something a complete stranger said to me during intermission. I decided to play the outsider and ask, “So, what did you think of the new piece?” The gentleman replied, “I was amazed. I thought it was pretty good. I didn’t have high expectations…but I was amazed… I think it might go places.”

Yes sir, let’s hope it does!

April 26, 2008 | Filed Under Kellogg: The Fiery Furnace, Commissions | Leave a Comment 

Play by play on “The Fiery Furnace”

Daniel Kellogg at the dress rehearsal of The Fiery FurnaceComposer Daniel Kellogg continues to report from San Diego as things progress toward the premiere of his SDG-commissioned oratorio The Fiery Furnace. Visit Dan’s blog at www.danielkellogg.blogspot.com for the latest.

April 25, 2008 | Filed Under Kellogg: The Fiery Furnace | Leave a Comment 

A conversation with Jahja Ling

One of the delights of my work with Soli Deo Gloria is spending time with world class musicians. Earlier today I enjoyed a conversation with conductor Jahja Ling, Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. Maestro Ling and I discussed The Fiery Furnace, composer Daniel Kellogg’s SDG-commissioned oratorio. Here are a few excerpts from our conversation.


Initial impressions of The Fiery Furnace:


On the work’s dramatic elements and pacing:


I look forward to attending the dress rehearsal this evening. More news soon…

April 24, 2008 | Filed Under Kellogg: The Fiery Furnace, Videos | Leave a Comment 

Daniel Kellogg and “The Fiery Furnace”

Composer Daniel Kellogg is in San Diego this week assisting preparations for the premiere of his SDG-commissioned oratorio The Fiery Furnace. I look forward to joining him there next week for what I’m sure will be a great occasion in the life of SDG. Meanwhile, SDG and Kellogg enthusiasts may be interested to know that the composer has started a blog at www.danielkellogg.blogspot.com and is commenting on the project this week.


Dan and I were interviewed on Moody Radio’s Prime Time America, in connection with the commissioning of The Fiery Furnace. The interviews were broadcast a few weeks ago and, thanks to Moody Radio, have been made available for posting below:

Prime Time America: Daniel Kellogg interview (part 1)

Prime Time America: Daniel Kellogg / Chandler Branch interview (part 2)

April 17, 2008 | Filed Under Kellogg: The Fiery Furnace | Leave a Comment 

The semantics of “Allah” and “God”

I read an interesting blog post yesterday, written in response to an L. A. Times article that dealt with the semantics of the words “God” and “Allah”. Rabih Alameddine argues in his Times article that we are misusing and distorting the word “Allah” if we employ it exclusively with reference to the deity of the Muslim faith—that doing so fosters a damaging notion of distinction between “God” and “Allah” as two separate, different deities.

Alameddine writes:

We never say the French pray to Dieu, or Mexicans pray to Dios. Having Allah be different from God implies that Muslims pray to a special deity. It classifies Muslims as the Other. Separating Allah from God, we only see a vengeful, alarming deity, one responsible for those frightful fatwas and ghastly jihads — rarely the compassionate God.

[…]

In these troubled times, creating more differences, further parsing so to speak, is troubling, even dangerous. I suggest we either not use the word Allah or, better yet, use it in a non-Muslim context.

I understand the author’s point, but outside of purely linguistic concerns, it does seem a bit pedantic and impracticable to suggest that these terms should be interchanged—at least in most English-speaking contexts and cultures—as might be done with any other pair of synonyms. The blog author commenting on the article responded:

If to non-Muslims Allah denotes “only … a vengeful, alarming deity, one responsible for those frightful fatwas and ghastly jihads,” and “classifies Muslims as the Other,” it’s not only fit and proper that it should, but absolutely imperative. We hope in our lifetime to see the dawning of another time when it won’t be.

I, too, would argue for the practicality and (temporal?) necessity of maintaining a distinction between the words “God” and “Allah”. As Alameddine admits in his article, language develops naturally and “incomplete usage is at times explainable and logical.” Given this dynamic, it would seem the only natural way to change non-Muslims’ use of the word “Allah” is to challenge their perception of who Allah is.

. . .

Having published this post earlier today, I’ve since returned to it with conflicted but clearer thinking, informed in part by an e-mail from a friend who spent many years living and working in the Middle East. The water line is way over my head on this whole topic, but hopefully I’ll find some merit in continuing to wrestle with it in this format. Hope to pick up the trail again soon…

April 11, 2008 | Filed Under Faith, Culture | Leave a Comment