Serenade No. 10 and Boléro

In the fictional movie Amadeus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s musical opponent, Antonio Salieri, described the beginning of Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 (K361).

“On the page, it looked like nothing. The beginning is simple, almost comic. Just a pulse, bassoons, and basset horns, like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly, high above it, an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight!”

Many classical pieces have this pattern of adding one instrument to the other. A classic example is Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, in which the same line is repeated 169 times, but each time, a different instrument takes the lead: flute, clarinet, bassoon oboe, trumpet, saxophone, horn, piccolos, etc., forming a beautiful and repetitious music.

Peter, too, presented the following list likewise.

“Hasten with all intensity to add to your faith excellence, and to excellence knowledge, and to knowledge empowerment, and to empowerment perseverance, and to perseverance reverence, and to reverence familial-affection, and to familial-affection love because when you have them and multiplying them in abundance, you will not be ineffective but effective in your confession of Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet 1:5–8)

We must not consider this list as less to greater, where faith is the basic element and love is the greatest virtue. Likewise, we shouldn’t think one of these virtues is enough or must have all of them to be a true Christian. Instead, these are like the various instruments in Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 or Ravel’s Boléro – they complement each other and make the sound beautiful. They were to be added one by one and at the right time and place.

Although I have said “to faith excellence” (because the verb needed it), the Greek preposition is “in” – “in your faith, add excellence,” “in your excellence, add knowledge,” “in your knowledge empowerment,” etc. That grammar shows what I said earlier – each complements the other at the right time and place to make a piece of beautiful music or life. For example, familial affection (fila-adelfia, filos = love; adelfos = brother) is often shown to related people, like one’s family or covenant families (Israel and Christians). On the other hand, love (agape) is shown to unrelated and non-covenantal people. A Christian, for example, shows familial affection to fellow Christians and love to unbelievers. Wisdom directs us to know the difference, like Mozart and Revel knew when to introduce the oboe or clarinet.

Knowing their meaning and when to use them would help us to be wise in using these virtues. As we saw yesterday, excellence is a determination to do our very best in whatever has been entrusted to us. Knowledge is knowing and remembering many things. Although each of these is an excellent virtue, if they were overused, one could become obsessive-compulsive, workaholic, critical, and unable to relate to others if they are simple. With simpletons, we must utilize empowerment – seeing the good in others and highlighting or using them. In difficult situations, we exercise perseverance. In all of life, we should be reverent to God. We show familial affection to believers, and to non-believers, we offer love. When we use these virtues properly, in the right measure, times, and context, we will effectively testify to Jesus Christ.