Buelow: Columbine

William Buelow's Columbine is an evocative work for Piano Trio that was the work that first drew us to Mr. Buelow's work. In describing this work, Mr. Buelow writes: The music of Columbine, while melancholy, is not meant to be tragic. It was written to celebrate the beauty of the precious lives lost at Columbine. The work ends with the hymn “It is well with my soul” written by Horatio Spafford. A generous Christian attorney and businessman, Horatio lost his son to scarlet fever. Then the Chicago fi re of 1871 destroyed his vast real estate holdings. His own church family, assuming his tragic circumstances were the result of unconfessed sin, forced him out of his church. When circumstances seemed as though they could not get worse, the ship Ville du Havre, carrying his wife and four daughters, collided with another ship and sunk in the icy waters of the Atlantic in 12 minutes. A cable sent by his wife simply said “Saved alone.” Stafford booked passage on a ship to join his wife. As he stood at the ship’s railing, grieving for his daughters, the captain told him the ship was near the place where his daughters had died. When Stafford returned to his room, he wrote the words of the now famous hymn: When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billow roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.” Job, who suffered similar circumstances, said: “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that in the end he will stand upon the Earth.” Horatio Stafford knew, as Job did, that God loved his children and would care for them forever. He knew that, one day, the Lord would restore all that was lost. My hope is that this music might bring some comfort to those who have suffered the loss of loved ones.