Days Have Spoken The only principal who kept vigil with Job, but was not found guilty of accounting wrongly of Job’s crisis of theodicy, was Elihu. He was the last to address Job after the others had exhausted their reasonings to explain the human tragedy, and also because they were much older than Elihu, and thus presumably wiser. Elihu concludes then that he should “let days speak,” or that “days should speak” first. The wisdom of the aged failed this time, however. To me, the times we experience now also say much. And our daily attempts to make sense of these times and to assure ourselves of our confirmed places in them say volumes as well. International affairs speak, and so do domestic affairs, and human health, family bonds, personal welfare, life stages and life transitions. To see flags fly at half-staff almost all the time now, without knowing really for whom in particular anymore, for example, speaks to me very deeply. Yet, so do small everyday victories, and examples of resolve, and affirming the nobility and dignity and winsomeness of one another. And the still, small Voice still speaks. Amen. All of these, and other realities, are days… Performers from Brussels, Belgium, Chicago, New York City, Brazil, the Charleston Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic and University of South Carolina Orchestras, among others, presented these 15 commissioned works during the Days Have Spoken modern music composition concert at the Columbia Museum of Art (Columbia, SC) in February 2008. Among instrumental pieces for combinations of strings, woodwinds, brass and pitched percussion, enthusiastic concertgoers welcomed the premieres of "No! Means Nothing" and "Songs for Eleanor" for soprano, clarinet and piano, a collection sung in both English and French, often within the same song, in both standard vocal technique and sprechgesang. Lyrics with translations along with artist contact info and links to bios appear in the CD and DVD liner notes. John Lane has taught music and religion courses at Wheaton College and at Allen University, including composition, counterpoint, theory, Christian Social Ethics, Theology of Culture, and Mission of the Church. Administratively, he has been Associate Senior Vice President of the College for Professional Adults and former Coordinator of the Department of Music at Allen, and Chair of Music Theory and Director of Music Technology at Wheaton. In addition to earning degrees from Harvard and the University of South Carolina, Dr. Lane has studied composition and orchestration at the famed Universität fur Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria, and at Aspen. Recent accomplishments include leading an archaeological tour of the ruins of ancient Eleusis in southern Greece, and selection in consecutive years to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. Dr. Lane’s recent compositions including 'Comet Run,' 'Serenity,' and '2:14' have enjoyed premieres and repeat performances across the country before capacity audiences by members of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony, Greenville, and Augusta Symphony Orchestras, the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra, faculty colleagues, and choral ensembles. He has presented original works, papers and workshops at refereed national and regional conferences in both composition and Christian music scholarship, and is featured on the “Lead Gently, Lord” CD released in 2007 by the Women’s Chorale of Wheaton College. Dr. Lane has received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, and Faculty of the Year awards at both Allen and Wheaton. In 2007 Governor Mark Sanford and the state’s Commission on Higher Education named him a Distinguished Professor of South Carolina.