Refining the index of this blog, and thus rereading some recent posts, I noticed how often during the past year or two that I'm going through a rough period, or that I'm struggling, or that I'm spiritually dry, and so on. My wife and I lost our mothers within a 14-month period, and other things have been difficult. These past couple weeks, though, have brought reasons to feel more positive---although, scarily, I've gotten in the habit of feeling tense and pensive, and I'm having a hard time getting back to a cheerful outlook again! Emotions are weird, and fortunately emotions don't always have to do with one's relationship with God, because God is faithful, merciful, and loving whether we're "feeling it" or not. "God is greater than our hearts," writes the author of 1 John.
As has been true throughout my life, music is a way to keep me spiritually and emotionally happy and positive. This week I’ve been listening in my car to the new CD, “Prayer: Voice and Organ” by the noted Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozená, with the organist Christian Schmitt. The selections are an intriguing and enjoyable compilation of music that mixes the public and personal forms of religious belief.
For instance, the Bach selections are pieces used in hymnals, while the art songs of Schubert are not ecclesial but deal affectingly with themes of mortality and redemption in ways that are religious. Similarly, the selections from among Wolf’s Mörike Lieder reflect an intensity of feeling along with religious evocations and imagery. We have a short religious drama by Purcell, and three versions of the prayer “Ave Maria” by Verdi, Schubert, and Dvorák. The artists also perform the last work by Durufle, “Our Father,” and a Jewish prayer set by Ravel. So we have a broad spectrum of pieces by composers and a spectrum of kinds of religious feelings.
It is interesting to think about the connection of artistic expression and religious faith. From what I've read, neither Verdi nor Schubert were religious, and Dvorák was strongly religious; and all three could write an "Ave Maria" that can be appreciated as kinds of prayer, or solely as beautiful art. Kozená herself states in the CD notes: “Everything is connected, everything is a part of our lives. Faith is something very personal But, if we live on this planet, we must surely believe in a higher power, whatever that may be. That is something I feel when I perform this music.” That sense of personal feeling unites for her the private and public aspects of prayer.
The ArkivMusic site, where I ordered the disc, provides the list of these pieces:
1. Totengräbers Heimwehe, D 842 by Franz Schubert
2. Komm, süsser Tod, komm, sel'ge Ruh'!, BWV 478 by Johann Sebastian Bach
3. Mörike Lieder: no 26, Karwoche by Hugo Wolf
4. Mélodies hébraïques (2): no 1, Kaddisch by Maurice Ravel
5. Agnus Dei by Georges Bizet
6. Ellens Gesang III, D 839/Op. 52 no 6 "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert
7. Spanisches Liederbuch: no 7, Mühvoll komm ich und beladen by Hugo Wolf
8. Tell me, some pitying angel, Z 196 "Blessed Virgin's Expostulation" by Henry Purcell
9. Ave Maria, Op. 19b/B 68 by Antonín Dvorák
10. So gibst du nun, mein Jesus, gute Nacht!, BWV 501 by Johann Sebastian Bach.
11. Himmelsfunken, D 651 by Franz Schubert
12. Mörike Lieder: no 27, Zum neuen Jahr by Hugo Wolf
13. Die goldne Sonne, voll Freud' und Wonne, BWV 451 by Johann Sebastian Bach
14. Vom Mitleiden Mariä, D 632 by Franz Schubert
15. Mörike Lieder: no 25, Schlafendes Jesuskind by Hugo Wolf
16. Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen, D 343 by Franz Schubert
17. Ave Maria by Giuseppe Verdi
18. Mörike Lieder: no 28, Gebet by Hugo Wolf
19. Der Leidende, D 432 by Franz Schubert
20. Mein Jesu, was für Seelenweh, BWV 487 by Johann Sebastian Bach
21. Notre Père, Op. 14 by Maurice Duruflé
22. Kommt, Seelen, dieser Tag, BWV 479 by Johann Sebastian Bach
No comments:
Post a Comment