Rising – Dove, In beauty may I walk
Jonathan Dove – In beauty may I walk
Sunrise, Friday April 24
All day long may I walk,
Through the returning seasons may I walk.
Some pieces just stay with us.
Jonathan Dove’s “In beauty may I walk” is one. It is based entirely on a single, simple melody, repeated as a mantra in all but a few bars of the work, while other melodies dance above it. The mantra, just five notes, has this unique quality in that its last note “hangs” off the penultimate note, creating the feeling that it is in limbo, suspended. It feels both unfinished and yet absent of the need to be finished. It inspires us to caress the end of the line as if caring for it; we don't have to talk about that, it just happens. (Music! How do you tell us such things?)
We’ve sung this often and it has brought us many wonderful memories, the fondest being the wedding of Deb Reinhard and Pam Prior (board leaders @ The Crossing!). We went to church! What a day!
Nice to be reminded of joy.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
We love to sing this piece because we have very few opportunities to sing the words “pollen” and “grasshopper.” Well, that, and because of its symbols: after a few minutes of friendly dialogue between all our parts (a bit of chatter through counterpoint) we come together in the final bars as a complete, synthesized Whole – a feeling of Oneness with Nature, and with each other. Jonathan achieves this “giving over to the Entirety” by dispensing of polyphony and creating a Gathering: a series of quiet chords on seven syllables, as contemplative as they are joyful.
It is finished with beauty.
Seven: the union of our Earth and Heaven.
Be well.
Rest.
- The Whole Team @ The Crossing
In beauty may I walk
music by Jonathan Dove
words from a Navajo prayer, translated by Jerome Rothenberg
recorded live in concert at The Month of Moderns
June 30, 2013 at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill
audio by Paul Vazquez of Digital Mission Audio Services
* * *
In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.
Beautifully will I possess again.
Beautifully joyful birds.
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.
With beauty before me.
With beauty behind me.
With beauty above me.
With beauty all around me.
It is finished in beauty.