Rising – Thorvaldsdóttir, Heyr þú oss himnum á
Anna Thorvaldsdóttir – Heyr þú oss himnum á
Sunrise, Friday April 17
It's not every day we rise to a prayer,
though maybe it ought to be...
This one is special: an Icelandic hymn that, in the compositional hands of Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, becomes a deeply-rooted mediation - a study in the way in which harmony can affect us profoundly, can invite us to turn inward, quiet our brain and make sense of the chaos, if only for the brief moment as it passes into the past.
Your light forever clear.
Amen, amen, it has to be
We met Anna through our friend Claire Chase at the International Contemporary Ensemble and were so enamored of her music we programmed her two hymn settings at our first opportunity, Christmas 2014, and then asked her to write one of the Seven Responses (heard on Rising w/ March 31).
It's odd that we love to sing this; all voices are written in lower registers and, unusually, they stay there. We'd expect it to be tiring. No. Instead, it's entrancing. There's something dark and solid - earthbound and sparse - about the colors that Anna's writing produces; it is satisfying, communal, inspiring to work together to produce this unique palette.
Everyone has their own form of prayer; many of us don't realize we do it. Ritual is human. Perhaps it's more basic even than "human."
Prayer.
This is ours, and we're grateful.
Week 5 closes: keep us near.
Be well: glad of these things.
Peace: let us sing.
–The Whole Team @ The Crossing
We'll be back on Monday.
Heyr þú oss himnum á
music by Anna Thorvaldsdóttir
words by Ólafur Jónsson, translated by Michael Jón Clarke
recorded live in concert at The Crossing @ Christmas
The Jeffrey Dinsmore Memorial Concert inaugural event on
December 19, 2014
audio by Paul Vazquez of Digital Mission Audio Services
* * *
Sung in Icelandic
Hear us, O God on high,
Our loving Father e'er nigh.
Fortune until the end
Everlasting life You send.
With You our time we spend.
Your kingdom reigning here,
Your laws we all adhere,
So that most mortals worship with love and fear.
Glad of these things,
In praise draw near.
Let not be wanting song,
If love comes not along,
Let us sing Your praises strong
With the celestial throng.
Only the Christian there belong.
When we from this world repair
Take us, Lord, and keep us near
Your light forever clear.
Amen, amen, it has to be.