John the Revelator
Nov. 11th, 2006 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWent to an interesting free concert last night held in the Winter Garden of the remaining portion of the World Trade Center. There's a few skyscrapers along Battery City Park that are still considered part of the WTC. You get to them by marching over the Ground Zero platforms or on the sidestreets around them. The Winter Garden is enclosed atrium, huge enough to house six live palm trees at full height. There's a stage at the front. And the ceiling is glass. Looks a bit like a catherdrale, albeit one inside an office building. My friend, W had invited me to see it with her after she got out of work.
The concert was the world premiere of an ecletic classical music piece entitled John The Revelator by composer Phil Kline, who was in attendance, and performed by Lionheart and Ethel (a string quartet). It was set up as a "mass" - with music compositions to blues spirituals, latin mass chants such as the Credo, Agnus Dei, Sanctus & Benedictus, Hebrew Lamentations, and poems by David Shapiro and Samuel Becket. Before it started, Kline explained that the concert was not a mass for the end of days, or the apocalypse - that apocalypse really didn't initially mean the end of days anyhow, so much as new vision or new horizon, another word for change. Odd never heard that definition of apocalypse before. And that prior to writting the composition, he studied the Bible in depth blathering about how it was a fascinating text - filled with violent history, poetry, moral and cautionary tales. He spent the most time on Revelations and determined Revelations wasn't about the end of the world either, so much as visions on how things may evolve. In short he read it metaphorically as opposed to literally. [Most disagreements regarding the Bible, actually regarding all literary/media/art/movie analysis, tends to be over metaphorical vs. literal interpretations. ]
Of the songs presented, it was Beckett's poem - put to music, in a striking way, that sticks in my memory the most. I reproduce the poem here:
Prayer: The Unnamable - by Samuel Becket.
Where now? Who now? When now? Unquestioning. I, say I. Unbelieving. Questions, hypotheses, call them that. Keep going, going on, call that going, call that on.
(Can it be that one day, off it goes on, that one day I simply stayed in, in where, instead of going out, in the old way, out to spend a day and night as far away as possible, it wasn't far. You think you are simply resting, the better to act when the time comes, or for no reason, and you soon find yourself powerless ever to do anything again. No matter how it happened. It, say it, not knowing what...)
...I shall not be alone, in the beginning. I am of course alone. Alone. That is soon said. Things have to be soon said. And how can one be sure, in such darkness?
To provide a bit of context: This is followed in the concert by the Credo - which if you were raised Catholic you probably already know. If not - it is basically a reaffirmation of your belief in One God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirt. It starts: "I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, only-begotten son of God, born of his father before all worlds." [Latin: "Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentum, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum, lesum Christum, Filium Dei unigentum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula." ]It ends: " And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who goes from the Father to the Son, who with Father and Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And in one holy catholic and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. And I expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." [Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum et vivicantem...]
This was sung in the latin, much like the monks sing it on Gregorian Chants. Listening to it again, was oddly comforting in a nostaligic sort of way - because my father is a huge fan of Gregorian Chants and used to listen to records of them when I was a child. Mother hated them, yet now, ironically sings some of them herself in her church choir.
Most Catholics know this by heart, I sort of still do. Had to have it and the Our Father and Hail Mary memorized before I could take communion and be confirmed as Catholic.
The concert was styled after a Latin Catholic Mass - started with the processional, then the readings, then the credo, then the offering, then the consecration of the host, then the transfusion of the wine and wafer into the body and blood of Christ (As an aside: some take this literally, some see it as metaphorical - depends - many "devoute" Catholics tend to believe it literally transmuts and that's why many Catholics consider it blasphemious for someone who is not confirmed as a Catholic to partake of holy communion and non-Catholics are discouraged from taking communion. I do not take communion when I attend church any longer - because I do not believe in the transmutation and feel quilty partaking. "Communion" is the high point and main point of the Catholic Mass, not the homily or sermon. In the Catholic Church, the priest sometimes skipped over the sermon -or abbreviated it. In the Catholic Mass - the "holy communion" ritual is at the center of the faith and takes full 30-40 minutes all by itself - even without the readings. ), then the taking of communion, and finally the ending - which was the Protestant Hymns, "Wondrouse Love" - which starts:
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! O my soul!....What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss, To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
And ending : And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be; And through eternity, I'll sing on.
W commented that usually this song is sung lighter and more joyful, here it was more somber, darker in tone. With the cello and angry twinge of violins. Which fools in line with the composer's vision for the piece which was : " The ritual of the Mass itself is a kind of spiritual portal through which one can become part of universal body. I figured I might enter that portal myself in the process of discovery, and I wished to pass unburdened by a rigid plan, formal or stylistic."
Then this - which hits more or less my own feelings regarding faith and religion: " Bookending the Mass are treatments of two early American shape-note hymns from The Sacred Harp- "Northport" and "Wondrous Love", which have long been favorites of mine. They stir vestiges of an unforgettable and mysterious beauty, the sound of the strong emotion, unconditional and utterly lacking in malice, that I remember from the rural religion I witnessed as a child in Pennsylvania and Ohio. It seems like a dream in today's blurred politic. My favorite part of religion has always been the mystery. What wondrous love is this? Not reasoned or forced, it's just there.
Did the composition "John The Revelator" - a title based on a gospel song by Blind Willie Johnson and also about the Books of Revelations - accomplish the composers intent? Yes and no. W and I loved some of the compositions - the Samuel Becket, an Anthem based on a Blind Willie Johnson spiritual, a few lamentations of Jeremiah, and OH Wondrous Soul. The latin bits specifically the credo felt interminable and reminded me of sitting on those hard wooden benches in my church as a child. But I did feel the flavor of the Mass, yet in a setting and a manner that was inclusive as opposed to exclusive, wrapping everyone within the music's embrace in the spiritual ritual.
Religion is an odd thing. You can't really discuss it without stepping on someone's foot it seems nowadays. Which is ironic, because the point of it is to bring people together in love and thanksgiving and forgiveness. Was reading an Atlantic Monthly article recently about Hillary Clinton - she found a way to unite and work with her Republican contemporaries - how? By going to weekly prayer meetings - during which they left politics behind and came together in peach and forgiveness and acceptance. Finding a common ground. As a result, Clinton joined with Brownback to investigate the violence and negative effects of video games on young children and to sponsor a measure protecting refugees fleeing sexual abuse.
After the concert, came home and watched BSG of all things.
Came home and watched BSG, which was about God and Genocide. Belief in God as an orgasmic experience - which is actually how speaking in tongues was described in some of the folk religion films I saw in under-grad- in which someone leaves their body or has the out-of-body experience. Genocide - the temptation to win the unending game by removing your opponent entirely from the playing field. Course it doesn't work that way. We find new opponents. There is no end to the game - except death. And removing them, tempting as it might sound, comes with a hefty price - just ask Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin or the Khamer Rouge or ...Pontias Pilot. It solves nothing. And you lose your soul. But, but,what if the enemy is a demon, a machine, that will never leave us alone, if we remove it from existence...we will be more likely to survive. The old adage repeated by Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness applies here as well, when fighting monsters, we must be careful not become them ourselves or he who peers into the abyss, must deal with abyss looking back into him. Understanding the temptation, even being tempted, does not make one evil, just human, I think. Admitting that we are tempted, but choosing not to act. Is the choice, I think. Interesting episode, because it leaves one uncertain which course makes the most sense. Even though we know in our heart which is, the temptation - the Machiavellian credo - the ends justify the means - remains. Sort of a battle I think between a human's evolutionary - surivival instinct -and the spiritual consciousness.
The concert was the world premiere of an ecletic classical music piece entitled John The Revelator by composer Phil Kline, who was in attendance, and performed by Lionheart and Ethel (a string quartet). It was set up as a "mass" - with music compositions to blues spirituals, latin mass chants such as the Credo, Agnus Dei, Sanctus & Benedictus, Hebrew Lamentations, and poems by David Shapiro and Samuel Becket. Before it started, Kline explained that the concert was not a mass for the end of days, or the apocalypse - that apocalypse really didn't initially mean the end of days anyhow, so much as new vision or new horizon, another word for change. Odd never heard that definition of apocalypse before. And that prior to writting the composition, he studied the Bible in depth blathering about how it was a fascinating text - filled with violent history, poetry, moral and cautionary tales. He spent the most time on Revelations and determined Revelations wasn't about the end of the world either, so much as visions on how things may evolve. In short he read it metaphorically as opposed to literally. [Most disagreements regarding the Bible, actually regarding all literary/media/art/movie analysis, tends to be over metaphorical vs. literal interpretations. ]
Of the songs presented, it was Beckett's poem - put to music, in a striking way, that sticks in my memory the most. I reproduce the poem here:
Prayer: The Unnamable - by Samuel Becket.
Where now? Who now? When now? Unquestioning. I, say I. Unbelieving. Questions, hypotheses, call them that. Keep going, going on, call that going, call that on.
(Can it be that one day, off it goes on, that one day I simply stayed in, in where, instead of going out, in the old way, out to spend a day and night as far away as possible, it wasn't far. You think you are simply resting, the better to act when the time comes, or for no reason, and you soon find yourself powerless ever to do anything again. No matter how it happened. It, say it, not knowing what...)
...I shall not be alone, in the beginning. I am of course alone. Alone. That is soon said. Things have to be soon said. And how can one be sure, in such darkness?
To provide a bit of context: This is followed in the concert by the Credo - which if you were raised Catholic you probably already know. If not - it is basically a reaffirmation of your belief in One God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirt. It starts: "I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, only-begotten son of God, born of his father before all worlds." [Latin: "Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentum, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum, lesum Christum, Filium Dei unigentum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula." ]It ends: " And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who goes from the Father to the Son, who with Father and Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And in one holy catholic and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. And I expect the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." [Et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum et vivicantem...]
This was sung in the latin, much like the monks sing it on Gregorian Chants. Listening to it again, was oddly comforting in a nostaligic sort of way - because my father is a huge fan of Gregorian Chants and used to listen to records of them when I was a child. Mother hated them, yet now, ironically sings some of them herself in her church choir.
Most Catholics know this by heart, I sort of still do. Had to have it and the Our Father and Hail Mary memorized before I could take communion and be confirmed as Catholic.
The concert was styled after a Latin Catholic Mass - started with the processional, then the readings, then the credo, then the offering, then the consecration of the host, then the transfusion of the wine and wafer into the body and blood of Christ (As an aside: some take this literally, some see it as metaphorical - depends - many "devoute" Catholics tend to believe it literally transmuts and that's why many Catholics consider it blasphemious for someone who is not confirmed as a Catholic to partake of holy communion and non-Catholics are discouraged from taking communion. I do not take communion when I attend church any longer - because I do not believe in the transmutation and feel quilty partaking. "Communion" is the high point and main point of the Catholic Mass, not the homily or sermon. In the Catholic Church, the priest sometimes skipped over the sermon -or abbreviated it. In the Catholic Mass - the "holy communion" ritual is at the center of the faith and takes full 30-40 minutes all by itself - even without the readings. ), then the taking of communion, and finally the ending - which was the Protestant Hymns, "Wondrouse Love" - which starts:
What wondrous love is this, O my soul! O my soul!....What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss, To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
And ending : And when from death I'm free, I'll sing and joyful be; And through eternity, I'll sing on.
W commented that usually this song is sung lighter and more joyful, here it was more somber, darker in tone. With the cello and angry twinge of violins. Which fools in line with the composer's vision for the piece which was : " The ritual of the Mass itself is a kind of spiritual portal through which one can become part of universal body. I figured I might enter that portal myself in the process of discovery, and I wished to pass unburdened by a rigid plan, formal or stylistic."
Then this - which hits more or less my own feelings regarding faith and religion: " Bookending the Mass are treatments of two early American shape-note hymns from The Sacred Harp- "Northport" and "Wondrous Love", which have long been favorites of mine. They stir vestiges of an unforgettable and mysterious beauty, the sound of the strong emotion, unconditional and utterly lacking in malice, that I remember from the rural religion I witnessed as a child in Pennsylvania and Ohio. It seems like a dream in today's blurred politic. My favorite part of religion has always been the mystery. What wondrous love is this? Not reasoned or forced, it's just there.
Did the composition "John The Revelator" - a title based on a gospel song by Blind Willie Johnson and also about the Books of Revelations - accomplish the composers intent? Yes and no. W and I loved some of the compositions - the Samuel Becket, an Anthem based on a Blind Willie Johnson spiritual, a few lamentations of Jeremiah, and OH Wondrous Soul. The latin bits specifically the credo felt interminable and reminded me of sitting on those hard wooden benches in my church as a child. But I did feel the flavor of the Mass, yet in a setting and a manner that was inclusive as opposed to exclusive, wrapping everyone within the music's embrace in the spiritual ritual.
Religion is an odd thing. You can't really discuss it without stepping on someone's foot it seems nowadays. Which is ironic, because the point of it is to bring people together in love and thanksgiving and forgiveness. Was reading an Atlantic Monthly article recently about Hillary Clinton - she found a way to unite and work with her Republican contemporaries - how? By going to weekly prayer meetings - during which they left politics behind and came together in peach and forgiveness and acceptance. Finding a common ground. As a result, Clinton joined with Brownback to investigate the violence and negative effects of video games on young children and to sponsor a measure protecting refugees fleeing sexual abuse.
After the concert, came home and watched BSG of all things.
Came home and watched BSG, which was about God and Genocide. Belief in God as an orgasmic experience - which is actually how speaking in tongues was described in some of the folk religion films I saw in under-grad- in which someone leaves their body or has the out-of-body experience. Genocide - the temptation to win the unending game by removing your opponent entirely from the playing field. Course it doesn't work that way. We find new opponents. There is no end to the game - except death. And removing them, tempting as it might sound, comes with a hefty price - just ask Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin or the Khamer Rouge or ...Pontias Pilot. It solves nothing. And you lose your soul. But, but,what if the enemy is a demon, a machine, that will never leave us alone, if we remove it from existence...we will be more likely to survive. The old adage repeated by Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness applies here as well, when fighting monsters, we must be careful not become them ourselves or he who peers into the abyss, must deal with abyss looking back into him. Understanding the temptation, even being tempted, does not make one evil, just human, I think. Admitting that we are tempted, but choosing not to act. Is the choice, I think. Interesting episode, because it leaves one uncertain which course makes the most sense. Even though we know in our heart which is, the temptation - the Machiavellian credo - the ends justify the means - remains. Sort of a battle I think between a human's evolutionary - surivival instinct -and the spiritual consciousness.