Music for Advent: Visitation

Visitation

Christopher Orczy

2009

And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste,

into a city of Judah;

and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth.

And it came to pass,

when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,

the babe leaped in her womb;

and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost;

and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry,

and said,

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And whence is this to me,

that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?

For behold,

when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears,

the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

And blessed is she that believed;

for there shall be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.

And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaiden:

For behold,

from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;

And holy is his name.

And his mercy is unto generations and generations on them that fear him.

He hath shewed strength with his arm;

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.

He hath put down princes from their thrones,

And hath exalted them of low degree.

The hungry he hath filled with good things;

And the rich he hath sent empty away.

He hath holpen Israel his servant,

That he might remember mercy

(As he spake unto our fathers)

Toward Abraham and his seed for ever.

And Mary abode with her about three months,

and returned unto her house.

Luke 1:39-56 RV

I have just completed the final part of my Advent trilogy. The first part, Annunciation, was completed in 2007. You can read more about that here. The third part, Nativity, was completed in 2008. More about that here.

This last piece comes in between the two, as will be noticed by the above Gospel reading, concerns Mary's visit to Elizabeth, just after being informed about what is to occur.

Where in Annunciation, I wanted to treat the dialog between Gabriel and Mary, with Visitation I wanted to give two portraits of the two women involved. There are similar themes and sonorities between the two pieces, as both women are talking about the same thing: Christ.

I suppose this work may sound a bit gloomy, especially for a reading that is essentially joyous. While it may be a wondrous thing that has occurred, the shadow of the cross is looming.

Please forgive my take on this. It certainly isn't what I would preach on this passage. I do invite you to listen to the now complete Advent album. These pieces express my feelings of the Incarnation. The most wonderful thing to occur is also very difficult to understand. The immensity of the event is unfathomable.

These pieces also reflect my journey as a Christian. I experienced my conversion on Christmas Day 2006, and I knew at that point all future compositions would be devoted to the faith. I also knew I could no longer expect money for doing so.

You can download Advent for free here.

Enjoy these pieces, and have a very merry Christmass.

George Herbert

I have added another piece to my on-going Saints series. This time George Herbert.

Have a listen here

Herbert isn't regarded as a saint, yet the Anglican church celebrates his life on February 27th. 
Where the other pieces in this series have focused on more "mystical" elements, the George piece is far more earthy. 

On listening to the completed piece, an intensely strong memory of reading A Country Parson flooded back to me, accompanied by pictures from Percy Dearmer's Some English Altars.  A chilly Christchurch morning and stained glass.

Here is one of his poems.

THE WINDOWS.

LORD, how can man preach thy eternall word ? 
        He is a brittle crazie glasse : 
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford 
        This glorious and transcendent place, 
        To be a window, through thy grace. 

But when thou dost anneal in glasse thy storie, 
        Making thy life to shine within 
The holy Preachers, then the light and glorie 
        More rev'rend grows, and more doth win ; 
        Which else shows watrish, bleak, and thin. 

Doctrine and life, colours and light, in one 
        When they combine and mingle, bring 
A strong regard and aw :  but speech alone 
        Doth vanish like a flaring thing, 
        And in the eare, not conscience ring.

Music for Christmas: Nativity

Nativity
Christopher Orczy
2008

With my second major religious work, I have taken the moment of Jesus' birth as the subject. It is a long piece, 37 minutes.

You can listen and download here.

As in the earlier Annunciation piece, the source material was recorded on the Feast day; in this case Christmas day 2007. Likewise, the image for the artwork was again taken from English Altars by Percy Dearmer.

Whereas in Annunciation, I used the text from Luke and expressed each "moment" of the dialogue between Gabriel and Mary with some inspiration from secondary, apocryphal sources; this time I wanted to express a singular idea: that of the birth of Jesus, the Incarnation of the Son of God.

Upon looking at the two Gospel narratives depicting the birth of Jesus one is struck by how scanty the information regarding the actual birth is. In both Matthew and Luke it is almost mentioned in passing.

And Joseph arose from his sleep,
and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him,
and took unto him his wife;
and knew her not till she had brought forth a son:
and he called his name JESUS.
Matthew 1:24-25 RV

And she brought forth her firstborn son;
and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes,
and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7 RV

We are give more detail on events that occur after; in the case of Matthew, the wise men; in Luke the angels and the shepherds.

Turning to non-canonical sources, there are some fantastic versions of the actual birth, in particular The Protevangelium of James (c 150). At the moment when Mary goes into labour, she tells Joseph, who leads her to a cave. He then heads off to Bethlehem in search of a midwife. He experiences a vision:

And I Joseph was walking,
and was not walking;
and I looked up into the sky,
and saw the sky astonished;
and I looked up to the pole of the heavens,
and saw it standing,
and the birds of the air keeping still.

And I looked down upon the earth,
and saw a trough lying,
and work-people reclining:
and their hands were in the trough.
And those that were eating did not eat,
and those that were rising did not carry it up,
and those that were conveying anything to their mouths did not convey it;
but the faces of all were looking upwards.

And I saw the sheep walking,
and the sheep stood still;
and the shepherd raised his hand to strike them,
and his hand remained up.
And I looked upon the current of the river,
and I saw the mouths of the kids resting on the water and not drinking,
and all things in a moment were driven from their course.
Protevangelium of James 18.

The idea that time is stopping, that eternity is becoming temporal is a beautiful depiction;

Once Joseph returns with the midwife, visual phenomena that is usual for describing God's presence is described. We see this same imagery used at the Annunciation earlier in the Protevangelium of James:

And they stood in the place of the cave,
and behold a luminous cloud overshadowed the cave.

And immediately the cloud disappeared out of the cave,
and a great light shone in the cave,
so that the eyes could not bear it.
And in a little that light gradually decreased,
until the infant appeared,
and went and took the breast from His mother Mary.
Protevangelium of James 19.

The stilling of time, and the light and cloud images are a mythical description of:

And the Word became flesh,
and dwelt among us
John 1:14 RV

The Nativity piece is an attempt to put all this together, as much as it is possible. I didn't want to compose a Christmas piece using the Shepherds or the Wise Men; my interest was far less about narrative. I liked the idea of birth, the idea of a new beginning. While both Matthew and Luke tell us about Jesus' being born, they don't tell us about his birth.

The other idea that guided the piece was from later in Luke. When Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus to the Temple, Simeon the prophet holds Jesus in his arms, and after blessing them, says to Mary

Behold,
this child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel;
and for a sign which is spoken against;
yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul;
that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.
Luke 2:34-35 RV

Maybe it is my natural gloominess, but while I think Christmas is wonderful: we are after all celebrating God's love for us, there is a darker side. Simeon's prophecy that this baby will be the falling and rising of many is both good news and bad news. It also hints at what is to take place on Calvary 30 or so years later. While the birth of Jesus is the best thing to happen, to be a follower of Christ is not "an easy option". Simeon states to Mary (who may be seen as the ideal follower of God's Word) that a sword will pierce her soul, and the thoughts of many will be revealed. Many will not see the light, and many will be persecuted for speaking of it. It is a difficult road, but one which once shown, is impossible to deny.

Merry Christmas everyone.

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
John 3:16 RV

Music for Advent: Annunciation

Annunciation
Christopher Orczy
2007

Since today is "The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary", I thought it most fitting to post my piece "Annunciation".

You can listen and download it here.

Annunciation
7 Atmospheres for Luke 1:26-38

1. Mary

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee,
named Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David;
and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Within Luke’s Gospel, we are told very little about Mary. She is a virgin, engaged to be married to Joseph, who is of Davidic descent. We aren’t told of her appearance, her expression, or her manner.

2. Appeared

And he came in unto her,
and said,
Hail,
thou that art highly favoured,
the Lord is with thee.

Similar to the previous passage, we are not told anything of Gabriel’s appearance, or the manner of his arrival. Several of the apocryphal writings are more descriptive in their retelling of this passage.
The Nativity of Mary (600 CE) has "he filled the chamber where she was with a great light."
The Martyrdom of Bartholomew (400 CE) has Gabriel “gleaming like the sun”;
and the Questions of Bartholomew (400 CE), Mary describes Gabriel’s face as “incomprehensible.”

3. Troubled

But she was greatly troubled at the saying,
and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.

Mary seems to have no difficulty with Gabriel’s presence, but his words worry her. “The Lord is with thee” is a phrase that would have been familiar to Mary (and Luke’s readers) from the Torah. “Thou that art highly favoured” is what is causing her concern. Mary ponders what has she done (or not done) that would cause God to favour her.

4. Greatness

And the angel said unto her,
Fear not,
Mary:
for thou hast found favour with God.
And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son,
and shalt call his name JESUS.
He shall be great,
and shall be called the Son of the Most High:
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Gabriel recognizes that Mary is troubled, and consoles her. Gabriel’s second discourse contains three elements: a reiteration of Mary’s favoured status; Mary is to conceive a child; and what the child will accomplish in his earthly existence. Once again, Luke uses familiar Jewish phrases to describe who this baby will be.

5. How

And Mary said unto the angel,
How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

The most important concept of this passage comes from what Mary does not say. She has no difficulty with idea of having a child. Her question concerns the howabouts of the conception. In many ways, Mary’s question and Gabriel’s forthcoming answer are the essential core of Luke’s annunciation, and central to the season of Advent and the Nativity.

6. Cloud

And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,
and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee:
wherefore also that which is to be born shall be called holy,
the Son of God.
And behold,
Elisabeth thy kinswoman,
she also hath conceived a son in her old age:
and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren.
For no word from God shall be void of power.

Luke uses imagery that is reminiscent of the creation passages of Genesis (1:2; 2:6).

And the earth was waste and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep:
and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

but there went up a mist from the earth,
and watered the whole face of the ground.

In the aforementioned apocryphal Questions of Bartholomew, Mary describes the event
I looked up into heaven and there came a cloud of dew and sprinkled me from the head to the feet

7. “be it unto me”

And Mary said,
Behold,
the handmaid of the Lord;
be it unto me according to thy word.
And the angel departed from her.

Mary’s acceptance of what to occur makes her the first Christian. On a larger scale, her agreeing to God’s will reminds us that God can and does act within our lives; and recognizing His presence is not the pursuit of Christians solely, but rather for all mankind.

Within the next week, I will be posting another piece, "Nativity".

Music for St Teresa of Avila

I have composed another piece for my ongoing "Saints" series. This time it was St Teresa of Avila.
Here is the piece.
My other posts about her will let you know my feelings about her, and what an impact she has had on my journey.

Where my other pieces in this series have been shorter (Catherine of Siena in particular), or in movements (Julian of Norwich), St Teresa ended up 9 minutes. It contains many peaks and troughs, and is rather dynamic. I think it reflects her writing style: rambling, unpunctuated, free and personal. The modulations seem to describe points of view from different angles.

I read and meditated on the following vision of hers before recording the piece:

I saw an angel close by me, on my left side, in bodily form.
This I am not accustomed to see, unless very rarely.
Though I have visions of angels frequently, yet I see them only by an intellectual vision,
such as I have spoken of before.
It was our Lord's will that in this vision I should see the angel in this wise.
He was not large, but small of stature, and most beautiful —
his face burning, as if he were one of the highest angels, who seem to be all of fire:
they must be those whom we call cherubim.
Their names they never tell me;
but I see very well that there is in heaven so great a difference between one angel and another,
and between these and the others, that I cannot explain it.
I saw in his hand a long spear of gold,
and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire.
He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart,
and to pierce my very entrails;
when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also,
and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God.
The pain was so great, that it made me moan;
and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain,
that I could not wish to be rid of it.
The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God.
The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it, even a large one.
It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God,
that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying.
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus (c.1565) Ch. 29

Pretty intense stuff, but hard to resist, and hard to not believe. Although this famous vision is fantastic and wonderful, The St Teresa that has stayed with me exists in the following:

Let nothing disturb thee;
Let nothing dismay thee;
All thing pass;
God never changes.
Patience attains All that it strives for.
He who has God Finds he lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.

When I am feeling difficult and harsh, these words remind me of why I am here, and why I am going through what I am.

And he said unto all,
If any man would come after me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily,
and follow me.
Luke 9:23 RV

No one, not even Jesus, said being a Christian would be easy.

St John and Julian of Norwich

Portret van een Vrouw
Rogier van der Weyden

IN this same time our Lord shewed me a spiritual sight of His homely loving.
I saw
that He is to us everything that is good and comfortable for us:
He is our clothing that for love wrappeth us,
claspeth us,
and all encloseth us for tender love,
that He may never leave us;
being to us all-thing that is good,
as to mine understanding.

Julian of Norwich
Revelations of Divine Love
Revelation One; Chapter 5

I recorded some music to commemorate Julian's day in the Anglican Calendar.
The pieces are a slighter rawer than my two earlier this year. I wanted to treat them more, but they wanted to stay clear; hence the sound is a bit sharper and closer. There are a few more background noises: clicks, clunks, birds, crickets, cars. I think it suits Julian that the sound is a bit more rustic.

Anyway, you can hear the pieces here.



We had a reading of her work at Mass today, from which the above is taken.

Although I had read the above before, today I heard it read aloud; a very different experience to that of last year.
I understood it as an expansion on:

God is love;
and he that remains in love
remains in God,
and God remains in him.
1 John 4:16

Where John says "love", Julian says: "everything that is good and comfortable for us". She describes it almost in terms of sensation. She then goes on to describe God's love for us in terms of a hug:

Wrappeth us,
claspeth us,
and all encloseth us

It is an eternal hug:

He may never leave us

John at the end of his first letter informs us

This is the true God, and eternal life
1 John 5:20

I know my above writing is a bit shallow, that it seems rather obvious, and probably pointless for me to point out. But sometimes things can be other thought and over writ.

St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

St Catherine of Siena,
Andrea Vanni, (1332-c. 1414)
San Domenico, Siena

April 29 is the Feast Day of St Catherine of Siena.

Here is a piece I have composed in her honour.



The music is an attempt to capture something of her mystical zeal and pain. She is more frantic than Julian of Norwich, and isn't as thought thorough as St Teresa of Avila. Yet I sense an overpowering light that seems to make her experiences shimmer. It is sudden and intense. It is this I have tried to capture in the piece.

At the execution of man she converted and has received Holy Communion for the first time, she had a mystical experience:

I prayed, I constrained her,
I cried "Mary!" for I wished this grace,
that at the moment of death she should give him a light and a peace in his heart,
and then I should see him reach his goal.
Then my soul became so full that although a multitude of people were there,
I could see no human creature,
for the sweet promise made to me.

The vision, and it's reason for happening show Catherine's true nature as one who desired to serve God to her utmost, and beyond.

At the age of 6 she started to recieve visions. By her early teens she was asking her parents whether she could become a Nun. When they refused, she cut all her hair off, and wanted to make herself as ugly as possible. She fasted regularly, often forgoing any food other than Holy Communion. Her parents were wealthy, and had hoped she would "marry well". 1363, at the age of 16 she joined the Dominican Tertiary. In 1373 she was told by God to leave the cloister, and enter public life. She initially thought of the Clergy, and asked God how this would be possible. He replied:

I will raise up women ignorant and frail by nature
but endowed with strength and divine wisdom.
Then, if the men will come to their senses and humble themselves,
I will behave with the utmost mercy towards them,
that is to say, towards those who, according to the grace given them, receive my doctrine,
offered to them in fragile but specially chosen vessels,
and follow it reverently.
Link

Within her letters, we find out her thoughts concerning the privilege, call, and role of the Clergy.
To her future biographer, and Spiritual Advisor, Raymund of Capua, she writes:

Kind father,
cheer up,
for you have been called to him so sweetly.

Persevere with joy and patience,
without crippling pain.

... I desire to see you a seeker and lover of truth.

She also writes on what a Priest should do and be (same thing?).

...be the sort of flower that breathes out a fragrance before God and for those in your care.
Be a true shepherd, ready to give your life for your sheep.
...
Consider God's ineffable love for your salvation;
open your eyes and you see his boundless blessings and gifts.
...
Fall in love with virtue;
its effect is the opposite of that of vice,
because sin brings bitterness
while virtue brings sweetness
and even in this life a foretaste of the next.

The Letters of Saint Catherine of Siena, Suzanne Noffke, O.P., volume 1, Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1988, 57-58.

Her opinion of the Clergy may be understood better by the words she recieved in a vision. God explains to Catherine the role of Ministers, and what they are actually administering at the Eucharist:

I have especially chosen My ministers for the sake of your salvation,
so that, through them,
the Blood of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son,
may be administered to you.
To them have I given the Sun to administer,
giving them the light of science and the heat of Divine Love,
united together in the color of the Body and Blood of My Son,
whose Body is a Sun,
because He is one thing with Me, the True Sun,
in such a way that He cannot be separated or divided from Me,
as in the case of the natural sun,
in which heat and light cannot be separated,
so perfect is their union;

Of the dignity of the priest;
The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena
1378

Reading St. Catherine's thoughts on Priests has given me much to ruminate over.

Be the sort of flower that breathes out a fragrance before God and for those in your care.
Be a true shepherd, ready to give your life for your sheep.

I think this is good advice.

St. Catherine of Siena
from Orcherd of Syon*
1519

*The treatment is of my down doing. Click on the picture for large version.The beautiful original is here.