Today's DailyOM Offerings...
July 28, 2008
Romaria
The Dowland Project
2008
The Dowland Project took shape as a collaboration between Manfred Eicher, of the ECM classical music label, and the celebrated English tenor John Potter. Originally an attempt to reclaim Renaissance-era songs for modern times, recording centuries-old compositions with contemporary instruments and fresh arrangements, the project has since expanded to include a wide, breathtaking range of periods, origins, and styles. The project's third album, Romaria, is their best yet, with a set of songs ranging in source from Gregorian chant to Iberian folk song. With saxophone, clarinet, violin, viola, and guitar (among other instruments), providing unusual textures and settings-and with Potter's supple, operatic voice rolling out the lush lead melodies-these songs come alive in wonderful and unexpected ways. One listen is enough to convert anyone to the joys of classical European song.
"Got Schepfer Aller Dingen" introduces the album with brittle acoustic guitar, slowly feeling out a cyclical arpeggio. When Potter enters the fray, drawing out his slow sonorous tones, the track seems to cast suddenly, and powerfully, back to an earlier age of mankind. But the crystal recording quality, and the sharp interplay between the guitar and keening violin, simultaneously marks the recording as a distinctly modern affair. "Dulce Solum," a few tracks on, uses Potter's beautiful, elegiac melody as the lynchpin of a piece that explores the wild, suspenseful possibilities of instrumental music. In its climax, between vocal refrains, the track reaches a soaring, almost dissonant instrumental vista, with strings and woodwinds spinning together in a musical eddy. The sound is an invigorating fusion of classical song and 20th-century free jazz.
On some of the album's tracks Potter sounds positively angelic. "O Beata Infantia (Fragment)" begins with light distant strings over which the tenor sings a lone celestial line, coasting on top like a long cloud stretched through a pale blue sky. The number develops into a rich call-and-response between the singer and a saxophone, which lifts from the deep like steam off warm cobblestone streets. Throughout Romaria, Potter and his ensemble turn classical song into something fresh and new while also maintaining its ancient spirit and evocative sense of mystery.
July 28, 2008
Comforted By Faith
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You may find it difficult today to believe that your relationships are as strong as you once believed them to be. Since you are likely feeling unpredictable and not grounded, you may judge your loved ones disloyal when their words or actions offend your sensibilities. However, your impression that your bonds are erratic and unstable may be the result of your temporary inability to put your wholehearted trust in the people you care about. You can ease your worried mind and soul by remembering that your loved ones have likely always been there for you when you needed them. Even if the atmosphere surrounding your connections seems unbalanced today, your willingness to have faith in their strength can sustain you.
Our relationships can only thrive if we are willing to trust that the people we care about will be there for us when we need them. Insecurity caused by the doubt we feel when reflecting upon the emotional connection we share with our relatives and friends can have a weakening impact on the potency of those interpersonal bonds. When we are confident that our relationships are stable, we can concentrate on making our loved ones feel appreciated and esteemed. Truth flows between us like water, unadulterated by guardedness or suspicion. Few circumstances have the power to separate us from the important people in our lives when we have made a conscious decision to put our faith in them. Your relationships will be a source of comfort rather than anxiety today when you choose to trust your loved ones.
July 28, 2008
Taking Our Turn To Give
People In Need
When we see a person in need, we may want to give them something as a way of helping them, but if we give without taking the time to see who they really are, honoring that most of all, our gift is nowhere near as powerful as it could be. We may want to give a homeless person a sandwich, for example, but if we give it without also taking a moment to look the person in the eye, making authentic contact, we rob them of the experience of being human.
Being in a position of need leaves a lot of people feeling vulnerable and full of self-doubt. The greatest gift we can give is to meet people in need without judgment and with the awareness that we are not superior to them simply because we are not currently in their position. If we take the long view, we can see that we all began life in need of a lot of care and attention, and many of us end life in the same way. Giving and receiving are companion energies that take turns throughout our lives, and we all get a chance to be on both sides of the exchange from time to time.
It’s important to be aware of our own tendency to give from a desire to feel good about ourselves, rather than from an acknowledgement of our connection to all people. Letting go of our self-importance allows us to see that, regardless of appearances, we are all givers and receivers. When we are in the position of the giver, we honor those we are helping when we remember the many people who have helped us. Then we can look the person we are helping in the eye, aware that we are making contact with a human being who is our equal.
Romaria
The Dowland Project
2008
The Dowland Project took shape as a collaboration between Manfred Eicher, of the ECM classical music label, and the celebrated English tenor John Potter. Originally an attempt to reclaim Renaissance-era songs for modern times, recording centuries-old compositions with contemporary instruments and fresh arrangements, the project has since expanded to include a wide, breathtaking range of periods, origins, and styles. The project's third album, Romaria, is their best yet, with a set of songs ranging in source from Gregorian chant to Iberian folk song. With saxophone, clarinet, violin, viola, and guitar (among other instruments), providing unusual textures and settings-and with Potter's supple, operatic voice rolling out the lush lead melodies-these songs come alive in wonderful and unexpected ways. One listen is enough to convert anyone to the joys of classical European song.
"Got Schepfer Aller Dingen" introduces the album with brittle acoustic guitar, slowly feeling out a cyclical arpeggio. When Potter enters the fray, drawing out his slow sonorous tones, the track seems to cast suddenly, and powerfully, back to an earlier age of mankind. But the crystal recording quality, and the sharp interplay between the guitar and keening violin, simultaneously marks the recording as a distinctly modern affair. "Dulce Solum," a few tracks on, uses Potter's beautiful, elegiac melody as the lynchpin of a piece that explores the wild, suspenseful possibilities of instrumental music. In its climax, between vocal refrains, the track reaches a soaring, almost dissonant instrumental vista, with strings and woodwinds spinning together in a musical eddy. The sound is an invigorating fusion of classical song and 20th-century free jazz.
On some of the album's tracks Potter sounds positively angelic. "O Beata Infantia (Fragment)" begins with light distant strings over which the tenor sings a lone celestial line, coasting on top like a long cloud stretched through a pale blue sky. The number develops into a rich call-and-response between the singer and a saxophone, which lifts from the deep like steam off warm cobblestone streets. Throughout Romaria, Potter and his ensemble turn classical song into something fresh and new while also maintaining its ancient spirit and evocative sense of mystery.
July 28, 2008
Comforted By Faith
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
You may find it difficult today to believe that your relationships are as strong as you once believed them to be. Since you are likely feeling unpredictable and not grounded, you may judge your loved ones disloyal when their words or actions offend your sensibilities. However, your impression that your bonds are erratic and unstable may be the result of your temporary inability to put your wholehearted trust in the people you care about. You can ease your worried mind and soul by remembering that your loved ones have likely always been there for you when you needed them. Even if the atmosphere surrounding your connections seems unbalanced today, your willingness to have faith in their strength can sustain you.
Our relationships can only thrive if we are willing to trust that the people we care about will be there for us when we need them. Insecurity caused by the doubt we feel when reflecting upon the emotional connection we share with our relatives and friends can have a weakening impact on the potency of those interpersonal bonds. When we are confident that our relationships are stable, we can concentrate on making our loved ones feel appreciated and esteemed. Truth flows between us like water, unadulterated by guardedness or suspicion. Few circumstances have the power to separate us from the important people in our lives when we have made a conscious decision to put our faith in them. Your relationships will be a source of comfort rather than anxiety today when you choose to trust your loved ones.
July 28, 2008
Taking Our Turn To Give
People In Need
When we see a person in need, we may want to give them something as a way of helping them, but if we give without taking the time to see who they really are, honoring that most of all, our gift is nowhere near as powerful as it could be. We may want to give a homeless person a sandwich, for example, but if we give it without also taking a moment to look the person in the eye, making authentic contact, we rob them of the experience of being human.
Being in a position of need leaves a lot of people feeling vulnerable and full of self-doubt. The greatest gift we can give is to meet people in need without judgment and with the awareness that we are not superior to them simply because we are not currently in their position. If we take the long view, we can see that we all began life in need of a lot of care and attention, and many of us end life in the same way. Giving and receiving are companion energies that take turns throughout our lives, and we all get a chance to be on both sides of the exchange from time to time.
It’s important to be aware of our own tendency to give from a desire to feel good about ourselves, rather than from an acknowledgement of our connection to all people. Letting go of our self-importance allows us to see that, regardless of appearances, we are all givers and receivers. When we are in the position of the giver, we honor those we are helping when we remember the many people who have helped us. Then we can look the person we are helping in the eye, aware that we are making contact with a human being who is our equal.