2011 Holiday Concert

The centerpiece of this year’s holiday concert is a composition by Morten Lauridsen, Sure On This Shinning Night, set for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass (SATB) chorus.  The text of this music is by James Agee from Knoxville Tennessee.  This text comes from a section of “Descriptions of Elysium” contained in a larger work, Permit Me To Voyage.

Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.
Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

Cultures far and wide recognize this time of the year a time of increasing darkness leading to the winter solstice on 12/21 when the northern hemisphere experiences the least amount of daylight hours.  During this time of the year, many cultures, faiths, religions, etc ponder the meaning of darkness versus light, birth and death, heaven and earth, and, out of these thoughts (and many more), emerge a theme of coming hope, of coming renewal….

Elysium comes to us from Greek mythology and was the place in the underworld where the souls of the virtuous and heroic rested.  It is the heaven which the virtuous living desire or hopes as their final resting place.  Knowing that this excerpt comes from a larger body which considers Elysium may be helpful in digesting the meaning behind these words.

“Kindness must watch for me this side the ground.”
Does this indicate that the voice or these thoughts come from someone who is actually alive – this side the ground?  Does that also indicate an idea of here and there, heaven and earth, as echoed in the images of a shining night, heavenly bodies i.e. the stars; and then of course “this side the ground,” and being watched over by some higher power or otherness greater than “I”, voiced here as kindness?

RIght now, I am still digesting the following:

The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.

Would love to hear your thoughts.