To Remember

BLT via JKGayle explores tender territory. I was going to leave a comment - but it morphed into too many random thoughts.


I am glad to see another blogger show the connection between Psalm 6 and Mt 7.23. (Leave me, all workers of mischief) I was surprised last January at the allusion. For me it re-frames the NT story:

1. Jesus identifies unambiguously with the psalmist in trouble - "do not rebuke me in your anger" (6.1),
2. "depart from me" never has to be the last word to anyone - restoration is still possible even after the shame of exile.

Psalm 6 is formative as a psalm of correction - the very correction Job longs for - the referee. It is vital for those 'kinglets' who have known "a hint of his anger" (Psalm 2 כִּי יִבְעַר כִּמְעַט אַפּוֹ "for he kindles with a hint of his anger"). It also begins the Psalter's theme of memory (6.6. "there is not in death remembrance of you").

Memory - remembrance is frequent in the Psalter but there are strong verbal links from Psalm 6 to Psalm 38, inscribed 'to remember' and 38.2 אַל בְּקֶצְפְּךָ תוֹכִיחֵנִי "do not in your rage correct me or in heat chasten me" immediately recalling 6:1. Psalm 70 like 38 is inscribed with 'to remember' and recalls Psalm 40 - implicitly recalling the entr'acte (38-41) between Books 1 and 2, and finally Psalm 137 a multi-voiced psalm of remembering closing the circle of the exile begun explicitly in Psalm 42.  Memory is central to worship - so Psalm 22

All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to יְהוָה
All the families of the nations will worship in your presence

a necessary healing I think, however we are drawn in to the Beloved.

Psalm 14 music and more links

I am partway into scene 3 of act 1 of The Psalter. I have drafted Psalms 11 to 14 - Psalm 53 will also share Psalm 14's music I expect. It was really strange and appeared to me in a combination of 9/8, 5/4 alternating time signatures.

Tonight I think I must go hear a 9 Lessons at my old haunt of 10 years ago where my wife is singing. Also must write 'the Christmas letter'. It will be a hidden acrostic.  There is so much that cannot be said. And we are so poor at reading. - Do note this post on Barnstone and this one on Brettler and Levine and this one with a lovely greeting card from Doug at re-fractions

The Season - 5's and 6's, 10's and 110

I have meandered quite seriously on Psalm 110 at the Poetry of Christ today - preparing for the celebration of Christmas with the two acrostics to follow.

Now aren't you impressed with my discipline? I have exactly 10 posts per month at PoC - for the last 12 months - a fulfillment of my New Year's 2011 resolution.  As a result, all my notes for my translations on structural things are drafted together with a few more random comments on theological issues.

This morning, we had a pageant at St Barnabas with delightful dancing angels. 5 years ago there were about 5 children - today there were approaching 5 dozen. The theme was: time as strange and the human impossibility of seeing the transcendent. And time is strange. And the Christ that was always and is with us and is to come was seen in a child. The preacher was the Rev. Dr. Brokenleg - he gave a superb homily on the number 5 in Matthew and the fulfillment of the promise to David.

I also sang with a flautist, my Psalm 5 setting  (a test drive in rehearsal mode)- I was not so disciplined here. So I modified the music to include the instruction - in strict rhythm.  The words go by so quickly with the flute accompaniment that one has to manage the 6 pages of music with almost Gilbert and Sullivan gusto.  Why is this one for flute?  Rhythmic accompaniment changes the expression of the words in strange ways.

Things I noted this month

Here's a lovely performance of Psalm 95 by David Koysis+
Henry's got a combo article on Virgin Births and Whale's Bellies

I have put many of my starred posts (where I leave comments) into the shared items list. (See the right hand panel or link here). That's the quickest way to do this kind of thing.  I have another cold so I need to bury myself in something. (Definitely can't sing to Audacity - sooo wobbly.)  Maybe I will go back to Esther as some posts have pushed me or Ecclesiastes - no, too much work. I think I will do some mechanical stuff like formatting the monster Word document that will eventually contain all my psalm notes - whew!  Or I will write some more music for scene 3 - the road from Psalm 11 to 25. Long scene.

The curious case of the foreign pulse

It surprises me that I have spent the last two to three weeks composing. Anyway, in my usual preoccupied (I have been occupied for a while) way, I began Psalm 11 by singing the Hebrew to myself and then I imposed the Hebrew pulse on the English. Psalm 11 is about the mockers - waver off to your mountain, bird. So it has a particular saucy lilt. After I got the first three musical phrases, I imposed them in an a-a-b-a-b pattern on the structure of the text.  The result is a curious incarnation of sound with the b section imitating the a section but not distant as if heaven were far away.

The music suggested parallels in the text I had not considered...  Consider here silently.

(I tried recording the first acrostic yesterday - but it is too long for my one-breath technique. I must find some better recording features where I can stop for a drink at one of the many bars!)

[I just downloaded Audacity - a suitable name for recording software]

Respite

A link to some pictures we took while 'shopping'

Act 1 Scenes 1 and 2 drafted

I have sketched the whole of act 1 scenes 1 and 2 of the Opera known as the Psalter. My most recent delight was adding a flute part to Psalm 5 - rather fun I think - MP3 here (vocals alone here, sheet music here).  We'll see if it's playable - maybe try it out on Thursday.

The outline I suggested last month is holding out at the detail level.  As I worked through the scansion for the music, I changed a few details in the text.  A dozen or so.  I think I won't meditate too much on this first part but forge ahead into the remaining music - rather a lot of fun - and no manuscripts to fuss with.