Music encourages you to discover the holy found all around.
When we sing secular pieces, or music without reference to God, it can be a platform for finding the sacred inherent in this world. When sacred texts are set to secular music, they express the sense of holiness listeners find in the music.
Consider two settings of the Agnus Dei text we sang together last year. The text translates “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of our world, have mercy on us.”
The two Agnus Dei are by Barber and Elgar, and were both originally composed as instrumental pieces. However, this music is so beautiful, so stirring, so holy, that Barber himself felt compelled to transcribe his piece for choir with a sacred text, and in the case of Elgar, others were compelled to transcribe “Nimrod” for choir with the Agnus Dei text added.
I believe these formerly secular pieces perfectly exemplified the meaning of our concert: that, if you choose, life can be lived as an unending series of divine experiences.
I invite all of you to come to our upcoming concerts to experience the holy found in music, nature, and in love.
-Matthew Chistopher Shepard