Prayer for Peace
Made of the clay of earth
Dust in the winds of time
Humankind seeks to be fulfilled
But the journey is often less than divine...
Injustice and hatred too often prevail
Competing for goals that are so grand,
And the triumph of justice escapes
In many of earth's lands...
Though trials and tribulations mean we grow
May we also somehow come to know
That peace allows joy to abound
Leaving our hearts sound...
Creator of all please be so kind
To accept prayers for peace that sustains
To abandon the evil of hatred and killing
And make our hearts increasingly willing...
to care for others.
JLL - July 2007
Various Writings
Thoughts on singing the Bach Cantatas...a Discussion Topic
with Professor David Britton
In April of 2007 I sent an email to my friend DB, and I asked him to tell me about singing Bach.
DB: Many things factor into the singing of Bach. Chief among them, in my opinion, is a good sense of musical perspective, and by that I mean the idea of how the voice fits in with a Bach piece over all. Many solo singers will not sing Bach because they have to share the limelight with the instrumentalists, and sometimes other vocalists.
JLL: Although I record my Bach offerings for friends and family, and do not wish to give a public performance at this stage in life I asked David about the reason Bach aficionados wish to have live performances and enjoy such more than recordings in some cases.
DB: Bach was a composer of community and the compositional textures he devised were pluralistic in nature and not pointed toward the soloist per se. Now don't take me wrong on this: it takes a soloists temperament and chops to play and sing this incredible music but the player or singer will have to be able to do so in a more communal artistic environment.
DB: Although the challenges of singing Bach are varied and complex, the soloist is still part of an ensemble.
Then too, the singer has to reach down deep into himself/herself and find a way to survive the required vocal challenges and present a finished product that will be pleasing as well as musically accurate. Bach's music not only takes a super musician to sing it, but one who is willing to change and accept the intellectual rigor of a demanding Bach aria.
JLL: I asked about the value of singing Bach especially for the singer.
DB: Old JSB was and is the best vocal doctor about. To sing him really well, you must be vocally fit.
JLL: One additional comment here--most of the best singers I know use Bach for warm-up purposes when they have to perform and don't have much advanced time to be ready. After learning Cantatas 51 and 52 I sing both of them on an almost daily basis to maintain vocal fitness. I'm not as good as some of the people I get to hear, but musically I find nothing else so satisfying when I want to soar vocally.
July 2007 - JLL (With special thanks to DB)
