tag:angelusecheverry.com,2005:/blogs/a-composer-in-the-monastery?p=2A composer in the monastery...2019-07-02T15:13:59-07:00Angelus Echeverryfalsetag:angelusecheverry.com,2005:Post/63009132020-04-30T23:31:09-07:002024-03-24T08:05:00-07:00The monks are praying for you during this time.... <p>God bless you and keep you and yours safe. Blessings, Father Angelus.</p>Angelus Echeverrytag:angelusecheverry.com,2005:Post/58118152019-07-02T15:13:59-07:002019-10-23T17:53:16-07:00New Music...<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>Peace.</p>
<p>Just a brief note to let you know of some new music.</p>
<p>First, the 'site-wide player' is now featuring "O Mother Mary Magnified." This art song was commissioned by John West of the Valyermo Dancers and is based on a poem by Fr Philip Edwards, OSB. I first performed and recorded the piano part and then added my singing to it prior to mixing and mastering it. Second, on the MUSIC page, is some new, incidental music: "The Perichoresis Waltz," an old melody I had forgotten about, now orchestrated for full orchestra. </p>
<p>I have uploaded the virtual instruments performance of it for your enjoyment. To listen just go the MUSIC page, scroll down and play.</p>
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<p>"O Mother Mary Magnified" [2017] <br>for piano and voice </p>
<p>Text: Fr Philip Edwards, OSB <br>Piano and voice by Angelus Echeverry </p>
<p>O Mother — Mary — Magnified <br>Womb’d Word in flesh now glorified, <br>Bless — beck’ning still within your bride <br>Stone: quickened, clustered at her side </p>
<p>(O Mother — Mary — Magnified) </p>
<p>Within the paschal-sealed tide <br>Of grace, arch-opened wide <br>About what welcoming wisdom cried <br>In pillared banquet signified </p>
<p>(O Mother — Mary — Magnified) </p>
<p>Addition to a gathering sum <br>Of leaping lepers, bedazzled dumb <br>Dancers, singing, find you home <br>Augment the alleluia’d hum <br>Jubilating all to whom <br>The Spirit and the bride say, <br>“Come!”</p>Angelus Echeverrytag:angelusecheverry.com,2005:Post/55664042018-12-22T22:17:25-08:002023-07-20T03:17:42-07:00Sacred Music: A Unique Healing<p>I was recently asked to write an article for the Valyermo Chronicle, our monastery's quarterly magazine. So, I thought I would share it here, since it has to do with sacred music.</p>
<p>Blessings, </p>
<p>Fr Angelus ~</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font_large">“FATHER, YOUR MUSIC IS HEALING.”Someone said this to me recently about my compositions. While reflecting on this comment, I felt thankful she shared this experience and I was inspired to write a few words on the subject of music and healing, because music has been a constant, healing balm for me throughout my entire life. I can imagine many of you have shared this experience. I have experienced the healing power of music as it has healed me as well, in varying ways at various times. Times such as the compositional process, in active or passive listening of music, in its performance, whether in a concert setting or at liturgy. Some may recognize and agree that music written with no preconceived meaning can still make us feel good. For listeners, who are also believers, this exploration concerns the healing aspect unique to sacred music. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">If you research the healing power of music, you will find scientific articles supporting music’s ability to heal, both physically and emotionally. You will also find, to a lesser degree, articles on Music Therapy (a career I had looked into prior to entering monastic life), a discipline which specializes in this type of therapeutic healing. However, the majority of sources on this topic are found in esoteric-type articles about </span><span class="font_large">“consciousness heightening” and “deepening levels of awareness of self” through music. Finally, you will stumble upon plenty of </span><span class="font_large">“New-Age” sources, which seem to almost divinize the music itself, turning it into something quasi-spiritual, giving it a magical power. Not much will be found, however, about sacred music’s healing power. Evenless frequently will one find the Catholic perspective in writings, leaving it unfamiliar and hard to imagine it could ever have a healing effect. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Music is a blessing, as it is a reflection of the harmonic spectrum that exists in nature. We know this through the study of Acoustics (the science of sound). For example, we can detect the melodic and rhythmic patterns produced by bird song, we feel the rumbling of distant thunder, and experience it through the phenomena of the echo effect or in the “howling” of winds. Similarly, if the soothing white noise of ocean surf can be experienced, the same applies to anything capable of producing a sound. In nature, one can always find or feel vibration. It is ordered, proportionate, and sensed by us. We humans are physiologically affected by both random sound as well as organized sound (i.e. music). Regardless of the form, it does something to us. Generally, the effects of music are a positive and beneficial experience, though there also exist forms of music detrimental to our spiritual health, in that these forms might lead us away from God in its message, its mood-altering ability, or for simply having been heard. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">By way of example, when I suffered from anxiety, listening to Renaissance choral music produced a palpable change within me, leaving a sense of stability and hopefulness, as if the music were caressing my frightened heart. Whether people are traversing a personal or a universal crisis, sacred music can bring healing and comfort to us in our need. And just as Jesus brought comfort and healing to those who sought him, if allowed, sacred music, too, may heal. If we embrace sacred music as an extension of God’s ability to heal, this gift may be brought into our lives readily at any time, any place. Just as this tangible hopefulness has the ability to awaken a dormant, cherished dream where we find ourselves re-stabilized and resolved, sacred music, if experienced as divinely delivered, may also heal, allowing us to be drawn closer to God. It is for these reasons, that sacred music is a gift for which we may give thanks and say, </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">“Father, Your music is healing.”</span></p>Angelus Echeverrytag:angelusecheverry.com,2005:Post/53334462018-07-06T21:25:00-07:002020-06-19T16:57:28-07:00Some childhood memories and thoughts about music...<p>Peace.</p>
<p>I thought I might share with you a couple of my very first musical thoughts and memories as a child.</p>
<p>When I was about three or four years old, I was attending a party where there was loud music being played. Sitting on my dad's lap, I spotted a man sitting in a chair with his legs crossed; his hanging foot captivated me as it moved up and down, over and over. This perplexed me. Then, I looked at another person, and I noticed that they too were doing the very same thing. So I asked my dad, "why is everybody moving their feet up and down at the same time?" He explained to me that the music was 'making them' do that. He said it is the rhythm of the music which makes everyone's feet move. I remember thinking that music must have some special power if it could do that to people!</p>
<p>On another occasion, just a few years after this, when we were living in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the <em>Hotel Plaza</em> (a temporary home until the house we were going to move into was ready), we were having dinner at the hotel's restaurant. Suddenly, I found myself mesmerized by some music that was being played over the sound system. I remember hearing what I thought were some kind of 'bells' (celeste), and some other 'warm' sort of sound (clarinet), but I didn't know what was producing these sounds -- I just knew that they made me feel happy! I asked my mom, "what is this music?" she replied, "This is Tchaikovsky's <em>Nutcracker.</em>" To this day, I marvel at his melodic genius and orchestral coloring.</p>
<p>In this second instance, though I was too young to understand it, I was being shown again the power of music, but not only its ability to physically 'move' us (its rhythmic nature), but also its power of altering our mood, to put us in a state of mind, to 'move' our emotions (the harmonic/melodic dimension). My love affair with music had begun...and I think my desire to create it too, though I didn't yet know it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, I guess that's all for now. I will continue with this theme of musical thoughts/feelings of early childhood in the upcoming blogs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the meantime I have a question for you:</p>
<p><em><u><strong>What are some of your earliest musical thoughts/feelings/memories?</strong></u></em> <strong>Do let me know.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p>About the Video: Tchaikovsky's "<em>Waltz of the Flowers" </em>(one of my earliest memories of a piece that I loved).</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Until next time, blessings....</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Angelus ~</p>Angelus Echeverrytag:angelusecheverry.com,2005:Post/52620252018-05-28T14:23:26-07:002018-06-03T12:03:32-07:00Welcome...<p><u>Wednesday, May 30, 2018 </u></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="color:#2c3e50;"><strong><em><span class="font_regular">Welcome!</span></em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#2c3e50;"><strong><em><span class="font_regular">As a Benedictine monk, hospitality is dear to my heart. So, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this website. I am grateful to Abbot Damien, the spiritual father of our community, and especially to God for the opportunity to share my musical endeavors with you all. In many ways, this is very much a dream come true for me.....for this I am most grateful.</span></em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#2c3e50;"><strong><em><span class="font_regular">My hope is that this website may be a 'sanctuary' of sorts for you, where you may visit from time to time, to listen some, read some, and perhaps avail yourself of something for your community, your church, your choirs, or your own personal use, be it printed scores of liturgical or concert music, or downloadable audio files and other media. </span></em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#2c3e50;"><strong><em><span class="font_regular">I will do my best to keep a blog (time permitting) which will center on my being a composer, my love for music, and perspectives on these matters from the view point of the cloister (i.e. the monastic enclosure). It is beautiful to see that even though the bulk of my life is spent on the grounds of the monastery, that through technologies such as these, I can share some of my music with you, as well as my spirituality.</span></em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#2c3e50;"><strong><em><span class="font_regular">Please be sure to<u> sign up</u> to stay updated on the music/projects I am working on, and feel free to contact me anytime, or let me know your thoughts/suggestions about the site. Thank you so much stopping by. Until the next time.....</span></em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#2c3e50;"><strong><em><span class="font_regular">PAX,</span></em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#2c3e50;"><strong><em><span class="font_regular">Fr Angelus Echeverry, OSB</span></em></strong></span></p>
<p> </p>Angelus Echeverry