A Song of Peace

A SONG OF PEACE BY JEAN SIBELIUS ON THROWBACK THURSDAY

This unexpected, haunting version of the Song of Peace by Jean Sibelius  from Earth Mama's Under the Rainbow CD

Vandana Shiva, Joyce Rouse (Earth Mama), Dr. Shiva

Many creative artists and musicians felt moved by the burning of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 2001 to create works of art in the years following, which expressed their experience of the attacks. Along with the anthems and ballads reasoning for peace that I wrote for an album to be titled Under the Rainbow (where we all live and need to learn to get along), a deep memory of my teen years in the late 60’s and early 70’s resurfaced, which led me to record my own version of this classic work, A Song of Peace, extracted from Jean Sibelius’ larger work, Finlandia, with lyrics written by a 22 year old American, Lloyd Stone, in the years between WWI and WWII.

In the state of Iowa, where I grew up, the state and local 4-H program was exemplary. It was in many ways a sort of Gifted and Talented Program of the era. But you didn’t have to be gifted OR talented, just curious, interested and willing to participate! I started in my local 4-H club, The Cloverleaf Neighbors, at the earliest age I could and stayed active until I graduated from high school. By my teen years, the activities got pretty boring for me, but I discovered the really cool statewide events, leadership council, national awards trips to Chicago and Washington, DC, and best of all, State 4-H Chorus, which meant I got the car and time to spend at Iowa State University meeting other music lovers, rehearsing for concerts, and getting out of my tiny hometown on weekends! Best of all, was my getting to know Max.

Max Exner was the Iowa State Music specialist for the Extension Service. He conducted, he composed, he accompanied when no one else was available, AND he knew more traditional songs from all over the world and American traditional songs than anyone I had ever met. He was old (everyone looks old when you are a teenager) mostly bald and had the energy of a 6 year old. He was the first composer I got to meet. Later, when I attended Iowa State, where he maintained an office when he wasn’t out traveling making music with 4-H clubs, I would stop by his office for a brief howdy on occasion. This is where he showed me his large unique typewriter which typed out, NOT WORDS, but a staff with notes and beams and dots and flats and sharps! This is why his compositions and arrangements looked so professional!

In the high school years I sang in the state 4-H chorus, Max made sure that as well as learning music and performance skills, that we were learning about the struggles for freedom in Africa, the struggles with poverty in poorer communities, the importance of gender equality and more. The songs he selected held the principles he felt were most important for young people to think about. A Song of Peace was one of those songs.

In the following years, I would occasionally see A Song of Peace in a hymnal or song collection, but it was after 9/11 that the lyrics and music slammed back into my consciousness.

But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine
We see that there is no peace without justice. The dignity of all people must be honored.

The lifelong work of Dr. Martin Luther King, the actions of Rosa Parks and so many other heroes are shining reminders that one life, one decision for justice or peace can influence the future in profound ways.

We reached for a fresh, modern sound on the recording, with rhythm loops and vocal filter effects to update this beautiful song that has become an anthem for peace and understanding. Thanks to the late Max Exner, this composer learned a model of introducing powerful, profound ideas to seemingly unaware teens. Thanks to 4-H programs for adding significantly to resource pools for youth.

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I WROTE THIS BLOG FOR children's music network (cmn) AS A guest bloggerand am reposting with their permission.  i'm an active member of cmn.

Falling into Fall Rhythms

This year, the Fall Equinox falls on Saturday, September 22 at 10:49a.m. in my part of the world. It's a time of harvest, seeing the fruits of our labors, both in the garden and in our kitchen. It's been a good growing season for us, yet in other parts of the US as well as across the globe, drought has brought devastation. As I was placing the colorful display of our luscious tomatoes around the fountain this morning, I became even more grateful for the wealth of food we have grown this year. The drought in other regions have made this kind of harvest impossible.

Which has me thinking more about our Earth Mama than usual... asking questions with no easy answers. When will more people begin to take responsibility for their individual and collective roles in caring for our planet, simply pay attention? What could be an inspiration that will move people from apathy to action? How can I be more visible with the work I do to show and teach how simple steps lead to big results?

My traditional rhythm during the fall is to clean up outdoors and create space for winter's chill. The lush gardens of summer and fall are fading, transforming the beauty of flowers and succulent tastes of fruits and vegetables into the stripped and mulched beds of soil, ready for the quiet rest of winter. The songs of sunshine and dances of the wind through the string bean poles are silent now. I may continue to dance through the rows, as the garden has always been a place of refuge for me, a place to touch the soil and become truly connected to the living and breathing Earth Mama on which we live.

I'm grateful to have full shelves of colorful bounty, ready to share with family and friends at our dining table. I'm also grateful to have time to be still in the knowing that another season has past, providing an abundance of earthly goodies, demonstrating the cycle of life continues. Which got me wondering, what goodies have grown in your gardens this summer? Did you have a bountiful harvest? Was there any new varieties of vegetables or fruits that were above the rest in volume or flavor? We usually try a few new selections each growing season, but must admit this year none of the new ones really stood out...

So, now I have spent massive hours in the kitchen, and I still have work to do, but the jars are filling the shelves and the freezer is getting packed. We're better prepared to face the cold winds of winter, knowing our harvest will carry us through.

Enough is good as a feast...

Gratitude #8,791

Ok, so I have not done 8,790 other blog posts about  feeling gratitude that I probably should have, but I felt it in my heart and soul.

Yesterday I sent off the master for a new CD I've been working on for...well, a long time. At first I was going to write that it has been in process for 2-3 years, but two of the songs I wrote and recorded back in the early 1990s.  The songs, titled Joy in the Light  and Place in the Kin-dom (originally Place in the Kingdom before I adopted a practice of gender neutral language) were just never a good fit for my recording projects until now. So I guess you could say that this one has been a labor of love for 20 years!

The CD is titled Blessings of the Universe.  I thought it was in the vein of contemplative, meditative music, but my dear friend, wise woman (and marketing wiz) Rita G decided after listening that it was more brain and heart stimulating, so she encouraged me to describe it as "Songs for the foreground and background of your days."  That just made my day!  Since then I have pictured YOU (my beloved listeners) listening as you drive, or weave (but NOT as you drive!) or garden or cook or type or plan, as listening to these 13 songs of prayers and blessings, and I feel so grateful to know that we can connect through time and space with music.

I often hear from my listeners who express their responses to the live or recorded songs. Like Rita,
they see and hear things that sometimes surprise me.  When I'm composing, perhaps I get stuck in the emotion or psychic place I exist in while writing, then the music takes on its own energy, not unlike the original flaring forth of the Universe. After all, sound, music is physics, energy and it circulates in the curious, mysterious ways of the Big U.

This will be my 10th recording (9th as Earth Mama®) and it carries the same love, joy, care, concern and prayers for our Amazing Earth, but with a new deepening.  Another post in the future will share the source of inspiration for these blessing songs for water, women, gathering, children, peace, solar energy and more.

This photo is my personal alter where I meditate. It is a locally turned wooden bowl by artisan Terry Clark, filled with some of my favorite simple gifts from the Universe—stones, fossil, wild flowers, an elephant, feather and  bowl of sacred water (Sister Water). These things remind me daily of my gratitude, my soul felt appreation of beauty and fragility of the Web of Life.