Sunday Playlist - 8/22/2021

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzrVlXh4mc1N--uB7-8uPzT7BZETdfihg

Jacob returned from Alaska this week, so the playlist is inspired by his instrument, the violin. I've included the western instrument in three varieties: in a gorgeous duet with an oboe from Bach, a traditional fiddle tune played by a Nova Scotian, and a short, stunning suite of Romanian dances by Bartok (my personal favorite). We'll also hear from two "spiked fiddles"--the Kamancheh (Persian and Central Asian) and the Erhu (from China). Strictly speaking, none of the music this week is sacred. So I'll include a passage from a modernized version of the medieval text, The Cloud of Unknowing, a kind of primer on centering prayer by an anonymous English mystic: "Nobody's mind is powerful enough to grasp who God is. We can only know God by experiencing God's love. Look, every rational creature, every person, every angel has two main strengths: the power to know and the power to love. God made both of these, but God is not knowable through the first one. To the power of love, however, God is entirely known, because a loving soul is open to receive God's abundance. Each person loves uniquely, and God's limitlessness can fill all angels and all souls that will ever exist..."