Sunday Playlist - 9/27/2020

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzrVlXh4mc1P6s9TyfrtznbVM9Fo82zRF

This week, deaths in the US from COVID19 passed 200,000. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a voice of reason and compassion on the Supreme Court, died. An investigation into the murder of Breonna Taylor reached a predictable, insupportable conclusion.

I’ve begun this week’s list with a reprise of our favorite hymn at Clinton Avenue, sung by my favorite gospel voice, Mahalia Jackson.

I’ve then assembled three mourning pieces. The first is Maurice Ravel’s instrumental setting of the Kaddish, the Hebrew prayer for the dead. The second will be challenging listening, but it is so powerful that I felt called to include it: Penderecki’s “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima.” This particular video animates the musical score and includes a performance directed  by the composer himself. While I do believe that watching the animation can help a listener discern what is happening in the orchestra, I would again recommend simply listening to the piece with eyes closed. I’ve ended the list with John Taverner’s “Song of Athene.” The lyrics include lines spoken by Hamlet’s friend, Horatio, when the prince dies at the end of Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”