Light From the Soul

Life's precious moments cannot be held onto, because like water, they are cherished and felt, before slipping away. The memories may linger, but whatever was happening gives way to whatever will happen, or is happening. Our lives can be touched and forever changed by the momentous or the quiet murmur that strikes us where we are able to receive and know it before it passes away.

The human soul can be evoked, and evoke as music or art. Music as a force can drive into our souls and rouse us into action like nothing else. The soaring of melody and the undercurrent of harmony may mount our hearts and leave us in tears for music is one of the few expressions where we can feel solidarity with our sister, understanding with our brother, angry with our condition, or jubilant with the connections we forge with our ancestors and the celebrations we have with each other. As music is created from the conditions that we feel in our soul, it is shared by those that sing or play with the composer, and maybe even embellished as the community and kinship is formed. 

Holiday music can also create connections to ourselves and to others. This afternoon as I sat in the Hochstein Performance Hall in  downtown Rochester, New York and heard Madrigalia, a Chamber Chorus from the city, sing for "A Cup of Good Cheer." The festive music really illuminated the overcast day with a brightness that infected the children listening to this program of Live From Hochstein. As the soaring voices reached the balcony where I was sitting, I saw the children sitting nearby with their heads resting in their arms looking out over the balustrade. One began bouncing energetically during the jazzy rendition of Jingle Bells as the warmth of the seasonal tunes burst forth to resonate with those celebrating the season's joy and hopefulness. Without words, we can express our simple joyfulness and excitement or thoughtfulness that brings us together to connect with the music and tradition of the time. 

During the moments of song over the course of the hourlong concert, the expressions of Christmas were found filling the performance space with wonder and reverence creating and evoking images of the nativity and decorations that adorn edifices this month. Without these expressions at this time for these people the soul could not have been illumined in that way as the collective voices sang out to share the warmth and gladness of a moment of memory that formed before giving way to whatever came next. 

A serene peaceful scene of snow and pine.