Wednesday, July 16, 2014

We Will Draw Near

This is inspired, at least in part, by brother Josh's persistent challenge to us all to get out another "S2L2A&A" list: songs to listed to again and again.  I don't have a full list together for this year yet, but I think I'd like to start it with a favorite song from Kirsten's Jubilate Choir days, music that I still like to turn to now and again, eight years later.  The song is Adiemus by Karl Jenkins, the lead part of a full album and the premise for a beautiful choral concert called Songs of Sanctuary.  What makes Jenkins work especially unique is that it's all done in a pseudo-Latin with no specific meaning.  The first lines, for instance, are:

 Ari adiemus late
Ari adiemus da
Ari a enatus late adua.

 It turns out the title can be roughly translated as "We will draw near" in Latin, but Jenkins claimed not to know this.  Anyway, it's musically rich, solemn, dramatic, full of crescendo and sanctuary but also, at least for me all these years, intriguing in how it seems to beg for more meaning.  So this year I finally decided to give the song my own words.  In the process, arbitrarily or not, I have turned to the well known "bless you keep you" benediction, enhanced with one  of my favorite words, Immanuel, a word worth repeating, again and again.  And yes, the descant remains: we will draw near.
We Will Draw Near
An interpretation of Karl Jenkins' Adiemus

 Brother, may the Lord be with you
Like a shepherd in the field
Giving you the meaning of Immanuel.
May that mean the whole world to you,
God's world ever given to you,
Blessing you no matter where you are.

Sister, may a world of peace be
With you everywhere you go,
Everywhere the meaning of Immanuel.
May it mean that God will hold you
Like a mother holds her child who
Looks into the eyes of loving care.

Refrain:
And may God's face shine upon you
With an everlasting smile,
Giving you the meaning of Immanuel.
May you know that God is with you everywhere.
(We will draw near.)
May you know that God is with you everywhere.
(We will draw near.)
Immanuel! 
Immanuel!

(Repeat Refrain)

Child, may the grace of God be
Something you will come to know
Living in the meaning of Immanuel.
As you wander through the fold and
Grow beyond the mother's hold, may
You still know you are a child of God.

(Repeat Refrain)

May the hands of the father bless you.
(Immanuel!)
May the arms of the mother keep you.
(Immanuel!)
May the face of God shine on you.
(Immanuel!)
May the grace of the Lord go with you.
(Immanuel!)
May the peace of the world be in you.
(Immanuel!)
May you know God is always with you.
Immanuel!
Immanuel!
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1 comment:

  1. Daniel LamkenJuly 16, 2014 at 1:24 PM

    Great journey with 'Adiemus'--glad that composition is in the family!

    The wisdom in doing these STLTA&A lists perennially (or ‘again and again’) is that a) some things never change—I still want Bach’s Air for Suite #3 in D Major played at my funeral, though I’d smile at a switch for ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’ or ‘Sleepers Awake’, especially at the discretion of my tenders then;)… and b) things necessarily change—we are still children but also parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, community leaders, critics, global citizens.

    My list for 2014 reflects Josh’s influence: I would have enjoyed another week in Lombard to glean through his CDs (as it turned out, I enjoyed with Andrea several episodes of ‘SOAP’, worth watching agin & agin;). I’d love some ‘strikethroughs’ if a given choice pales in comparison of another composition of that artist.

    1. Bach, ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’
    2. Led Zeppelin, ‘Ten Years Gone’
    3. Pink Floyd, ‘Cymbaline’
    4. Steely Dan, ‘Deacon Blues’
    5. Miles Davis, ‘Autumn Leaves’
    6. John Ylvisaker, ‘Borning Cry’
    7. Radiohead, ‘No Surprises’
    8. Samuel Barber, ‘Violin Concerto, Op. 14’
    9. Janis Joplin, ‘Kozmic Blues’
    10. Beck, ‘Novacane’

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