Day 2: At Sea--Time for Thinking

Cruise ships are one of the view places where it still costs a pretty penny to stay connected to the internet.  With this in mind, many of us are taking some much needed time away from the business of life.  Perhaps it's the extra brain space...or maybe the dramamine...but I took the time to write down a few ideas after our "Cantus Favorites" performance this morning.

This morning as Cantus sang a program of some of our favorite tunes, I was really struck by the transcendence of music.  There are certain pieces that really and profoundly affect the listener.  For Cantus, one of those songs has been Ysaye Barnwell’s “Wanting Memories.”  Dr. Barnwell did not write that piece for us, but when she wrote it she gave us an invaluable gift.  As we sang in a cruise ship bar, an unlikely spot for a classical vocal ensemble, I saw something I’ve seen countless times during a performance of this song—I watch the audience simultaneously watch and listen while momentarily traveling somewhere else.  A place somewhere in the recesses of their memories and thoughts and every time they come back to us---they come back holding fast to the memory of someone from their past.  For some it brings a smile.  For others, glasses come off as tears well up in their eyes and spill over—like the gentle salt waves that lap the side of this massive ship. 

We expect music to transport us within the wooden walls of a concert hall or the sacred acoustic space of a chapel---but perhaps I was taken off guard by music’s power to transcend fatigue, jetlag, unfamiliar surroundings, a less than generous acoustic, and even a touch of seasickness.  But that is the very definition of transcendence:  an experience beyond the physical world—and this is why we sing. 

-Aaron