Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Would YOU like to teach the world to sing?

Making connections for plant-based diets: teaching the world to sing vegetarian songs

In the process of making connections for plant-based diets, which I've been doing actively since 1993, when I started the Vegetarian Resource Center, I'm seeking vegan musicians who compose and either perform or sing pro-vegan pro-animal lyrics about what we and all others can do right - that are wholesome lyrics, not hateful, and help enable the good side of the general public in making the switch towards plant-based diets and vegan values.

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/VRC-Vegetarian-Music/

The TEXT on that VRC-Vegetarian-Music group list at YahooGroups.com (which is VRC's official discussion list for this very project) is:

The VRC-Vegetarian-Music e-mail discussion list is for volunteers of the Vegetarian Resource Center working in projects of developing vegetarian-supporting music.

Think about every value you hold dear to yourself. Wasn't that communicated through relationship, image, deed, song, and poetry?

Yes!

The 1960's movement for nonviolence throughout Europe, North America, and the rest of the world was spread through music and song. But though there IS an extensive body of lore and song which COULD do the job, vegetarians have never collected that set of resources into one site, nor have many modern vegetarians deliberated on the task and worked intently at creating a modern body of lyric and song, poem and prose, which effectively communicate poignantly, pithily, and powerfully the vegetarian message, and deep as it is in all its lifechanging dimensions.

And if you already HAVE such music already (or know of it), share it with us so that we can get a better idea of what we're doing.

And we're happy at present with commercial produce and condiment jingles.

Let's teach vegetarians to sing!
No, let's write the songs the WHOLE world sings!

We're all interested, too, in developing and collecting literature, music, art, and other resources for vegetarian families.

But in all our months, years, or decades, we've found precious little written BY vegetarians FOR vegetarians.

What do you think YOU can develop, collect, or inspire OTHERS to develop or collect?

Once you join this list, we'd like you to hold up, not only YOUR end of the conversation among all these volunteers, about our respective portions of this culture-building project, but THEIR ends of the conversation, also.

Your contributions to improving our rationale, our social marketing, and/or our persuasiveness in motivating the skilled pro-vegans for this project is sought.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Panis angelicus is the penultimate strophe of the hymn Sacris solemniis written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the Feast including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.

The strophe of Sacris solemniis that begins with the words "Panis angelicus" (bread of angels) has often been set to music separately from the rest of the hymn. Most famously, in 1872 César Franck set this strophe for tenor, organ, harp, cello, and double bass; later arranging it for tenor, chorus, and orchestra, he incorporated it into his Messe solennelle Opus 12. The 1932 performance of that work by John McCormack in Dublin's Phoenix Park became the highlight of his career. Noteworthy renditions have also been performed by tenors Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, Richard Crooks, Donald Braswell and Roberto Alagna, as well as by the sopranos Magda Olivero, Renata Scotto, and Chloë Agnew. Singing trio The Priests give an extraordinary rendition in their debut album.

The phenomenon whereby the strophe of Sacris solemniis that begins with the words "Panis angelicus" is often treated as a separate hymn has occurred also with other hymns that Thomas Aquinas wrote for Corpus Christi: Verbum supernum prodiens (the last two strophes begin with "O salutaris Hostia") and Pange lingua gloriosi (the last two strophes begin with "Tantum ergo", in which case the word ergo ["therefore"] makes evident that this part is the continuation of a longer hymn).

Text of Panis angelicus, with doxology

Latin text An English translation
Panis angelicus
fit panis hominum;
Dat panis caelicus
figuris terminum:
O res mirabilis!
Manducat Dominum.
Pauper, servus et humilis.


Te trina Deitas
unaque poscimus:
Sic nos tu visita,
sicut te colimus;
Per tuas semitas
duc nos quo tendimus,
Ad lucem quam inhabitas.
Amen.
The angelic bread
becomes the bread of men;
The heavenly bread
ends all prefigurations:
What wonder!
consumes the Lord
a poor and humble servant.


Triune God,
We beg of You,
that you visit us,
as we worship You.
By your ways,
lead us who seek
the light in which You dwell.
Amen.

The article Sacris Solemniis in the Catholic Encyclopedia discusses the merits of a number of different translations.