Sunday, January 13, 2008

Speaking of Requiems...

I was thinking of all the friends and family members I've known who have left this place. The ones who had a huge impact on my life. My brother Matt. My uncle Doug. My grandpa Ken. My wife Samantha. My father. And because it's how I'm wired, music always comes to mind. A specific piece of music that contains all the love for them, the sorrow of missing them, and the serenity of knowing that everything exists in a perfect continuum.

This piece is from the live concert album Dead Can Dance released, containing material from their 1994 tour. The tour which Sam & I saw (as a wedding anniversary gift), front row center. I don't know what sonic resonance Lisa Gerrard employs to uniquely trigger all manner of emotional response, but this music shattered me when I first heard it live, and it has NEVER failed to do so every time since. It is more emotional than Tallis and Barber combined, perhaps because Lisa adds the contents of her soul, singing in no language at all - simply a beautiful and tragic expression raw emotion. It is simultaneously the most primal and the most sublime sound I have heard - at least, that's how it affects me.

1 comment:

Lucy Leadskin said...

YES. Towards the Within is an amazing vid. Gerrard has always been a truly fantastic singer! DCD has music for every emotion, every life story.