Songs for my grandchildren, Psalm Offering 6 Opus 8
Since I do not have a picture of our grandchild who miscarried, I present this ultrasound of my daughter, Beth, in its stead.
Psalm Offering 6: Unlike the previous 5 Psalm Offerings of this Opus, this is specifically dedicated to “Baby Wagner”. Between the births of Aidan and Ollie, my daughter-in-law, Oliva, was pregnant with another child. Sadly, that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. This Psalm Offering is dedicated to that beautiful baby I never got the opportunity to know. I found myself overwhelmed emotionally as I composed this Psalm Offering. I believe I finally allowed myself to grieve this lovely unborn child I never got to know. I like to think of this song as a lullaby to my unborn grandchild. When Ruthie first heard it, she found it emotionally moving. She said it was so beautiful, yet, it was also sad. I must confess that when I finished the composition of this piece, I wept. The music is composed in 3/4 meter. Similar to the 4th Psalm Offering there is a recurring harmonic and rhythmic ostinato pattern in the left hand throughout the entire piece. It is composed in Rondo form: melody 1, melody2, melody 1, melody3, melody1, Coda.
(c) 2017, Deacon Bob Wagner OFS. All rights reserved.
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Deacon Bob
I am a composer, performer, poet, educator, spiritual director, and permanent deacon of the Catholic Church. I just recently retired after 42 years of full-time ministry in the Catholic Church. I continue to serve in the Church part-time. I have been blessed to be united in marriage to my bride, Ruth, since 1974. I am father to four wonderful adult children, and grandfather to five equally wonderful grandchildren. In my lifetime, I have received a B.A. in Music (UST), M.A. in Pastoral Studies (St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, UST), Certified Spiritual Director. Ordained to the Permanent Diaconate for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, in 1991. Composer, musician, author, poet, educator. The Gospels drive my political choices, hence, leading me toward a more liberal, other-centered politics rather than conservative politics. The great commandment of Jesus to love one another as he has loved us, as well as the criteria he gives in Matthew 25 by which we are to be judged at the end of time directs my actions and thoughts.
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