(Please reflect on the scripture passages and read the commentary before listening to the music.)
Psalm Offering 3, Opus 7
A prayer for the refugees and immigrants of our world.
“Judah has gone into exile with suffering and hard servitude; she lives now among the nations, and finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.” (Lamentations 1:3)
“Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’” (Matthew 2:12-15)
This music wells up from the plight of our world’s refugees, which is as acute now as it was in the 30’s and 40’s of the 20th century. Refugees from the war torn Middle East, Southern Sudan, Latin America face untold dangers fleeing the horrors in their homelands. In the mid 19th century were the “coffin ships” of Ireland teeming with families fleeing the poverty and starvation of the Irish Potato Famine and British religious persecution. As have all refugees fleeing famine, oppression and war, the refugees of today wish only to find peace, security, and a livelihood.
The response on the part of most European nations to the plight of refugees has been exemplary. These nations have taken to heart Jesus’ exhortation to welcome the stranger. However, the words my Grandpa Wojnar and Grandpa Jernstrom saw inscribed on the Statue of Liberty as they immigrated to our nation,“Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” have been scratched out by the present administration and replaced with the words, “Go away! Get out!” The honor which once was steadfast in our nation has been replaced by shame; despoiling the noble aspirations of our Founding Fathers. The sin of the present administration and the ghosts of all the innocent refugees that have denied access to our nation will haunt us for ever.
The music is a prayer for all refugees and immigrants displaced in our world. May they find peace.
ABOUT THE MUSIC: The form of this music for piano is three part form. A B bridge (development of A and B) recapitulation of A to Coda. There are two prominent motifs, one melodic and the other rhythmic. The opening two measure melodic motif is repeated throughout the music as is the rhythmic decoration (the 32nd note triplet followed by the dotted eighth note). The recurring accompaniment pattern in the left hand is reminiscent of the “Berceuse” (lullaby) composed by Chopin, which I once performed as a music major over 40 years ago. As is characteristic with much of the music in Opus 7, the melody is simple but possesses a haunting melancholy yearning that is never quite resolved. The melody is written in the D Dorian mode (one of the scales the ancient Greeks created).
(c) 2017 by BRUTH Music Publishing Company.
Scriptural Text by Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Z.; Perkins, Pheme; Newsom, Carol A.. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version. © 2010 by Oxford University Press Inc. All rights reserved.
