Anything I was thinking of posting today has dropped into insignificance after listening to the Gesualdo Six singing Byrd's Lullaby 'My Sweet Little Baby'. (Yes, there are only five singing, no, I don't know why)
I was actually looking for something different, but came across this and it is so beautiful I looked no further for anything.
A friend of a friend has just had a baby in... let's just say it's a country that's at war.
That's nothing special (sadly); babies are born in war zones everywhere, all the time. But I have seen a picture of this newborn baby, asleep, innocent of all knowledge.
oh, oh, my heart... it's when the abstract becomes real, when the crowds become individuals...
The full text for this lullaby concerns Herod's slaughter of the Innocents...
I do wonder what sort of world babies born today will be living in, and yet we have to be optimistic and hope and pray that matters will improve.
ReplyDeleteIt's always been like that throughout history, somewhere. World War 1, 2, the English Civil War, The Wars of the Roses, the Viking raids... and that's just the UK. Somehow, we get through.
DeleteThere have been wars, slaughtering of innocents and travesties of justice since the dawn of time, people somehow 'get through' them, but that doesn't make it any less shocking or awful when there is a new war or situation. Somehow, when you know a real life person, that makes it more real. I am glad that we have the ability to be shocked, to be dismayed, to be taken back because we need to have that compassion and need to be moved to take action that we can but I wish we didn't have to. God bless all those that are suffering and may we be able to do what we can to help.
ReplyDeleteThis was beautiful. I love William Byrd. We sang some glorious Renaissance polyphony at Music camp this time, as we always do, I love singing unaccompanied choral works.
Thank you for those words. So true.
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