SKU: BT.WH32305
ISBN 9788759833346.
Gitanjali-Hymner (Efter Tagore) . BVN149.
SKU: GI.G-9035
UPC: 785147903505. English. Text Source: Stream of Life, verse 69 from Gitanjali, 1912. Text by Rabindranath Tagore.
I have recently been incredibly inspired by the writings of the great Bengali mystic Rabindranath Tagore, whose monumental collection of poetry Gitanjali won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. This book introduces the reader to a new awareness of the world that surrounds us, deepening the connection between nature and the human spirit that we all yearn for. Verse 69 is particularly joyful and life-affirming: an ecstatic realization of the energies that move in ceaseless ebb and flow through us, our lives, and our natural environment. Each individual line of this verse has a unique character and color, so I have placed each in a key that I feel suits the mood of the text. The constantly flowing ostinati that weave their way throughout are collectively a musical representation of the “stream of life†to which Tagore refers. This flowing line can be found even in the subdued third line of text, which makes reference to the “ocean-cradle of birth and of death.†In similar fashion, the more complex rhythmic cells found within the stream (e.g., measures 21–40) are a product of Tagore’s ecstatic tone. Ultimately this piece is simply meant to be an expression of joy. It is dedicated with great admiration to the commissioning ensemble, the Fort Myers High School Greenwave Singers, and their conductor Matt Koller. This tremendous ensemble is a prime example of choral music education in practice in the United States, and I feel honored to have been given this opportunity to work with them. —Thomas LaVoy.
SKU: GI.G-9288
UPC: 785147928805. English. Text Source: From The Gardener, 1913. Text by Rabindranath Tagore.
O Great Beyond was commissioned by JAM (the John Armitage Memorial) and first performed by the BBC Singers and Nicholas Cleobury on July 8th, 2016, as part of the JAM on the Marsh festival. The text is taken from The Gardener, a collection of verse by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941). Published one year after Tagore’s Nobel Prize-winning collection of spiritual poems, Gitanjali (1912), The Gardener contains poems that were written much earlier in his career. Tagore retrospectively described this collection as the “lyrics of love and life.†The musical narrative of O Great Beyond is meant to mirror the stages of love portrayed in The Gardener, culminating in the desire for a “Beautiful End†in the final movement. —Thomas LaVoy  .