Water Night

Water Night

Night with the eyes of a horse that trembles in the night,
night with eyes of water in the field asleep
is in your eyes, a horse that trembles,
is in your eyes of secret water.

Eyes of shadow-water,
eyes of well-water,
eyes of dream-water.

Silence and solitude,
two little animals moon-led,
drink in your eyes,
drink in those waters.

If you open your eyes,
night opens, doors of musk,
the secret kingdom of the water opens
flowing from the center of night.

And if you close your eyes,
a river fills you from within,
flows forward, darkens you:
night brings its wetness to beaches in your soul.


-Octavio Paz, from Early Poems, 1935-1955

(For you Eric Whitacre fans out there, this poem has special recent significance.)

Eric Whitacre...the choral phenomena. Those of you that know me know that I am obsessed with this man's music. I have spent entire days of my life listening to Eric Whitacre. It has affected me profoundly, artistically and spiritually. Listening to and performing his music has really shaken me to the core. His unearthly music draws the soul to dangerous heights and depths, and though he never sets religious texts, his music, for me, is profoundly and intimately spiritual. 

I recently had the pleasure of recording a video for Eric Whitacre's third Virtual Choir. The Virtual Choir is a project where people all over the world record a video of themselves singing a part in a selected Eric Whitacre piece, while watching a video of him conducting the piece. These videos are compiled, edited, and then put together, wherein a virtual choir is formed of singers from all over the world performing simultaneously. It's a brilliant idea. The first one, Lux Aurumque, had 185 voices from around the world, the second, Sleep, had 2052 singers from 58 countries, and was an internet phenomena. There was no way I was going to miss out on the third. So I recently recorded on YouTube a part for his setting of the poem, "Water Night," which I anticipate will be the most popular of the Virtual Choirs so far. Please listen to this recording of Eric Whitacre's Water Night. 

The thought of so many people singing the same song at the same time all over the world, from all different backgrounds, is a very beautiful and powerful thing. Song is universal, and the yearning to worship is universal, inherent in each of us. Much of the work I'm doing here relates closely to this. I, too, strive for voices lifted in worship together, coming from different parts of the world, and I work to craft and mold this sound, and to give it expression. Giving expression to the human voice through song is a deeply important task. Worship and song are important. Your voice is important-sing to Him, no matter how you think it sounds, for He delights in it! He loves the sound of your voice; He created it, after all. All souls are created for worship, our voices made to glorify Him. May we continue to lift our voices together, no matter where on earth we are, in the knowledge that God hears and enjoys our song, delighting in the praises of His people, until we join the best choir yet: the heavenly choir. 

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang, 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!' 

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! '" Revelation 4: 11-13