Adagio

There is music which brings a soul into the worlds beyond reason, beyond language.

I believe thinking processes are primarily emotional, and the signals in our systems go much too quickly for any verbal constraint. We use words to systematize and rationalize our processes, to bring it up towards the surface of cognitive consciousness, after the connections are already made.  I enter into an interaction with the sensed and the known. Is it necessary to ‘talk about it’? I do not think so; it may not have a purpose beyond mere being; it may not become any part in strings of causality. The quest for reason, meaning and purpose has its natural justification, but there is more to life than the rational aspects.

            I listened to the Adagio in G minor, often called Albinoni’s Adagio. The piece was arranged for large choir, organ and strings and performed by the Choir of New College, Oxford. I have loved this haunting piece for decades, listened to it in many renditions, but the young college singers take it to a level of sheer heavenly beauty.  It transports me to a large ecclesiastical sanctuary, with strong walls of stone, high ceilings, large stained glass windows…where I am very little, huddled by the side of Jesus, who is the Mighty Lord of the Universe. And he fights my fight, wins my battle.

            The Adagio is full of images; it is like icons of a new world, but through all opposition and danger is One glorious and strong Lord. His victory is clear, and in the final notes, it is mild, and attests the Lord who rules with truth, justice and grace.

Perhaps Albinoni, a baroque composer, was an inspiration, but the piece was probably a creation of Remo Giazotto (1910-1998), which would make the piece a contemporary composition.  That resonates even stronger in me, I connect, and have a deep gratitude that someone in this modern generation could create such a masterpiece. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDH1e11ASM4