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Views from the Choir Loft

On Emptiness, Wisdom, and Fortune • Music and Discernment

Richard J. Clark · July 1, 2017

USIC HAS A way of revisiting the soul when necessary. It seems as though time is not always linear, but elastic. Such is the transcendent effect music has upon us all.

Recent days have brought a choral work composed a few years ago back to consciousness. I believe it is brought upon by the struggle of friends in dire need coupled with a sense of gratitude for my God.

Perhaps it is a sense of discernment—a most sacred duty. What does God call us to do? Or rather, how does God call us to be? The obsession to find things to do often eclipse God’s call for us to be, in His presence—in prayer—in quiet solitude with Him, but for a moment or more.

On Emptiness, Wisdom, and Fortune (2014) combines two poems by Adam Wood: On Fortune and On Emptiness. Through gradual harmonic expansion of modes and mindset, internal reflection leads to eternal resolution.

I find the text of this work to be a useful call to discernment as outlined in the first stanza:

I trust, O God, your Wisdom to fulfill
All needs I have, yet beg for blessings too.
But if you take all else, take first my will,
That I may know that all I need is You.

I have long admired the writing of poet Adam Wood (b. 1982); his poetry, prose, and commentary are distinct, stemming in part from eclectic passions which include liturgy, theology, technology, economics and the Open Source. The results of such combination of interests are fascinating. His dedication to the spirit, art, and intellect (often infused with sharp wit) constitute a distinctly unique body of work from which one will elicit much inspiration and insight.

Here is a recording of the world premiere by The Seraphim Singers, Jennifer Lester, Director.

On Emptiness, Wisdom and Fortune
Adam Wood

I trust, O God, your Wisdom to fulfill
All needs I have, yet beg for blessings too.
But if you take all else, take first my will,
That I may know that all I need is You.

“Nay, chiefly are we born to die,
it matters not” he says, and I,
though tempted, and like sailors drawn,
to siren calls that bid them on,

I stay. Transfix’d by word,
so often read, so often heard,
my soul (must then it empty be?)
redoubles and re-sounds the sounds of Thee.

If emptiness be then my one defense
against seduction’s war on every sense,
remove from me, oh God, what fills my mind
that resonances there your Word may find.

And if my soul be empty, so my heart,
That it may sing the music of your Art.
My will, my life, my all be emptied too:
Libations poured out — nay, drawn out by You.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

But the revisers did not leave them altogether untouched. Saint Ambrose had to be “corrected.” The Iste confessor was greatly altered and the hymn for the Dedication of a Church, which no one ought to have touched, was in fact completely recast in a new meter.

— Father Joseph Connelly

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