Eve Arthur - Sacred music

I've really enjoyed hearing the various examples of sacred communication through music, from contemporary to archaic, acapello to instrumentally enriched. It was also enlightening to note that the way in which one refers to the Divine affects whether a true connection is made. When one sings directly to the Divine (using the term "you") a holy union is formed; alternatively, when one refers to a deity by a certain name, the singer separates him or herself from the wholly other. In World Music Ensemble, we were instructed in Indian classical music. Our first lesson was about Rag Bhairav, a distinct collection of notes that, when sung in the ascending order, was symbolic of the sun (to some considered as Krishna) rising in the early morning. We also learned two spiritual songs written by Tagure: "Tomar holo shooroo" and "Orey grihabaashi." The first of these, based on the Raag Yaman (Yaman=god of death), exhibits a dualistic philosophy. The contrasts of light and dark, loneliness and companionship, land and sea, fear and courage are poetically incorporated into the piece. "Orey grihabaashi" is a devotional folk song about the coming of spring and the emergence of new life. The song is light-hearted and a lot of fun to sing! The song begins (translated from Bengali), "Oh you housebound people, open your doors, spring has struck! On land, on water, and in the woods, spring has struck." My favorite part of the song goes:

On the southern breeze comes the murmur of insects
Butterflies are fluttering between the blades of grass
Bumblebee is taking the nectar from the flowers and offering it to the gods