|
|
PRAYERS
OF THE SOUL™
Harold
Moses - Composer
Viola Betty Moses - Piano
Laura Hungerford - Tamboura
The StarHouse Ensemble Choir
Summary
| Samples | Review
| Composer's Notes | Contrast
| Listener's Comments
| Liner Notes
Summary:
Prayers of the Soul is Harold Moses' second CD. This
powerful music moves more deeply into Harold's classical
music roots. Incorporating a variety of guest musicians,
the listener is treated to viola and piano solos, as
well as duets between viola & tamboura, and viola
& piano. Prayers also features Harold's beautiful
orchestrations and an a cappella performance by the
StarHouse Ensemble, the community choir of the StarHouse
in Boulder, CO. This CD, which has widened Harold's
audience, is currently receiving airplay on Music from
the Hearts of Space.
Sound
Samples: 
Featured
Review:
P.J. Birosik, syndicated columnist, President - Musik
International These passionately luminescent musical
meditations for solo instruments-mostly improvised in a
state of ecstatic communication with the Divine-are
beautifully melodic, radiating with earnest sincerity
and devotion. Rather than adopting the classic
introverted pose of prayer, composer Moses depicts
prayer as a continuing conversation "sometimes
fervent, sometimes relaxed" and uses his viola to
signify the heartfelt emotions that words so often fail
to express. Haunting in the extreme, these intense
communications reach their zenith on
"Nocturne" an unforgettable piano piece
written by Moses but performed by his mother, a music
teacher, on an awesomely resonant 1895 Steinway grand.
Equally impressive is his duet with wife Laura playing
the tamboura (this instrument's delicate drone is a
musical metaphor for the breath of God in Indian
classical style). In fact, so potent is each selection
that it is almost impossible to listen to the recording
straight through! One wants to play and replay each
piece, pondering its innate ability to wake the soul
before moving to the next tone.
|
Composer's Notes:
By Harold Moses. This CD has been a journey. I give thanks for
what I have been given, what I have learned and what I have
experienced in this process.
"Invocation" is a musical exploration of the prayers of my heart.
I am thankful to Ty Burhoe for encouraging me to improvise,
as well as compose, music. This composition has become one of
my standards in my concerts.
"Nocturne,"
performed by my mother Betty Moses, was written for my mother
and father, whose love and care have touched me all of my life.
This beautiful performance on an 1895 Steinway reminds me of
the many nights I fell asleep as a child under the grand piano
while my mother played…
"Communion" is a viola and tamboura improvisation created with
my wife Laura. We explore this style of music for our own personal
connection and often create music like this for individuals
and couples, which we term Songs of the Soul.
"Sorrows" is a musical exploration of world which knows joy
and sadness, happiness and grief, life and death. This composition
ventures respectfully into the paradox of our journey, and God's
Love.
When
R. Vaughan Williams discovered Dives and Lazurus in a book of
English songs he wrote, "I had a sense of recognition - here's
something which I have known all of my life, only I didn't know
it." It was the same for me with the beautiful piece "The Radiant
Heart of the Sun." Composed as a choir piece by my friend Michael
Robbins, I have included his lyrics as the printed prayer. My
arrangement for viola and piano is performed with great beauty
and passion by my mother Betty.
"Majesty" is an instrumental setting of a piece written as an
a cappella choir anthem. The lyrics, which are listed in the
liner notes, sing to the glory of God's majesty as displayed
in the dimensions of space/time. This composition awaits it's
premier performance by a choir of 150+ voices…
"Love Streaming," which is also found as the final 6 minutes
of "The Awakening" on my CD Edges of the Soul, has become my
signature work. It is the most requested piece I perform. It
is my prayer that this music speaks clearly of the beauty and
passion inherent in the Divine Love that streams throughout
the entirety of Cosmos.
This
CD concludes with "May Ev'ry Breath," a choir anthem written
for the StarHouse Ensemble, a 40+ voice community choir which
began rehearsals in September of '96. I am deeply grateful for
their dedication and willingness to explore the world of spirituality
through the discipline of harmony and music. They have taught
me much about Love and Light.
|
A Contrast:
By Harold Moses "I am frequently asked the difference between
Edges of the Soul and Prayers of the Soul. I feel that Edges
and Prayers respectively represent the expansion and contraction
qualities of our spiritual journey. The mystery is this: as
we expand outward, we find that which is within us - as we contract
inward, we encounter that which is outside of us."
Reviews and Listener's
Comments:
"When I enter heaven's gate, I expect to hear music that resonates
to my heart like Prayers of the Soul." Albert Gaulden - Clearing
for the Millennium
"…we have put all else aside. Our hearts are rising and falling
with the lentos and crescendos of a viola, a piano, a tamboura
and an ensemble of voices all joining in a heartfelt symphony
of prayer. Your music draws us closer…" Rabbi Morris Gordon,
Ph.D. and Lori Gordon, Ph.D.
PAIRS:
Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills
"Your music is for me, and many others, a shortcut to God."
Gerald G. Jampolsky, MD. - Love is Letting Go of Fear, Forgiveness:
The Greatest Healer of All
"Harold Moses brings to the world and exquisite an expansive
music which draws the listener to the soul's true magnitude."
Julia Cameron - The Artist's Way, The Vein of Gold
"Harold Moses is not only a musician, not only a composer. He
has something more than talent, he has a great something inside.
He and his enormous heart weep, strut, laugh out loud into and
through his music, making us all come alive. We used to call
this magic." Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D. - Women Who Run with
the Wolves
|
Liner
Notes:
"Majesty" Thy Majesty, Thy Majesty, made
manifest in form, Thy mystery, Thy mystery, Cosmic
Space. And the stars shine forth, their number infinity!
Shining, illuminating, Rad'ant Beauty, Awesome splendor,
the galaxies sing Thy name. And the planets, spinning in
their orbit, winding ever spinning ever winding ever
guided by Thy Hand. You created Earth, and the waters
rained down, the oceans take form, land rises upward,
shining ever cooling waters ever flowing from Thy Heart.
And the winds, and the rains, lift their voices in
praise, periodic, elemental, particle and waveform,
physical and atomic, Sacred Geometer, Thy glory
displayed in dimension. Always ever touching Thy hand in
my hand. Oh wonder, my heart knows Thy Rad'ant Beauty,
awesome splendor, Majesty! Amen
"Love
Streaming" Thou art Love, O God. Thy Heart
illuminates Creation. Thy Will animates Creation. Thy
Love is Creation. As Thy Love Streams through me, may I
pour out Thy Love Streaming. Amen
"May
Ev'ry Breath" May ev'ry breath call out to Thee,
may ev'ry heartbeat sing Thy name, Thy shining sun
reveals Thy Love, within my heart Thy light burns
bright, Thy radiant sun, Thy face Divine, Thy rad'ant
heart, Thy sacred solar fire. Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen, Alleluia, Amen, Amen, Amen
….
|
ORDER
|
|
|
|
