Poetry blog
Chris Dedrick Poetry Blog #18
17Dec2020 Filed under: Day To Day Author: Moira Dedrick
Joy Sounds
Make a joyful sound
in the hall of your own being
Make a joyful sound!
The song is sung, Hey la hey la
Freely as birdsong
Winging freely as birdsong
Warming as the sun melting snow
Flowing into the pools,
spawning life and love song;
Singing, rising
borne of purity
Filled with sacred moments
beyond time, tones sublime,
beauty, meaning, always sounding
Ethereal, meaningful
Ecstacy always sounding.
Make a joyful sound in the hall of your own being
and give it to the nations that cry for peace
And give it to the heart that would yearn for life
Springing into light,
Flowing in the song
Love and life and beauty and joy, Joy!
Dedicated to the memory of my sister Stefanie Dedrick Smythe
Words and music by Christopher Dedrick
c Copyright Lamplighter Music Publishing Co.
Performed by the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Canadian Brass
About the Circle of Fifths blog
This is about one composer's inner and outer journey in response to a cancer diagnosis, beginning with a long stay in Europe, a lot of research into what beyond conventional treatments is available in this world to help heal body, mind, and the all-important invisibles.
The Cycle of Fifths, as my granddaughter Taylor will tell you from her studies at Music for Young Children, is based on the acoustic/mathematical mysteries of musical sound. It represents that long row of ticklish ivories in a tonal mandala. Music, like the cosmos, has no real up or down, no hierarchy of keys. But it does have near and far. One spin-off of the natural harmonic series is that the closest keys centers are always just a perfect fifth away. Travel up a fifth, you must add a sharp to the key signature; down a fifth, you add a flat. The circle or cycle of fifths is a diagram of all the keys and their signatures placed in this relationship.
The blog started as a group email. I had to name the group file something... Circle of Fifths came to mind. Circle of Friends, Core of Family. The center is undefined, the circle is unbroken. One key resolves to the next and returns home. The signature is only a convenience.
