At Water's Edge

This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.

–Leonard Bernstein

A quiet musical tribute today to the children and teachers who died this week in the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

By Murillo, Bartolomé Estéban (1617 – 1682) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Rachel Davino, 29
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Dawn Hocksprung, 47
Madeline Hsu, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Lauren Russeau, 30
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison Wyatt, 6

The Implicit Order – “Dying Breath” - unreleased – 2012 (today!) (1:40)
Craig Karolus – “Carry My Soul (To The Heavens Above)” – Family Values – 2012 (4:06)
Magnetic Wind – “Believe” – Believe - 2009 (7:11)
Motionfield – “Sorrow´s Child” – Under the Stars - 2009 (5:35)
Celestial Aeon Project – “Song of Mourning” – Mind’s Eye - 2009 (1:55)
WOFan – “As A Child In The Mirror” - Unreleased – 2006 (8:00)
Human Metronome – “Gi” – The Child Set Free - 2010 (19:13)
Human Metronome – “Konshi” – The Child Set Free – 2010 (14:24)
Human Metronome – “Meiyo” – The Child Set Free – 2010 (13:15)
Human Metronome – “Makoto” – The Child Set Free – 2010 (12:20)
Human Metronome – “Jin” – The Child Set Free – 2010 (7:48)
Human Metronome – “Yu” – The Child Set Free – 2010 (6:50)

Close your eyes my sparrow.
Do not cry any more
Look out over the water
And watch the waves crash to the shore
Then smile and feel the rhythm
Of the wind that blows before you,
Then turn to me for comfort
And do not cry any more.

I will sing to you,
I will sing to you,
I will sing to you,
I will open up my mouth and
Pour out the contents of my heart
I will sing to you,
I will sing to you, O.

And if you feel sorrow
And need someone to care for you
I hope you will learn from me
That I am always there for you
In your darkest hour,
Your burdens will I take for you
My lantern I shall lift
And light the path I make for you
And

I will sing to you,
I will open up my mouth and
Pour out the sorrow in my heart
I will sing to you
I will sing to you, O.

Now lift your eyes from darkness
And place your foot upon the road
Take my hand and walk with me
Come and let me share your load
Sing with me in joy
And feel the wind that blows before you
Turn to me for comfort
And do not cry any more.

I will sing to you,
I will open up my mouth and
pour out the joy in my heart
I will sing to you,
I will sing to you, O.

–Rebekkah Hilgraves
from Rachel Rising

Michael Sandler – “Mourning and Dreaming” - Mourning and Dreaming – 2006 (10:09)
Michael Sandler – “Home” – Mourning and Dreaming – 2006 (6:42)
Adam Certamen Bownik – “Paestum” – Golden Children - 2007 (28:38)
Lily Pond Orchestra – “Mourning Cloak” – On the Wings of a Dragonfly - 2008 (6:02)
SPACECRAFT – “Elder’s Mourning” – Earthtime Tapestry - 1999 (5:08)
Garnica – “Children” – Fuertes EP - 2006 (9:49)
Mystahr – “Talking With Angels” – Forrae - 2005 (18:36)
Phrozenlight – “Returning to the Darkness” – Sleepr - 2009 (29:26)
Introspective – “Unusual Teacher” – Patient Reactions EP - 2005 (11:13)

Numinous day, morning winter light raising a warm glow from old, whitewashed bricks, the neighborhood nothing special, the people, only human, a man smoking a cigarette in a parking lot, a bird waiting to sing, a silence after heartbreak. Tell me, someone, how is it possible to kill in a world so beautiful? Tell me how it is possible to secure silence against gunshots and cries of pain. But also, don’t secure the silence, but fill it: with your voices, hopes, joys, griefs, anguish and all: so it doesn’t hurt my ears: so we wind good sounds into a fabric to outargue death. Good morning, friends.

–Shymala Dason