Blessings

Choral settings of the teaching Jesus gave in the Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes as they might have been understood by the listeners of his day. When heard with 'Aramaic ears' these familiar sacred passages reveal fresh new layers of blessing, healing and encouragement that speak down the centuries directly to our needs today.

Composer's Introduction

About twenty years ago I recall praying that I would be led to understand the teachings of Jesus more fully. I wanted to know what it might be like to hear his teaching as if I was by his side. It was not until two years ago, when a friend sent me Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz's first book (Prayers of the Cosmos), that I felt my prayer had been answered. His beautiful translations from the Aramaic made my heart sing. This CD of unaccompanied choral settings is my first response.

The Lord's Prayer is composed as two verses. I have allowed some freedom of form in the second verse to explore the melodic possibilities of 'the song that beautifies everything which renews itself from age to age'.

The Beatitudes in Matthew are based on chants or Psalters, reminiscent of the style used in Taizé chants. The first seven chants are repeated four or five times and are designed to be meditative, allowing the healing work of the Beatitudes to take effect through the music. Beatitudes three, five, seven, eight and the final sentence have a descant (sung beautifully on this recording by Rachel Major). Beatitude nine explores three different translations by Dr Douglas-Klotz of the same sacred text. The final sentence rounds this set off with an Amen chorus.

The Beatitudes in Luke make more use of Dr Douglas-Klotz's midrash by using different translations of the same sacred text. I have set the first four Beatitudes as these are the ones that best fit the overall theme of blessings.

To experience the full resonance of the words of Jesus nothing can compare with saying or chanting these sacred words in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. If you enjoy these compositions I would warmly encourage you to explore Dr Douglas-Klotz's resource materials via his website www.abwoon.com. My hope is that these settings might act as an introduction to those who are new to his work, and as another way of hearing his translations for those who are already familiar with his output.

John Sutherland

 

About the composer

John Sutherland is musical director and organist at St Mary's Church, Rydal in the English Lake District, Cumbria and sings as a soloist (bass/baritone) in local concerts.

Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz says, "...John Sutherland's inspired artistry brings fully into liturgical form the ability to 'hear Yeshua with Aramaic ears'."

When not involved in music John is also the Director of Strategic Resource, a management consultancy company specialising in assessing and developing senior management teams and boards across Europe.

About Voces Cantabiles

Voces Cantabiles is an international award winning a cappella choir. Founded in 2003 by ex-choristers of Westminster Abbey, the group has a repertoire ranging from 13th century polyphony to unique jazz and popular arrangements.

Voces Cantabiles has entertained audiences across Europe and the UK, and has been praised for 'stunning performance', 'exquisite singing' and 'a sound that spans the entire range of vocal colour'.

Voces Cantabiles combines a busy schedule of concert performances with education work, singing workshops and music based corporate training days.

Contents

01	The Lord's Prayer (sample)	5:16
02	Matthew Beatitude 1	4:27
03	Matthew Beatitude 2	3:45
04	Matthew Beatitude 3	3:21
05	Matthew Beatitude 4	4:08
06	Matthew Beatitude 5	3:17
07	Matthew Beatitude 6	2:08
08	Matthew Beatitude 7	2:38
09	Matthew Beatitude 8	1:49
10	Matthew Beatitude 9	2:15
11	Final Sentence (sample)	4:47
12	Luke Beatitude 1	2:44
13	Luke Beatitude 2	3:17
14	Luke Beatitude 3	2:43
15	Luke Beatitude 4	3:57

Jesus spoke a native Middle Eastern language - Aramaic. No matter what version of the Gospels one studies, if Jesus said any of the words attributed to him, he spoke them in Aramaic. On this point, all scholars agree. This is especially true of the prayer he gave his disciples, commonly called the Lord's Prayer.

Aramaic is a very different language than Greek, the usual language to which Western European Christianity traces its heritage. Each word in Aramaic can be translated and interpreted several different ways. For instance, the root of the word tubwayhun (or tubwaykhon), the word for 'blessed' used in the Beatitudes recorded in Matthew and Luke, can be 'ripe', 'happy', 'in rhythm with the Holy One', or 'fitting its (divine) purpose'. The traditions of translation and interpretation in Semitic languages was that in the case of holy words, those of a sacred scripture, saying, prophet or mystic, one needs to consider all possible meanings of a word or phrase. In the Jewish tradition, this type of multiple interpretation, in which translation becomes a spiritual practice, is called 'midrash'. Using poetry and art to express the inexpressible was and is a traditional form of midrash.

Over the past 16 years, I have offered five or six possible interpretive translations of the Aramaic Lord's Prayer, Beatitudes and other sayings of Jesus. These can be found in the books, Prayers of the Cosmos (Harper San Francisco, 1990), Desert Wisdom: Native Middle Eastern Writing from the Goddess through the Sufis (Harper San Francisco, 1995), The Hidden Gospel (Quest, 1999), The Genesis Meditations (Quest, 2003) and Blessings of the Cosmos (Sounds True, 2006), and in three tape series from Sounds True: The Hidden Gospel, Original Prayer and The Healing Breath.

The beautiful choral arrangements of John Sutherland are selected from the midrash from these books and recordings to create tone-poems in which various meanings and feelings interweave and interact. Those who sat on the Galilean hillsides nearly 2000 years ago, listening to Jesus, could and would have heard various 'levels' of meanings in his sayings, stories and prayers. As he said, "Let those that have ears to hear, let them hear." Here, John Sutherland's inspired artistry brings fully into liturgical form the ability to 'hear Yeshua with Aramaic ears'.

For further information on the work of translation and publication, please address: Abwoon Study Circle, PO Box 361655, Milpitas, CA 95036-1655 USA or go to www.abwoon.com. In the UK and Europe, please address Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning, www.eial.org.

Dr Neil Douglas-Klotz
Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning