Description

Stillness is an art song for high voice. It was premiered by the Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles in 2018.

[Minimum Order: 1]

Stillness was born from our current emotional climate. I wanted to write a song that searches for inner peace amid the stress and fear in the news and politics.  I wanted to reinforce that stillness is accessible to everyone.

Lyrically, the song takes you on a journey of achieving stillness. It starts with conflict and the need for separation from stress. It moves to finding a place where one can reach peace within, despite the chaos outside the body.  The “I am” section is introduced once the space for stillness has been made.  It is in that space where we have profound knowledge and find peace.

Musically, it was essential that there was a simplicity and beauty to the melody to maintain the message that stillness is accessible to everyone. In the first section, the accompaniment dances around the simple melody.  In the second section, the accompaniment is sparse creating a space for stillness to grow.  In the third section, I focused on that note because of the connection between the note C and the word see.  To see is to have clarity. I also found the connection between C and the Schumann Resonance (~8Hz or C-1) to be symbolic.

Demo:

Lyrics:

A:
Around me
Is a storm of chaos and pain

Around me
Is a battle of hate and blame

B:
And I am lost in this war
I am searching, desperate for

C:
Stillness
Stillness

A:
Inside me
Is a space where chaos can not breathe
Inside me
Is a grace where hate can not feed

B:
When I close my eyes
When I calm my wearied mind

D:
I am breath
I am body
I am peace
I am

C:
Stillness
Stillness