Description
“Out Beyond Ideas” was commissioned for a joint performance of Sabathani Vintage Voices and the Champlin Park High School ensemble, Viva Voce. The two choirs, one senior adults, the other, high school students, met several times to rehearse, to share food, and to get to know one another. It was a beautiful experience. The directors, Robert Graham and Margaret Sabin, and I selected this text to deepen the conversations around this rare occurrence of bridging generations. We talked about what it means to me be dreamers of dreams, and the responsibility that dreamers hold. We also discussed what it might be like like to meet in that field that Rumi speaks of, a field beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing.
Choir II begins the call for dreaming into being a better world. Choir I then beckons Choir II to meet in a place that is beyond determining who is right and who is wrong. Both choirs then call to each other to meet in that place, the field where they see each other in themselves. Finally, the choirs join to be dreamers of this new world, where even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense.
Text
We are the Music Makers/Out Beyond Ideas
We Are the Music Makers
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
Arthur O’Shaughnessy, 1897
Out beyond ideas
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.
Rumi, translated by Rabindranath Tagore
Program Notes
“Out Beyond Ideas” was commissioned for a joint performance of Sabathani Vintage Voices and the Champlin Park High School ensemble, Viva Voce. The two choirs, one senior adults, the other, high school students, met several times to rehearse, to share food, and to get to know one another. It was a beautiful experience. The directors, Robert Graham and Margaret Sabin, and I selected this text to deepen the conversations around this rare occurrence of bridging generations. We talked about what it means to me be dreamers of dreams, and the responsibility that dreamers hold. We also discussed what it might be like like to meet in that field that Rumi speaks of, a field beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing.
Choir II begins the call for dreaming into being a better world. Choir I then beckons Choir II to meet in a place that is beyond determining who is right and who is wrong. Both choirs then call to each other to meet in that place, the field where they see each other in themselves. Finally, the choirs join to be dreamers of this new world, where even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense.
Critical Acclaim
“atmospheric” ~ Michael Anthony Special to the Star Tribune
blenders –
Catherine Dalton is a brilliant composer who explores the depths of the human experience through her music. Her latest record, “Out Beyond Ideas,” is a beautiful collection of works that transport the listener to a world of raw emotion and introspection. Each piece is imbued with intricate harmonies and soaring melodies that evoke a sense of wonder and transcendence. Dalton’s unique blend of classical and contemporary styles creates a truly singular listening experience that is not to be missed. “Out Beyond Ideas” is a must-listen for any lover of music that speaks directly to the soul.