As we approach the new year, here is the Longfellow poem, in its entirety. I hope it can adorn your desk, daytimer, screensaver, locker, or other personal dashboard in the New Year. In this poem Longfellow suggests that if we offer something of ourselves to the world, eventually we will discover its effects:
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
As we enter a hopeful 2011, it is my wish that the abundance of choral music we have heard over the last month of our collective celebration — of the longest night of the year (Winter Solstice), of the commemoration of the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean revolt (Hanukkah), of the advent and birth of Jesus Christ (Christmas), of the celebration of African-American heritage in the United States (Kwanzaa), of the year end celebration of family and friends (Happy Holidays), and other celebrations that are not part of my current knowledge or culture — will continue.
I believe choral music is important, because it is essential to celebration. That's why we heard all that we heard over the last month. When celebration goes away, the choral music goes away. Does it therefore make sense that what we need is more celebration if we want to increase choral music making? I think so.
Happy New Year. Let's celebrate throughout 2011.
Christopher Hoh says
Jane Hamilton says