Who is so lucky? Not one in a hundred thousand. Jewish saying: Life is so terrible, it would have been better not to have been born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun. Why should life be given to those whose spirits are bitter?”Įcclesiastes 4:3: But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. “Why should those who suffer ever be born? Why didn’t I die as I came out of my mother’s body? May the night be wiped away when people said, ‘A boy is born!’ Some are longer, some are shorter, but they all somehow express the idea that it would have been better never to have been. It certainly does not exhaust the literature I’ve explored so far, but I have been making notes when passages jump out at me, and I intend to keep recording what I find as I continue reading (hence the designation Vol. I may write more thoughts on anti-natalism at another time, but for now I share this “sourcebook of anti-natal thinking”, or this “anti-natal reader”, if you like. As I go, I’ve been noting passages that express strong anti-natal ideas. He is the lynchpin of this musical monastery we have founded.Īs you know, I’ve engaged myself in a long-term reading project to better understand human history, and to read the great works of every century. Andrew O’Connor, who issued the invitation and makes everything possible.
Please be indulgent with both the compositions and the performances.Īnd thank you to Fr.
But I guess I am who I am, and while I can try to improve myself I can’t escape myself. This project has changed my life, and I vacillate between extreme gratitude for the opportunity to compose and “perform” every week, and distinct disquiet, or even embarrassment, that I am perhaps imposing my creative voice on a population, or just taking too seriously an opportunity to offer music to a worshipping community. More to the point, we regular musicians consider ourselves a “pod”, and each week’s guest is distanced as much as can be allowed. The congregation, far below us, is masked and distanced, as we are also in the loft. Mary’s is an enormous church, and the choir loft is itself enormous.
It is very lucky to have an opportunity, during the pandemic, to make music in a safe way. All other information (rosters, texts, liturgical readings which the cantatas frame) can be found in the document in this folder. I have removed the readings and other non-cantata parts of the service, and labelled the movements as they occur. Even though the recording quality is just that of an iphone, the gift of being able to review this material is incalculable. Thanks to the generous documentation of Manami Mizumoto, the weekly cantatas I’ve been writing for St.
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