"...and Grant Us Thy Peace"

"...and Grant Us Thy Peace" is a track I improvised into Cubase. This is a musical prayer asking for God's mercy and help during these dark, confusing times.

Something like the Corona virus truly reveals to us our fragility and dependence on God. Despite all the technological idols man builds for himself and worships, idols from whom he expects eternal life and paradise on earth, or the monuments man builds to boast of his own greatness, something as elemental as a new strain of virus, an unseen, insidious "infectious agent," can still bring entire countries, their society and economies, to an abrupt standstill, and force people to hide themselves until the threat passes. This is 2020 and we are still hiding from plagues like people did in ancient and medieval times. So much for man's greatness and technological achievements.

The musical influences on this improvisation are three of the most important to my music: Byzantine Orthodox chant, Latin plainchant, and last but certainly not least Jewish cantorial music and the musical traditions of the Ashkenazic (Central and Eastern European Jewish) liturgical tradition.

May God grant us health and peace, and may these dark, confusing times soon pass.