WALK IN BEAUTY, WALK IN LIGHT
Walk in Beauty, Walk in Light
by Judy A. Rose
Anonymous
Chris Arthur
Alex Berg
Diane Berg
Marc Berg
Shannon Bromenschenkel
Patti and Brian Carlos
Julianne Carol
Eric and Meg Eisemann
Elizabeth Farrell
Hein and Kermit McCarthy
Barry Horowitz Noël Jackson
by John Eisemann
Jarboe Heather and Bruce Johnson
Larson
McBride
and Craig Milius
Morgan
Mosher
Juan and Gladys Reynaud Jonathan Schildt and Tim Tyler
Jack and Helen Strother
ble, it isitpos sible, isit Can is live peace, we Is si peace is is ble, in pos it itpos ther pos si geto si pos sible? ble, in itispos sible, peace is livetowe si ge posit ble, ther si Can sible? ble, is peace, posit is itis Is it pos possible, sible, liveweCan it si is ble, ble? si pos to pos itis ge si in peace posit pos peace,is it is is ble, it Is pos sible, ther is ble?siposit it is ble,siposit ble, Is si we peace is pos peace, pos in it therge sible,is pos to ble, live si itis Can
Ispeacepos si
pos
ble?siCan sible, ther? pos ble, ble, pos sipos pos ge ble, we si sible, to pos ble,si live pos ble,pos
Ispeacepos ble,si ther? pos sible, pos posble,si ge to sible,
ble?siCan live pos we ble,si si to possi ble, ther? we ble, pos Can si ble, pos ble? si live si si pos ble, ble, si ble, pos ge pos Is si peacepos si we pos pos pos ble, ble, si live Is si Can ble, to pos si ge ble, si ther? peace si pos ble, si pos ble,pos ble? rit.
J.A.Rose
Judy A. Rose
ses
Judy A. Rose
fault you for justice? tice it's to jusin your told be spea it king Or own Haveyouheardnoise have that up? thebeen oftimvic jus you spea in Have the Or vic have king tim be tice? that of forfault it jus to up? you toldyourit's noise been own tice heard Have itsoundslike? youheard noise what like? itsounds what
sounds youheard you Have it like? Have sounds youheard Have itwhat heard Have youHave like? you itsounds like? what heardwhat heard soundslike? Have it noisethe Have what you it it what sounds sounds heardwhat heard Have like? sounds heardit like? Have you heard you what heard you what Have youHave you soundsitlike? like?
si
Some a voice si not, your voice si we your are are why fraid, a up,
Whyare woke, we speak? lent, are lent, to some si use ifdon'tyou lent. you arenot, si si si si lent. lent, lent, voice lent speak lent,
lent, your if lent. si
si lent, lent, si si lent, lent, Si
Somearewoke, si somearenot, lent, ifdon'tyouuseyourvoicetospeakup,yourvoiceis si
noise,the
Have have heard,you the noise, the stop stopnoise, have stop the the
gliss.
you Oh youheard Have have heard? silenced? silenced, It heard? you the they'renoise? Haveyou si heardthe si plesay the lenced, have peo peo lenced, ple not say, si Have lenced, say peo noise? youheard It ple heard? you the lenced, si si not the thepeo have ple Oh heardyouHave heard? they're lenced, you say,have lenced? si have say, ple they're silenced, heard plesay peothe you lenced? what heard? Haveyou itsounds peo si have thenoise? Have heard? heardthe you like? yo uh ave heard youHave heard, you not heard? lenced, si say, haveyouheard, lenced, Have have you youheard? have heard? Have haveyouheard, ple plethey're you heard? peo you peosay the heard? have si heard you lenced?
Have Have you si not like? you thenoise? heard sounds itwhat
lence,si sounds the soundslike mul from them? tudes, with ti it lence, whatdo like like Noi si ses sounds fear. dowe si tudes, do what sesNoi soundslike themul from silence,it lence, we sounds do soundslike likefear. ti withthem? like from like sounds like Noises it lence,si them? withdowe fear. multhetitudes, sounds do lence, what sounds si lence, frommulthe do sounds we fear. like si like sounds sounds do si with lence, them? ti it Noi what ses tudes, like
(Can we return to our light?)
A. Rose
Have known, not not known? have known? love. you Have not known not you youhave you known, you have have known dodo known not not dodo known? you not do do Have love. Have not you youhavenot known known? love. do not dodo do you known? dodo have dodo have do have youHave you you do love. known? not dodo not not known? known rit. rit. rit. rit.
you
COMPOSER’S NOTE
Walk In Beauty, Walk in Light was originally titled, “A Peaceable Kingdom 2024,” as I feel many of our current issues intersect with what was happening during Randall Thompson’s time when The Peaceable Kingdom was originally composed.
When I was thinking about Randall’s work, I thought that it would be great to write a response to each of his pieces, then I thought again and said, “That will take too long.” I know sometimes, when I have an idea, I come back to it as this is my gut telling me, “There could be something here…” Maybe if I would have listened to my intuition sooner, I might have written a different, perhaps more prescriptive piece because of lived experiences.
After further contemplation and a revelation to let go of the idea of writing just three larger works, I decided to write “mini” pieces. I ended up writing a total of nine new (short and longer) pieces and am very excited for the audience to witness this new work. The text will at times challenge you as well as invite you to think about your own journey and life experiences.
Much gratitude to John and Jen for inviting me to write a “triptych,” a commissioned piece for We Shall Have a Song. My piece is not a direct response to Thompson’s piece; it is written to go alongside his brilliant work in more of a modern style. I sat down with a pencil and paper and wrote down Thompson’s titles and thought carefully of how I would modernize my titles. I intentionally decided not to use scripture, as sometimes scripture misses the mark of being fully inclusive. I did include “Woe Unto You” from Isaiah 5.
Throughout my generative writing process, I was guided by these essential questions: 1. Is it possible to live in a peaceable kingdom? 2. Is peace possible? and 3. Can we return to our original light? I ponder these questions every day. I believe “we were born to sing and our singing must not cease; like the song of the bird, may we be forever heard.”
I n the midst of global upheaval, it is uncomfortable to deal with daily conflict that arises when tensions are mounting all around us. It is my hope that people will continue to have the courage to speak up to protect a nd support one another instead of remaining silent.
As a composition, Walk In Beauty, Walk In Light is an honoring of the natural world, of healing fractured relationships, raising our voices and continuing to work for peace, justice, and transformation for all beings.
Judy A. Rose