Last Sunday, while my wife sang sacred harp music with Bard College students in the meeting hall, I sat outside nearby painting the burial vault.
As the shadows flickered across the stones, I could hear the music and words of a song called "Greenwich" drifting out from the chapel.
Lord, what a thoughtless wretch was I,
To mourn, and murmur, and repine,
To see the wicked placed on high,
In pride and robes of honor shine!
But O their end, their dreadful end.
Thy sanctuary taught me so;
On slipp'ry rocks I see them stand,
And fiery billows roll below.
—Words by Isaac Watts, 1719
Bard's sacred harp (Shapenote singing) club is led by Benjamin Bath and is open to all.
Bartlett Burial Vault.
Sacred Harp music on Wikipedia
See and hear a group singing Greenwich 183 on YouTube
That was a grave post.
ReplyDeleteArt Students are dying to get in there.
ReplyDeletemagnificent texture James and I love that warm shadow on the uper left under the overhang!
ReplyDeleteThis thread is your punishment.
ReplyDeleteReminds me somewhat of Monet's cathedral series. If you'd go on;-)
ReplyDeleteThere's the feeling of a warm summer day - you really caught the moment.
Always liked the complementary contrast between violet and yellow. Subdued here to all the ochres and violet-greys.
And yes, those ashlars are wonderfully textured.
Within 20 miles of where I sit the shape note singers in the movie sound track for Cold Mountain congregate. It and the religious music featured in O Brother Where Art Thou were the sum total of music for me in my youth, and art was unknown. Nice to see a convergence
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool that your wife is into Sacred Harp. I am too and it's one of the best things in my life.
ReplyDeleteIsaac Watts must have been in a brighter mood when he wrote the words for "Joy to the World."
ReplyDeleteI love the shadow and light in this painting.