Mercury

Last week, our final choir project — the recording of a Compline service — came to a conclusion, and with it, our choir activity for the year. It is with a feeling of resignation and gratitude that I reach the end of the term. I will miss seeing our choristers and working with them during the summer, and I’m so grateful for all of the work our folks have done during this crazy year. I’m also conscious of how the pandemic took away much of our normal shared life last year.

With this feeling in mind, I want to share a bit of crossover music from a popular artist I have come to respect during the last seven years: Sufjan Stevens. This lovely, moving track comes from his 2017 album, Planetarium, which contains a song for each celestial body in our solar system (including some Black Energy and a Black Hole). The final track, “Mercury,” has much in common with American minimalism: recurring textures and harmonies, a kind of rhythmic moto perpetuo throughout, and slow harmonic development.

Actually, I think this kind of material beautifully describes a sense of wholeness and meaning in the created order, while also recognizing the great tragedy of our human brokenness. Sufjan Stevens described this dynamic quite poignantly in his interview with Bob Boilen on All Songs Considered. I hope this music speaks to you too.

Dr Justin Appel, Director of Music

‘Mercury’ from ‘Planetarium’ by Sufjan Stevens et al. at NPR Music Field Recordings