In “The Four Agreements,” Don Miguel Ruiz describes our life as, among others, a wakeful dream state where we create many, many agreements within ourselves as our basis for relating to God, to ourselves and to other life forms. “We have many agreements that come from fear, deplete our energy, and diminish our self-worth.” On the other hand, in the enlightened state, there are only four BASIC agreements.

On the sleeves of the cover, the four agreements are briefly explained, and I share these with you, with a few very, very brief notes after each agreement:

BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Stay away from gossip, even if you’ll end up being the subject of one. Gossip exposes you to a lot of waste thoughts and waste feelings—and who needs waste?

DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Anger, sadness, envy, jealousy, stress, and hatred are needless suffering.  Accept criticism gracefully. Again, other people’s criticism is based on their standards, not yours. So take what you want with gratitude, and throw the rest away. Don’t go about screaming murder just because someone said you’re stupid or useless. It’s a complete waste of energy–energy best used for doing more of what you love doing like writing or making music or reading a book.

If there are people who are just difficult to deal with and you are not in the best condition to keep carrying on a “fight,” you may want to stop seeing them for the time being. You are not being unkind….in fact, you are being kind—to yourself.

DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Our reactions to other people are mostly the result of the stories–mostly invented–that we write in our minds. To change your reaction from bad to good, change the script in your head. Only you can do that, no one else.

ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

Never tell yourself “my best wasn’t good enough.” Your best is your best. Period. Other people’s best may not be congruent to yours, but so what? Your perception of yourself is so much more important than others’ perception of you. Hold your head up high. Rejection simply means a better opportunity is waiting.

And you, yes, YOU are also invited.

The purposes of World Listening Day are:

• to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us, environmental awareness, and acoustic ecology;
• to raise awareness about issues related to the World Soundscape Project, World Listening Project, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, and individual and group efforts to creatively explore phonography;
• and to design and implement educational initiatives which explore these concepts and practices.

World Listening Day is being organized by the World Listening Project, in partnership with the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology. July 18 was chosen as the date for World Listening Day because it is the birthday of the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, who is one of the founders of the Acoustic Ecology movement.  The World Soundscape Project, which Schafer directed, is an important organization which has inspired a lot of activity in this field, and his book The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World helped to define many of the terms and background behind the acoustic ecology movement.

The World Listening Project invites you to participate in World Listening Day.  Here are several possibilities—

• You can set aside some time when you pay attention to your soundscape.
• You can organize a soundwalk or a listening party when people play field recordings.
• You can organize a performance event that involves field recordings and other artistic expressions that explore our soundscape and how we can listen to our sonic environment.
• You can facilitate an educational event that relates to acoustic ecology, field recordings, or a similar topic.
• You can contact organizations that are participating in World Listening Day, to see if you can get involved that way.

World Listening Day includes the following organizations, projects, and individuals:

Organizations and Projects

American Society for Acoustic Ecology

Auroral Borealis Listening Group (Alaska)

Berg 26 (Berlin)

Chicago Phonography

Citizen Sound

C.O.M.A. Series (New York, NY)

Community Sound [e]Scapes

“Exquisite Rarities” / Radio Mana’o (Maui, Hawaii)

free103point9’s broadcast of GIANT EAR))) archives

Fruit for the Apocalypse – “The Stepney Soundscape” (London)

Global Sound Map

Hellenic Association for Acoustic Ecology — “A Listening Demonstration-Performance and Sunset Silence Meditation” (Corfu, Greece)

Im Namen des Raumes (Berlin)

“Improv with Nature” (Sterling Heights, MI)

KKWNE (Paris)

LagosSoundscape

“Listening Around the A4074” (Oxford, England)

Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology

Music for the Soul: A Performance of Inspiring Music for Choir, Ensemble & Concert Band (Mackay, Qld, Australia)

New England Phonographers Union

New York Society for Acoustic Ecology

OISTAT Sound Design Working Group (Taipei) — “SixtySecond Theatre”

Possible Spaces (Tokyo, Japan)

PVA (Bridgport, England)

Radio Aporee

Radio Lab Brazil (Brasilia)

Seattle Phonographers Union

“Song Path” (Banning State Park, MN)

Sonic Survey of Weymouth Seaside (Dorset, England)

Sound Studies / Berlin University of the Arts

Sounding into World Listening Day (Chicago, IL)

“Sounds Like Radio” (WDBX FM)

Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival (Dorset, England)

Wild Sanctuary

World Forum for Acoustic Ecology

World Listening Project

Individuals

Hasan Abdur-Razzaq (Columbus, OH)
Dave Armstrong (Carbondale, IL)
Geejay Arriola (Davao City, Philippines)
Ian Ash (Philadelphia, PA)
Steve Barsotti (Seattle, WA)
Michael Bettine (Milwaukee, WI)
Steven Brown (Manchester, England)
Rebecca Caines (Guelph, Canada)
Daniele Cavallanti (Milan, Italy)
Chad Clark (Chicago, IL)
Steve Cohn (New York, NY)
Maile Colbert (Alaska, USA)
James Cornish (Ypsilanti, MI)
Gerard Cox (Columbus)
Andrea Dancer (Prague, Czech Republic)
DJ Spooky (New York City)
John Erickson (McKinney, TX)
Björn Eriksson (Sweden)
Eva Fahle-Clouts (Charmouth, England)
Marcos Fernandes (Tokyo, Japan)
Felicity Ford (Oxford, England)
Jez Riley French (Portugal)
Dan Godston (Chicago)
Annie Goh (Berlin, Germany)
Forbes Graham (Montreal, Quebec)
Lucio Haeser (Brasilia, Brazil)
Jon Hey (Chicago, IL)
Sarah Hopkins (Brisbane, Australia)
David Harrison Horton (Beijing, China)
Spencer Hutchinson (Knoxville, TN)
Ryan Ingebritsen (Chicago)
John Kannenberg (Ann Arbor, MI)
Ernst Karel (Cambridge, MA)
Mazen Kerbaj (Beirut, Lebanon)
Bernie Krause (Glen Ellen, CA)
Katherine Krause (Glen Ellen, CA)
Ricardo Lagomasino (Philadelphia, PA)
Eric Leonardson (Chicago)
Norman Long (Chicago)
Kim Mennillo (Cornelius, NC)
Kristin Miltner (Oakland, CA)
Anton Mobin (Paris)
Edmund Mooney (New York City)
Michael Noble (Seoul, Korea)
Udo Noll (Berlin)
Greg O’Drobinak (Indiana)
Emeka Ogboh (Lagos, Nigeria)
Yoshitaka Oishi (Nagoya, Japan)
Linda O’Keeffe (Ireland)
Ben Owen (New York, NY)
John Owens (Miami, FL)
Maggi Payne (Berkeley, CA)
Divik Ramesh (Delhi, India)
Eric Glick Rieman (Berkeley, CA)
David Rogers (Bridgport, England)
Harry Ross (London)
Stephen Rush (Ann Arbor, MI)
Kamal Sabran (Ipoh, Malaysia)
Dennis Sagel (Ann Arbor, MI)
Max Schneider (Berlin)
Edward Schocker (Denver, CO)
Vijayendra Sekhon (Mumbai, India)
Fred Jeremy Seligson (Montpellier, France)
Blaise Siwula (New York, NY)
Chris Skebo (Detroit, MI)
Miko Söderlund (Göteborg, Sweden)
Heather Spence (Isla Mujeres, Mexico)
Joe Stevens (Weymouth, England)
Mojdeh Stoakley (Chicago)
Carl Stone (Los Angeles)
Adam Smith (Columbus)
Carl Testa (New Haven, CT)
Tiziano Tononi (Milan, Italy)
Fereshteh Toosi (Chicago)
Sarah Weaver (New York City)
Glenn Weyant (Tucson, AZ)
Alex Wing (Chicago, IL)
Paul Wood (Maui, Hawaii)

Updates regarding additional participants and projects will be announced soon.

CONTACT:     Dan Godston
Phone: 312.543.7027
Email: worldlistening@gmail.com

I say that as someone who is familiar with the oratorios of Handel as well as a large number of great works of the Renaissance composers, whose pure vocal style is at times quite beautiful. Handel composed a large amount of great choral music, much of it of extraordinary quality. Telemann and Vivaldi each composed a large amount of good choral music. Mozart’s C-minor Mass and Requiem Mass are both great, yet he didn’t finish either one of them. Beethoven’s Mass in D-major is a great work, but not without its flaws. Handel is the only one who comes close to Bach in composing a large amount of great choral music.

Bach left us with a huge repertoire of masterful choral music. Of the three hundred or so cantatas, there are at least a couple dozen that contain choral music of the highest caliber. And of course we have the Magnificat, the Easter Oratorio, the Christmas Oratorio, the six Motets, the two Passion. The Bach composition I have on my mind today is his B-minor Mass, perhaps his greatest masterpiece.

Though many people would cite his St Mathew Passion as his greatest masterpiece, I would have to choose his B-minor Mass if I were asked to pick the one piece by J.S. Bach that represents his greatest achievement. While appreciating the greatness of The St Mathew Passion, and for that matter, his St John Passion, I would place the B-minor Mass in a category of its own.

Bach’s B-minor Mass is a virtual compendium of his vocal style.  With the exception of the chorale, every style of choral music Bach was familiar with is to be found within its pages.  The chorale, or Protestant hymn, was something that Bach excelled in. Indeed he was the supreme master of hymn arrangements, but hymns have no place in a musical setting of the mass. If you want to hear Bach’s greatest chorale settings, listen to the two Passions, and the Christmas Oratorio. If you want to hear a collection of various styles of baroque choral music of the highest caliber, sans chorales, then the B-minor Mass should be your choice.

Bach composed the Kyrie and Gloria sections of his B-minor Mass in 1733. The rest was composed in the last decade of his life and consists of a mixture of newly composed music and reworkings of music from some of his earlier cantatas.

One might ask why it is called a mass in B-minor when it has more movements in D-major than in B-minor, and in fact the concluding movement is in D-major.  Well, let’s see, the first movement is in B-minor. The choice of keys for the movements relates a bit closer to B-minor than to D-major. Hmmm, that which we call a rose would smell as sweet by any other name.

Let me now give a brief description of each movement of this extraordinary work of art. I will eschew technical terms as much as possible and strive for brevity.

Kyrie: The opening “Kyrie Eleison” is in B-minor, with a few excursions into other keys, and is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes d’amore, bassoon, violins 1 and 2, and basso continuo.  The choir is in 5 parts with two soprano parts. It is marked adagio on the score, but in my opinion it should not be taken as slowly as most works with that particular tempo marking.  Except for the first 4 measures it is written in fugal style. The only words to the entire movement are “Kyrie Eleison.”  I never fully appreciated the beauty of this movement until I sat down one afternoon and played the bass line of the continuo along with a CD recording. It suddenly struck me how this bass line is interesting as an entity unto itself, yet it is part of a polyphonic web of sound, and at the same time, supports the harmonic structure of the piece. This is truly a work of great beauty.

Christe Eleison: This movement is a duet in D-major for two sopranos, with violin and continuo. I find it rather pretty.

Kyrie: This movement sets the words “Kyrie Eleison” is a type of fugue that was considered old-fashioned even in Bach’s day. It is in F#-minor and is scored for 4-part choir. Bach combines the 1^st violins, flutes, and one oboe d’amore into one voice, and combines the second violin and one oboe d’amore into one voice.  There are no other instruments except for the basso continuo.  This is a rather beautiful fugue.

Gloria: This movement is rather unusual because of the sudden change of rhythm at the words “et in terra pax.” This movement is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, bassoon, violins 1 and 2, viola, and basso continuo. It is for 4-part choir with two soprano parts. It is in the key of D-major.  The happy, bouncy first part, sung to the words “Gloira in excelsis Deo” uses the kind of textural contrasts of a concerto. Suddenly the happy, bouncy rhythm gives way to a slower, more somber rhythm. Unusual for Bach, the time signature changes from 3/8 time to 4/4 time.  With the words, “et in terra pax” Bach uses fugal texture to slowly build to a climax. This is one of my favorite movements in this mass.

Laudamus Te: This rather lovely aria in the key of A-major is scored for violins 1 and 2, viola, basso continuo and solo violin.

Gratius Agimus: This is another one of my favorite movements. It is in the key of D-major, and is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 oboes, bassoon, 1^st violins in unison with flutes, 2^nd violins, viola, basso continuo and 5 part choir with two soprano parts. This is another old-fashioned fugue and I find it extraordinarily beautiful.  You will encounter this same music again at the end of the mass because Bach scored the final words of the mass “Dona Nobis  Pacem” to this same music.

Domine Deus: This lovely duet for soprano and tenor is in the key of G-major and is scored for flute, violins 1 and 2, viola, and basso continuo.

Qui Tollis: This one is in B-minor and is scored for 4 part choir, flutes 1 & 2, violins 1& 2, viola, cello, and basso continuo. It is marked lento in the score and thus is meant to be performed rather slowly. It is very somber, even sad. The final chord is not B-minor, but F#-major.

Qui Sedes: The final F# chord of the previous movement serves as sort of a harmonic lead-in for the B-minor of this movement. This alto aria is scored for oboe d’amore, violins 1 and 2, and basso continuo.

Quoniam: This wonderful bass aria is in the key of D-major and is scored for corno da caccia (Hunting horn), two bassoons, and bassoon continuo. It doesn’t really come to an end but segues directly into the following movement, the last chord, A7, being touched on in the last beat of the last measure, serves to introduce the D of the next movement.

Cum Sancto Spiritu: This movement is in D-major and is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, bassoon, violins 1 & 2, violas, and basso continuo. The choir is in 5 parts with two soprano parts.  This music is simply delightful. Fugal texture prevails throughout. It is jubilant and energetic, and full of subtle effects. It is definitely one of my favorites.

Credo: Here Bach has created a 7-part fugue in the Mixolydian mode.  The mixolydian mode is the same as the major mode, but with a lowered seventh note.  Using two soprano parts, altos, tenors, and basses, with violins 1 and 2 each taking part in the fugal texture, Bach has created a 7-part fugue (5-part choir plus two violin parts). The base line for the basso continuo is continuously running up and down scales as if oblivious to the fact that there is a fugue going on over its head. This bass line is never treated fugally throughout this piece, but it provides harmonic support and sort of ‘grounds’ the music.  This very subtle and beautiful fugue is like some of the others in this mass, in a style that was considered old-fashioned when Bach composed it.  The only words in this fugue are “Credo in unum Deum.”

Credo: This setting of the words “Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentum, factorem coeli et terra, visibilium omnium et invisibilium” is meant to follow the previous fugue, almost without pause. The first chord is A-major, but it is in the key of D-major. It is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani,  oboes 1 and 2, violins 1 and 2, violas, basso continuo,  and 4-part choir. It is a happy, bouncy fugue, and contrasts sharply with the subtle beauty of the previous fugue.

Et in unum Dominum: This lovely duet for soprano and alto is scored for violins 1 and 2, violas, 2 oboes d’amore, and basso continuo.

Et incarnates est: Now we are back in the key of B-minor. This movement is for 5-part choir with 2 sopranos. It is scored only for violins 1 and 2 with basso continuo. The final chord is not B-minor, but B-major.

Crucifixus: The B chord of the previous movement leads us to the E-minor of the crucifixus. This is scored for 2 flutes, violins 1 and 2, violas, bassoon continuo, and 4-part choir. The incessant sorrow of this movement eases up slightly in the last few measures as it modulates into the key of G-major.

Et resurrexit: This is in the key of D-major and is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, violins 1 and 2, violas, basso continuo, and 5-part choir with 2 sopranos. This is Bach at his most jubilant. This is one of my favorite movements in this mass. It is powerful and it is beautiful.

Et in Spiritum Sanctum: This pretty bass aria is scored only for 2 oboes d’amore and basso continuo and is in the key of A-major.

Confiteor: This is scored for 5-part choir with 2 soprano parts, with no instruments other than basso continuo. It is really two movements stuck together with one leading directly into the other.  The first part is in the key of F#-minor and is composed as strict canon throughout, until suddenly, at the words “et expecto” the music slows down, changes texture, rhythm, and key. The words “et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum” are repeated over and over, until finally it leads us without pause into the next movement.

Et expect resurrectionem: This extraordinary movement is in D-major and is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, violins 1 and 2, violas, basso continuo, and 5-part choir with two soprano parts.  In my opinion, this brief movement is some of the most powerful music ever composed by anyone. It features Bach’s famous ‘resurrection motif’ which can be heard throughout in the instrumental part. The music builds to an incredible breathtaking climax with an energy that seemingly can’t be stopped, but suddenly we arrive at the final cadence and hear that final D-major triad. After hearing this movement I usually have to have some silence for a while. I just can’t listen to anything right away after hearing this incredibly powerful music.

Sanctus: Here Bach is not satisfied with a 4 or 5 part choir, but uses six choral parts, 2 soprano parts, 2 alto parts and parts for, tenor and bass. It is in the key of D-major and is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, 3 oboes, violins 1 and 2, violas, and bass continuo. This is truly marvelous music. Hearing this Sanctus performed by a talented choir and orchestra is like hearing a group of angels. It is truly great stuff.

Osanna: This is in the key of D-major and is scored for 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, violins 1 and 2, violas, basso continuo, and two 4-part choirs. This is another one of Bach’s strongly rhythmic pieces. You may feel like dancing while you listen to it. In fact many of Bach’s choral pieces have strong dance-like rhythms.

Benedictus: This rather soulful tenor aria in B-minor is scored only for basso continuo and solo flute. Some versions use a violin instead of a flute.  The Osanna is meant to be repeated after this aria.

Agnus Dei: This alto aria is in G-minor and is scored only for violins 1 and 2 with basso continuo. It is painfully sad.

Dona Nobis Pacem: Here we return to the key of D-major. This piece is the same music as the Gratius Agimus. It is in the same key, with the same scoring, except that here Bach pairs the 2 flutes with the oboes. By closing the mass with music from a previous movement Bach is giving a sort of unity to the work.

Most scholars agree that Bach’s “St Mathew Passion” is a greater masterpiece than his “St John Passion”, but both contain stunningly beautiful music. After its premiere, Bach spent ten years revising and perfecting his “St Mathew Passion” and had gotten underway doing the same thing to his “St John Passion” before death intervened.

This DVD contains a performance of Bach’s “St John Passion” with the Munichener Bach Orchestra and Munichener Bach Choir, conducted by Karl Richter. I do not recognize any of the names of the soloists other than the tenor Peter Schrier, who sings the role of the evangelist.

When it comes to baroque music I have long preferred period instrument recordings, especially those of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, and especially John Eliot Gardiner. The period instrument movement began in the 1970s and gained momentum in the 80s. It is not just the use of instruments of the baroque that distinguishes these performances. It is a whole new way of interpreting the scores of the baroque masters, stripping away (at least in theory) layer after layer of nineteenth and twentieth century performance practices that suddenly seemed so anachronistic when applied to Bach or Handel.

Karl Richter is of the old school of Bach conductors and probably the best example of such. His recordings of Bach’s cantatas and other choral music are legendary. Of all of the old-school conductors of Bach, I think he was the best. I have a CD of an old Karl Richter recording of three Bach cantatas, but this DVD has given me a new appreciation for him.

I no longer look at the old-school verses new-school performances of baroque music as a right-verses-wrong situation. They are both legitimate ways of expressing the extraordinary beauty of the great baroque masters. Close your eyes and listen to an old Karl Richter performance of Bach. Is it not sublimely beautiful?

His premise is that beneath their squawking–abetted and further legitimized by a media who loves violence and paranoid individuals flooding the internet and television with warnings of religious-inspired doomsdays–fundamentalist groups, incapable of providing real solutions to poverty, spiritual thirst, and nationalist or tribal sentiments, will soon perish in the hands of reason and the rising sense of global multiculturalism.

And here below, I list some of the observations and reflections I have of my own country in relation to his thesis:

1.   Already, we have more and more Moslem women in our part of the country wearing the black burkah, a custom adopted from fundamentalist Islam sects in other parts of the world, and certainly not a traditional practice in Mindanao.

In an international women’s conference I recently attended, I learned that the whipping and stoning to death of women (and men) as punishment for adultery are being revived in Indonesia and Iran in the name of Allah and His teachings.

2.   On the Christian front, more and more ordinary people are claiming to be Messiahs or the only son of God or the only true messenger of God, or Jesus’ medium. With enough flair for drama and some media connections, these once unknowns turn into celebrities and millionaires with a massive following in just a few years.

3.   How paradoxical, I think, that the more consumerist our world becomes, the more the longing for divine connection. One can never underestimate the power of the soul to search for its original source even as the human body is intoxicated with the chaos of stocks exchange and the bad-girl, bad-boy subcultures of the paris hiltons and chris browns of the world. Yet perhaps it is the combination of this intoxication and spiritual starvation that makes people vulnerable to mindless devotion, clinging to anything and anyone that provides an ounce of salvation.

4.   Perhaps we now live at a time when the contradictions are even sharper so that while the call for religious fundamentalism is getting louder, the consciousness to adopt a more universal spirituality is becoming more pervasive and popular.

And so it is such a relief to know that there are theories out there saying fundamentalism will not survive. At the same time, the surge of spiritual or religious consciousness of the open-minded, liberal kind is testament to the fact that we are all starting to come full circle and become one, as we, in fact, are.