After reading Psalm 121 below, listen to Arvo Pärt’s Pilgrim’s Prayer/Song (Wallfahrtslied). Here are some words of introduction written by Arvo Pärt, the composer:
When my friend Grigori Kromanov, the Estonian film and stage director, died in July 1984, it was like a bolt from the blue. Suddenly an invisible rift had opened up between us – with me still on the side of time and him already in the sphere of timelessness.
My Pilgrim’s Song is an attempt to overcome this insurmountable gap through a gentle touch, a greeting. I wanted the two worlds, Here and There, to merge in the music, as contrasting layers – that was the origin of the work.
On the one side, there is the dynamism and mobility of the orchestra – and on the other, the static quality of
the men"s voices, reduced to a single pitch, with the serenity of a mountain. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills...
Arvo Pärt
Psalm 121:
1
A song of ascents.
I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
From whence shall come my help?
2
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
3
He will not allow your foot to slip;
or your guardian to sleep.
4
Behold, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers nor sleeps.
5
The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade
at your right hand.
6
By day the sun will not strike you,
nor the moon by night.
7
The Lord will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your soul.
8
The Lord will guard your coming and going both now and forever.
