A Pilgrimage and Disguise

This is a series of short pieces (each about 4 minutes) which mark the stations of a journey.

The intention is to cover a wide range of moods, so that the listener is never sure what is going happen next. They can be taken in order or at random. It’s up to the listener to see what images or feelings, if any, the music produces. The music is the landscape through which we travel on our journey. The road is not always going to be easy!

The music is generally simple, and in traditional classical style and each piece is based, though it’s not necessarily obvious, on a fragment of plainsong.

I wanted to produce something like an old Emblem Book, in which images and poems would be used as starting points for meditation. As the composer I wanted something to give my own journey a shape and to spark off ideas, and also to give it a certain discipline. It’s usually best on a pilgrimage to follow an existing route. We can wander off at random but such winding roads usually end up simply leading into ourselves in ever decreasing circles.

For this journey the composer’s route map is the Gregorian Missal – an extraordinary work of art and spirituality. I decided to use just the opening notes of the Introit for each day as my starting points for each musical Day. I am also taking a phrase from the Introit as a text, and supplying an image to make up each page of the musical Emblem Book. The music will pay tribute to my favourite English spiritual writers. The quotations above are from the Cromwellian Sterry and the Royalist Anglican Traherne, so, coupled with the Catholic chants the music not the listener's personal journey, may have a peculiarly ecumenical English flavour!

 

The music is also designed to be used in St Chad’s Church as occasional interludes on open days, and as accompaniment to slide shows and videos.

Andrew Baker