thought to myself, "How wonderful would it be to sing that in four part harmony, choral style?"
So upon our return I composed a new arrangement. I also added a bridge with lyrics from the Plum Village morning Gatha:
"Waking up this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment
and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion."
It is a wonderful verse to practice. This winter we taught the new arrangement to our local choir on Vashon Island and to a group of singers at Deer Park Monastery during the New Year's Retreat. We have found that many days we wake up singing the gatha - what a great way to start the day! If you would like to sing this with your own group, I'll be posting the tutorials for all the parts in the next week.Become a sponsor of this ongoing music project by leaving a donation in the dana bowl before you go. A big thank you to those who have donated!
Here is a beautiful recording of the original song from 2011:
And here is the newly composed arrangement, sung by the Deer Park New Year's Choir in January ~ first in rehearsal in the yurt, then at the New Year's Be-In at the big meditation hall:
Thanks to all the singers in this video, and especially to Dave for taking the video footage!
In the next few days I will be posting tutorials for the Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass parts for this song, so make sure to check back in! You can also subscribe to email updates here, and receive a note each time we post a new song.
More soon...
Shane
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