More Ēriks Ešenvalds -- I think I have a crush on his music!

Since early January I've been rehearsing this piece -- The Long Road -- with the Providence Singers for our March 10 & 11 "Sea Songs" concert. It is indescribably beautiful. We performed two of his pieces last Spring: In Paradisum and Northern Lights and that's when I fell in love with his music. So please take a listen! We are also performing another Ešenvalds piece in March, Heaven's Flock, and I love that one too. Come join us so you can fall in love with his music too.

We are singing this piece in English, but it was originally written in Latvian. The text is from a poem by Pauline Barda.  I'm glad we are singing it in English and not just because I don't want to learn how to pronounce Latvian. The words themselves are gorgeous. Here's the translation.

I love you night and day
As a star in the distant sky.
And I mourn for this one thing alone
That to love, our lifetime was so short

A long road to heaven's shining meadow
And never could I reach the end. 
But a longer road leads to your heart
Which to  me seems distant as a star. 

High above the arch of heaven bends
And light so clear is falling. 
Like a flow'ring tree the world is blooming. 
Overwhelmed, my heart both cries and laughs. 

Here's a performance of the piece in Latvian, in Latvia by the State Choir of Latvija.


A trip to Latvia to meet Ēriks Ešenvalds  is on  my bucket list -- not many people can say that.