Imaginary

Fictional Narratives

As soon as he was reborn, Scrooge began to live in the spirit. Here is one of his first encounters on the morning of his enlightenment. Now people were no longer annoyances; they were beautiful, delightful people:

He had not gone far, when coming on towards him he beheld the portly gentleman, who had walked into his counting-house the day before, and said, "Scrooge and Marley's, I believe?"  It sent a pang across his heart to think how this old gentleman would look upon him when they met; but he knew what path lay straight before him, and he took it.  "My dear sir," said Scrooge, quickening his pace, and taking the old gentleman by both his hands. "How do you do? I hope you succeeded yesterday. It was very kind of you. A merry Christmas to you, sir!"  "Mr. Scrooge?"  "Yes," said Scrooge. "That is my name, and I fear it may not be pleasant to you. Allow me to ask your pardon. And will you have the goodness"--here Scrooge whispered in his ear.  "Lord bless me!" cried the gentleman, as if his breath were taken away. "My dear Mr. Scrooge, are you serious?"  "If you please," said Scrooge. "Not a farthing less. A great many back-payments are included in it, I assure you. Will you do me that favour?"  "My dear sir," said the other, shaking hands with him. "I don't know what to say to such munifi--"  "Don't say anything, please," retorted Scrooge. "Come and see me. Will you come and see me?"  "I will!" cried the old gentleman. And it was clear he meant to do it.  "Thank'ee," said Scrooge. "I am much obliged to you. I thank you fifty times. Bless you!"  He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk--that anything--could give him so much happiness. In the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew's house.  [Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843), Stave V: “The End of It”.]

On Quasimodo's spiritual contribution to the community:

The presence of this extraordinary being caused, as it were, a breath of life to circulate throughout the entire cathedral. It seemed as though there escaped from him, at least according to the growing superstitions of the crowd, a mysterious emanation which animated all the stones of Notre-Dame, and made the deep bowels of the ancient church to palpitate. It sufficed for people to know that he was there, to make them believe that they beheld the thousand statues of the galleries and the fronts in motion. And the cathedral did indeed seem a docile and obedient creature beneath his hand; it waited on his will to raise its great voice; it was possessed and filled with Quasimodo, as with a familiar spirit. One would have said that he made the immense edifice breathe. He was everywhere about it; in fact, he multiplied himself on all points of the structure. Now one perceived with affright at the very top of one of the towers, a fantastic dwarf climbing, writhing, crawling on all fours, descending outside above the abyss, leaping from projection to projection, and going to ransack the belly of some sculptured gorgon; it was Quasimodo dislodging the crows. Again, in some obscure corner of the church one came in contact with a sort of living chimera, crouching and scowling; it was Quasimodo engaged in thought. Sometimes one caught sight, upon a bell tower, of an enormous head and a bundle of disordered limbs swinging furiously at the end of a rope; it was Quasimodo ringing vespers or the Angelus. Often at night a hideous form was seen wandering along the frail balustrade of carved lacework, which crowns the towers and borders the circumference of the apse; again it was the hunchback of Notre-Dame. Then, said the women of the neighborhood, the whole church took on something fantastic, supernatural, horrible; eyes and mouths were opened, here and there; one heard the dogs, the monsters, and the gargoyles of stone, which keep watch night and day, with outstretched neck and open jaws, around the monstrous cathedral, barking. And, if it was a Christmas Eve, while the great bell, which seemed to emit the death rattle, summoned the faithful to the midnight mass, such an air was spread over the sombre façade that one would have declared that the grand portal was devouring the throng, and that the rose window was watching it. And all this came from Quasimodo. Egypt would have taken him for the god of this temple; the Middle Ages believed him to be its demon: he was in fact its soul. [Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris, or, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), Volume I, Book Fourth, Chapter III, “Immanis Pecoris Custos, Immanior Ipse”.]

Poetry

Poems:

• Pablo Neruda, “Your Laughter”
• Wallace Stevens, “Looking Across the Fields and Watching the Birds Fly”

Music: Composers, artists, and major works

In life and in art, classical pianist Maria João Pires has reached out beyond herself. “Since the 1970s, she has devoted herself to reflecting the influence of art in life, community and education, trying to discover new ways of establishing this way of thinking in society. She has searched for new ways which, respecting the development of individuals and cultures, encourage the sharing of ideas.” In her own words: “We have a responsibility to lead our life in the best possible way, to help others and to share this planet with compassion. Music and art are the deepest expressions of our soul and the direct transmission of our universe. I think everyone is born an artist and art should be shared with all people on this planet.” She “brings exquisite refinement, profound emotional depth, and intellectual insight to her playing. Her ability to go beyond the analytical and seek out the spiritual dimension of the music often reveals hidden meanings and unexpected nuances.” “It is hardly surprising that Maria João Pires is frequently called 'a pianist without a trace of narcissism, among the most eloquent master musicians of our time.'” Here is a link to her playlists.

Alice Coltrane was a champion of spirituality in jazz. Her albums include:

• “Cosmic Music”, with her husband John Coltrane
• “A Monastic Trio” (1968) (57’)
• “Journey in Satchinananda” (1970) (37’)
• “The Carnegie Hall Concert” (1971) (79’)
• “World Galaxy” (1972) (41’)
• “Reflection on Creation and Space” (1973) (81’)
• “Kirtan: Turiya Sings” (1981) (62’)

Ganavya Prema Muditha follows Coltrane with her album “Daughter of a Temple” (2024) (48’): “. . . Tamil Nadu-raised singer Ganavya offers up cultural fusion of spiritual jazz, Indian traditions and devotional music that is rooted in collaboration and a free-flowing approach." Here is a link to her albums and singles.

Solo music on the Native American flute:

• R. Carlos Nakai;
• Robert "Tree" Cody;
• Joseph Fire Crow;
• Kevin Locke;
• Mary Youngblood; and
• Meditation music

Carl Nielsen, Symphony No. 3, Op. 27, FS 60, CNW 27, “Sinfonia espansiva” (1913) (approx. 35-40’): the music suggests fully participating in the thrilling roller-coaster ride of life. “The Third Symphony is based on a Mahlerian counterpoint between life's joy and its attendant sorrow; one cannot exist without the other.” “According to Robert Simpson, Nielsen’s ‘espansiva’ terminology referred to ‘the outward growth of the mind’s scope and the expansion of life that comes from it.’ Nielsen was attempting to demonstrate the notion that great art, although forged from the private fires that burn inside an artist, seeks to grow beyond its origin and contribute to humanity’s collective experience.” “. . . the impression is of a work that draws big breaths, sings and strides in long paragraphs.” Top recorded performances are conducted by Jensen in 1959, Bernstein in 1965, Blomstedt in 1975, Berglund in 1989, Neeme Järvi in 1991; Gilbert in 2012 ***, Oramo in 2014, Colin Davis in 2014, Storgårds in 2015, and Dausgaard in 2017.

Other compositions:

• Raga Devgiri Bilawal (Devgiri Bilaval) is a Hindustani classical raag for early morning. Performances by Kiahori Amonkar, Subhra Guha and N. Rajam.

Albums:

• Liquid Mind VI, “Spirit” (2003) (58’)
• Atlanta Master Chorale, “Where Music Touches Spirit” (2016) (68’)
• William Goldstein, “Spiritual Electronica” (2009) (45’)
• The Ensemble Al-Salaam, “The Sojourner” (1974) (46’): “Sublime spiritual jazz .. .” “A highlight of the spiritual jazz movement, the record sees a band at the height of their powers, perfectly in sync as they express their spirituality through one ethereal groove after another.”
• World Experience Orchestra, “The Beginning of a New Birth” & “As Time Flows On” (1975) (84’): “The essence of Underground, Spiritual Jazz . . .”
• Infinite Spirit Music, “Live Without Fear” (1979) (53’): “The album was a bold expression of spiritual jazz, indigenous rhythms, and thoughtful Afrocentrism; every vibration feels touched by the spirit of Sun Ra.”
• Anna Romanovská, Hana Blažíková, Petr Tichý & Michal Hruby, “Jsem Navzdy Jednim Z Nas” (I Am One of Us Forever) (2021) (53’): “There is a trio of original musicians on the Czech avant-garde scene, who are full of free improvisation with extraordinary expressive diversity, refined insight into the subtlest nuances of sound and a significant dose of spiritual immersion . . .”
• Giuliano Carmignola, “Bach: 6 Suites a Violoncello Solo Senza Basso”, BWV 1007-1012, played on violin (2022) (239’): “. . . Bach himself also had ‘simple faith’. Would any of his great masterpieces have been conceivable without the founding stone of spiritual awe, whether denominationally sanctioned or not? Speaking personally, I doubt it. Carmignola’s playing conjures a combination of prayerful meditation and earthy dancing, basic Bachian credentials that these masterpieces thrive on, no matter who’s playing them or on what instrument.”
• Constantinople & Ablaye Cissoko, “Jardins migrateurs” (2015) (55’): “The project's conceptual 'itinerant garden' cultivates a spiritual communion wherein Persian strains (the Tabassians were born in Tehran) engage West African and Western classical elements on mutual aural terrain. Viola and percussion underpin the kora, setar and voice, fostering a deferential exchange that conjures sonic beauty through graceful simplicity.”
• Isaiah J. Thompson, “The Power of the Spirit” (2023) (74’) is an album of “straight-ahead, blood-pumping soul-jazz, 21st-century style.” “This is an impressive album for lovers of soul-jazz played in a contemporary style.”
• Dasom Baek, “Mirror City” (2023) (33’): “. . . Baek holds a mirror up to herself and to the millions living amid the bustle of modernity, longing for a return to a more spiritual existence.”

Music: songs and other short pieces

• The Beatles - "Across the Universe" (lyrics)
• Stevie Wonder, "Higher Ground" (lyrics)
• The Police, “Message in a Bottle” (lyrics)

Visual Arts

• Gustav Klimt, Apple Tree, I (1912)

Film and Stage

• Point Blank: the protagonist in this gritty film “transforms a stripped-down revenge plot into a surreal meditation on the gangster's spiritual demise”
• Her: a science-fiction “love” story that illustrates the essential importance of non-physical communication – the communication of spirits – in a relationship