TRACY MCDONNELL: ARS POÉTICA

Millennium Solo Recordings, 2000-2023 (Vol. 2)

Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD between 2000 & 2023. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA.  Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

Cover Art: "Hagia Sophia" by Brian Haverlock. © Brian Haverlock. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

www.TracyMcDonnell.com

"Do not commit your poems to pages alone. 
Sing them, I pray you." ~Virgil

Ars Poética

O LIVING FLAME OF LOVE (Oh llama de amor viva)
From the Album "Ars Poética" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)
(Suite San Juan, Movement V)

O living flame of love, 
How tenderly you wound my soul
In her profoundest core!
You are no longer shy.  Do it now, I ask you: 
Break the membrane of our sweet union.

O soothing cautery!
O wound that is a joy!  
O gentle hand!  O delicate touch!
Tasting of eternity, repaying every debt.   
Killing, you turn my death to life.

O lamps of human fire, in deep transparency
The lowest caverns of the senses, once shadowy and blind
Flare in light and warmth 
And wake the lover with amazing joy!

How lovingly and soft you make my heart recall 
Where you alone lie secretly
And with your honeyed breath
Replete with grace and glory
How tenderly you make me love!

O lamps of human fire, in deep transparency 
The lowest caverns of the senses, once shadowy and blind
Flare in light and warmth 
And wake the lover with amazing joy!

* * *
Text: St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) from the poem “¡Oh llama de amor viva!” as translated by Willis Barnstone. © 1972 by Willis Barnstone & © 1968 by Indiana University Press. Adapted & arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & Harmony Vocals / Piano: Tracy McDonnell. Acoustic Guitars: Gantt Mann Kushner. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. © 1999 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell.  Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Icon: "San Juan de la Cruz" (St. John of the Cross) by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. © Seraphic Icons, courtesy of Trinity Stores, trinitystores.com. All rights reserved.

O Living Flame Of Love (Oh llama de amor viva)

I CAME INTO THE UNKNOWN  (Beyond All Science)
From the Album "Ars Poética" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)
(Suite San Juan, Movement III)

 "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."  ~Hamlet I,v, 166-167

"A little science estranges men from God, much science leads them back to Him."  ~Louis Pasteur

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." ~Albert Einstein

* * *
I came into the unknown, and stayed there,
Unknowing –
Rising beyond all science.

I did not know the door but when I found the way
Unknowing where I was, I learned enormous things, 
But what I felt I cannot say

It was the perfect realm of holiness and peace
In deepest solitude I found the narrow way
A secret giving such release

That I was stunned and stammering
Rising beyond all science, rising beyond all science
Rising, rising, rising, ah!

I was so far inside, so dazed and far away
My senses were released from feelings of my own
My mind had found a surer way

And he who does arrive collapses as in sleep 
For all he knew before now seems a lowly thing
And so his knowledge grows so deep

That he remains unknowing 
Rising beyond all science, rising beyond all science 
Rising, rising, rising, ah!

The higher he ascends the darker is the wood
The shadowy cloud clarifies the night so the one who understood 
Remains always unknowing

Rising, rising, crossing a blazing height
Though formal reason tries, it crumbles in the dark, 
But one who would control the night
By knowledge of unknowing, will rise, rise, rise.

This knowledge by unknowing is such a soaring force
That scholars argue long, but never leave the ground:
Their knowledge always fails the source

And if you wish to hear, the highest science leads 
To an ecstasy of the most holy Being
From his mercy comes his deed:

To let us stay unknowing
Rising beyond all science, rising beyond all science 
Rising, rising, rising, ah!

* * *
Text: St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) from the poem “Entréme donde no supe” as translated by Willis Barnstone. © 1972 by Willis Barnstone & © 1968 by Indiana University Press. Adapted & arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & Harmony Vocals / Piano: Tracy McDonnell. Violin: Susan Jones. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Icon: "San Juan de la Cruz" by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. © Seraphic Icons, courtesy of Trinity Stores, trinitystores.com. All rights reserved.

I Came Into The Unknown (Beyond All Science)

DARK NIGHT (Noche Oscura)
From the Album "Ars Poética" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)
(Suite San Juan, Movement II)

On a dark and secret night, 
starving for love and steeped in flame
Waiting for what seemed like years 
until belovéd darkness came
Finally free from light 
Disguised and down a secret way
In fever I escaped
Silently I slipped away

O happy lucky flight! 

On that night of secret sweetness 
no one saw me through the dark
No other light to mark my way 
but fire pounding my heart
That flaming guided me more firmly,
More firmly than the noonday sun
And waiting there was he I knew so well, 
who shone where no one appeared to come

O happy lucky flight! 

O night, my guide!  O night, my joy!  
O night more welcome than the dawn!
O tender night, tying lover 
and loved one, fused as one!
Upon my flowering heart gladly saved for him alone
Like a child he slept, cradled in my love
As gentle cedars breathed 
and fanned the perfumed air above

O happy lucky flight!
 
Wind from the castle wall 
like my fingers winding through his hair
Its hand so peaceful ‘round my neck, 
my senses vanished in the air
I lay, forgot my being
And on my love I leaned my face
My every care fading away in his embrace
A midnight lily blooming in her secret place

* * *
Text: St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) from the poem “Noche oscura” as translated by Willis Barnstone. © 1972 by Willis Barnstone & © 1968 by Indiana University Press. Adapted & arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & Harmony Vocals / Piano: Tracy McDonnell. Acoustic Guitars: Gantt Mann Kushner. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Icon: "San Juan de la Cruz" (St. John of the Cross) by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. © Seraphic Icons, courtesy of Trinity Stores, trinitystores.com. All rights reserved.

Dark Night (Noche oscura)

CÁNTICO DOLOROSO (Canticle of Sorrow)
From the Album "Ars Poética" by Tracy McDonnell (2023)
(Suite San Juan, Movement I)

¿A dónde te escondiste,
amado, y me dejaste con gemido?
Como el ciervo huiste,
habiéndome herido;
salí tras tí clamando, y eras ido.

Y todos cuantos vagan,
de ti me dan mil gracias refiriendo
y todos más me llagan,
y déjame muriendo
un no sé qué que quedan balbuciendo.

Pastores, los que fuerdes
allá por las majadas al otero,
si por ventura vierdes
aquel que yo más quiero,
decidle que adolezco, peno y muero.

Allí me dio su pecho,
allí me enseñó ciencia muy sabrosa,
y yo le di de hecho
a mí, sin dejar cosa;
allí le prometí de ser su esposa.

Mi alma se ha empleado,
y todo mi caudal en su servicio:
ya no guardo ganado,
ni ya tengo otro oficio;
que ya sólo en amar es mi ejercicio.

¡Oh cristalina fuente,
si en esos tus semblantes plateados,
formases de repente
los ojos deseados,
que tengo en mis entrañas dibujados!

Apártalos, amado, 
que voy de vuelo.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Where have you hidden away?
You left me whimpering, my love.
Wounding me you vanished
like the stag.  I rushed out
shouting for you–but you were gone.

All those who wander here
inform me of your thousand graces,
yet each word is a blow,
and they keep babbling bits
of mystery–leaving me near death.
 
Shepherds, you who climb
with your sheep high across the slope,
if by chance you see
the one I love most deeply,
tell him I suffer, grieve and die.

He held me to his chest
and taught me a sweet science.
Instantly I yielded all
I had – keeping nothing –
and promised then to be his bride.

I gave my soul to him
and all the things I owned were his:
I have no flock to tend
nor any other trade
and my one ministry is love.

O crystal brook, if on
the silver surface of the water
you instantly might form
the eyes I most desire!
I feel them in me like a scar!

Look away, my love,
Look away, my love,
Look away, my love –
I’m going to fly.

* * *
Text: St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) from the poem “Cántico Espiritual” as translated by Willis Barnstone. © 1972 by Willis Barnstone & © 1968 by Indiana University Press. Adapted & arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. A Cappella Vocal: Tracy McDonnell. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Icon: "San Juan de la Cruz" by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM. © Seraphic Icons, courtesy of Trinity Stores, trinitystores.com. All rights reserved.

Cántico Doloroso (Canticle of Sorrow)

In this week’s segment we learn about efforts to end legacy college admissions in New York State and a lawsuit seeking to end death by incarceration for felony murder in Pennsylvania. But first we discuss Haiti, how its sovereignty has been undermined by the US and why that country’s people are adamantly opposed to another invasion.

Black Agenda Radio July 21, 2023

O WISDOM!  

From the upcoming album "Spiritus" by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell

Text: Traditional. Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & Harmony Vocals: Tracy McDonnell. Harmony Vocals: Marvin Myer McCoy. Percussion: Aloys Biondokin. Recorded @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD by Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2023 Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Icon: "Hagia Sophia" (Holy Wisdom"), artist unknown. All rights reserved.

O Wisdom!

JESU, JOY OF OUR DESIRING
Track #14 from the Album "Beati Pacifici" 
St. Camillus Multicultural Choir
Tracy McDonnell, Director

COMPOSER: J.S. Bach
PERFORMED BY:  Tracy McDonnell (keyboard), Andrea Heilmann (flutes) and Jose Luis Oviedo (trumpet)

Cover Art: "Cosmic Christ," artist unknown.

Jesu, Joy of Our Desiring

First Nations Chant 

© 2023 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

ARRANGEMENT & ALL VOCALS: Tracy McDonnell
CANE FLUTES: Ron Warren
PERCUSSION PROGRAMMING: Gantt Mann Kushner
PHOTO: Photographer unknown.

First Nations Chant

LITANY (REMEMBER HIS TEARS)
From the Album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell

Remember his tears
A silent voice said
Remember his tears
(A voice in my head)

Remember his tears
Again and again
Remember his tears
(Not voices of men)

Remember his tears
Still speaking to me
Remember his tears
(Though a mystery)

Tears, tears, tears
Falling free

Remember his tears
A silent voice said
Remember his tears
(A voice in my head)

Remember his tears
When you lean too shoal
Remember his tears
(In the dark night’s soul)

Remember his tears
And their spring’s shrine
Remember his tears
Mingled with mine

Mingled, mingled, mingled
With mine

I remember, I remember his tears
Mingled with mine, mingled with mine
And thine, and thine, and thine

***
After the Perseid shower of meteors known as the “Tears of St. Lawrence” which appear annually on or about the eve of St. Lawrence (August 9). Text & Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Piano, Synth, Lead & Harmony Vocals: Tracy McDonnell. Guitars & Back-Up Vocal: Gantt Mann Kushner. Acoustic Bass: Jon Nazdin. Drums: David Lopez. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, Va. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. Photo: Tracy McDonnell. © 2003 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

Elementa

Litany (Remember His Tears)

Spiritus

St. John Suite III: Dark Night (Noche Oscura)

From the album "Tears of St. Lawrence" by Tracy McDonnell

* * *

Bring a hundred sacks of gold and God will say, "Bring the heart.”  ~Rumi

WHAT CAN I GIVE HIM

What can I give him, poor as I am? 
If I were a shepherd, I’d bring a lamb. 
If I were a wise man, I’d do my part. 
What can I give him, give him my… 
 
***
"What Can I Give Him?" excerpt from “In the Bleak Midwinter,” by Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), from the posthumous collection "The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti," Poem #426, 1904. First setting: Music by Harold Darke (1888-1976), © 1911, Stainer & Bell Ltd., London, and Galaxy Music Corporation, New York.  Used with permission. Second setting: Composer unknown. Adapted and arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & harmony vocals, synth bass & piano: Tracy McDonnell.  Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2005 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.  

ALL THE THINGS SHE GAVE ME

All the things, all the things she gave me
All the things, all the things she gave me

I wrapped them up in a big brown box
Tied it with ribbon, drove to the dock
Checked my time by the old town clock, all the things . . .
 
I saw the watchman
He was blowing into cupped hands as he walked to my car.  
He said, “Where do you think you’re drivin’ to, son?  
All good folks are in bed and the day’s work is done.”
I said, “I’m just lookin for someplace to burn all the things . . .”

All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them?  
All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them away?

It’s dark as hell here, this city’s grown cold
The devil’s in drag, playing poker with souls
The lots are all empty, the last man’s out
The moon’s made of cheese, God is a boy scout
When I go to sleep I’ll be dreaming about all the things . . .

All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them?  
All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where can I hide them away?

Then I’ll dream about churches with great tall spires
Cathedrals and candles, chimneys and choirs
I’ll dream about that place where I set fire...

All those things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where must I hide them?  
All the things that she gave me, 
where do I put them, where I can keep them out of my life?

All the things, all the things she gave me
All the things, all the things she gave me

***
Text & Music (All the Things She Gave Me): Mike Scott, from "The Waterboys: A Pagan Place," © 1994 Dizzy Heights Music Publ. Ltd. / MCPS. Excerpts: “All the Things You Are,“ text by Oscar Hammerstein, music by Jerome Kern, from “Very Warm for May,” © 1939 Polygram International Publishing, Inc. “Evil Ways,” text & music by Carlos Santana, from "Santana," © 1971, BMI. “Gimmie Dat Ding," text & music by the Pipkins, © 1970, Capitol Records. “Drive My Car," text & music by John Lennon & Paul McCartney. © 1965 by Capitol Records. Used with permission. Adapted & arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Lead & harmony vocals, synth Rhodes: Tracy McDonnell. Additional vocals on "All the Things She Gave Me," rhythm, lead & bass guitars: Gantt Mann Kushner. Drums: Andy Hamburger. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2005 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. All rights reserved.

What Can I Give Him / All The Things She Gave Me

In Paradísum  

In paradísum dedúcant te ángeli: 
in tuo advéntu suscípiant te mártyres,
Et perdúcant te in civitátem sanctam Jerúsalen. 
Chorus angelórum te suscípiat, 
Et cum Lázaro quondam páupere 
aetérnam hábeas réquiem.

May the angels lead you into paradise. 
May the saints and martyrs welcome you, 
and take you to the holy city, Jerusalem.  
May choirs of angels welcome you, 
and with Lazarus, who was poor in this life,
may you have eternal rest.

Text & Music: Plainchant, 11th century
Vocal, keyboard & harmonization: Tracy McDonnell. 
All rights reserved.

In Paradísum

CÁNTICO DE GOZO  (CANTICLE OF JOY)
From the Album "Ars Poética" by Tracy McDonnell
(Suite San Juan, Movement IV)

La noche sosegada
en par de los levantes de la aurora,
la música callada,
la soledad sonora,
la cena que recrea y enamora.

Debajo del manzano,
allí conmigo fuiste desposada,
allí te di la mano,
y fuiste reparada,
donde tu madre fuera violada.

En sólo aquel cabello,
que en mi cuello volar consideraste,
mirástele en mi cuello,
y en él preso quedaste,
y en uno de mis ojos te llagaste.

La blanca palomica
al arca con el ramo se ha tornado,
y ya la tortolica
al socio deseado
en las riberas verdes ha hallado.

Gocémonos, amado,
y vámonos a ver en tu hermosura
al monte o al collado,
do mana el agua pura;
entremos más adentro en la espesura.

Y luego a las subidas
cavernas de la piedra nos iremos,
que están bien escondidas,
y allí nos entraremos,
y el mosto de granadas gustaremos.

El aspirar del aire,
el canto de la dulce filomena,
el soto y su donaire,
en la noche serena
con llama que consume y no da pena.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

The night of total calm
before the rising winds of dawn,
the music of a silence,
the sounding solitude,
the supper that renews our love.

Under the apple tree
you came and were engaged to me;
there I gave you my hand
and you were then redeemed
where once your mother had been raped.

You stared at that one lock
of windblown hair you saw against
my nape, and on my neck
you were a prisoner
gashing yourself in one of my eyes.

The white tiny dove
flew to the Ark carrying a frond
and now the turtledove
has come upon her mate
on the green borders of the river.

Let us be happy, darling,
and see us mirrored in your beauty
on mountains and the hills
where limpid waters plash;
let us go deeper in the wood.

And then we’ll climb high, high
to peaks riddled with stony caves
safely hidden away,
and there we’ll go inside
and taste the pomegranate wine.

The breathing of the air,
song of a tender nightingale,
the fresh exquisite grove,
serene and secret night
of flame that burns and gives no pain.

***
Text: Excerpts from the poem “Cántico Espiritual” by St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), as translated by Willis Barnstone, © 1972 by Willis Barnstone & © 1968 by Indiana University Press. Adapted and arranged by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Music: Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Spoken Word: Tracy McDonnell & Carlos Perozo. Cane Flutes: Ron Warren. Nature sounds: Gantt Mann Kushner. Recorded by Gantt Mann Kushner @ Gizmo Recording Company, Silver Spring, MD. Mixed by Tracy McDonnell & Gantt Mann Kushner. Mastered by Bill Wolf @ Wolf Productions, Alexandria, VA. Produced by Tracy McDonnell. © 2016 by Tracy Alexandra McDonnell. Iconography: "San Juan de la Cruz" by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM.  Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Cántico de Gozo (Canticle of Joy)

Paris Live 1969

Strawberry Fields Forever

Song-Poems Ancient & New
www.TracyMcDonnell.com

Cántico de Gozo (Canticle of Joy)

Tracy Alexandra McDonnell

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