Having done an initial brief touch on the Time elements of music, today I highlight the first Space element of music– melody. Like the other basic elements of  music, melody is familiar to us as, from the earliest lullabies sung by our parents, the songs learned in kindergarten, to hymns and patriotic songs and drinking songs . . .

The purest use of melody remains the chants of various religions across the world– Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu. . . the simplest things are the easiest to convey across generations, and so they last. They persist through the centuries, unchanged, until their very  sound is at once exotic and hauntingly familiar, a greeting from the roots of a culture to the leaves.

As a Christian woman, I am most familiar with the Christian chants. As a Catholic Christian Woman who sings quite a bit, I have long been in love with the chants written by Hildegard von Bingen. Among Catholic singers, she is like Mozart or Bach, needing only to be named with a single name– Hildegard!– for folk to know exactly of whom you speak.

I chose this video because I am a sucker for space imagery. The text is (mostly) from Psalms 109 and 110, with an antiphon (refrain) invoking the Trinity. Lean back, sip your coffee and or Jack, and let this clear the air about you.