The Encouragement and Inspiration Brought Forth by Music

Selah is one of my favorite groups of singers/musicians. In their music, anyone can enjoy absolute perfection of harmonies, collection of tender thoughts, expressions of depth of soul and faith, (not to mention blends) like those I grew up in, around, through, between, over, under, you name it...from the time I could hear in the womb! (for those of you who are familiar with the studies on sounds, voices, music on infants before and after they are born, it is fascinating reading.)

I *MISS* this music from time to time and want to swim into the depths of it; the contemplative and sometimes soulful, sometimes utterly joyful moments which make time seem to stand still. Selah is one of several groups I will pop into my jam box from time to time to focus, meditate, or sing along with...that is in lieu of getting our friends together to sing and encourage one another together in person!

Christmas music (classic choral works) music is also high on my list of favorites. The time is drawing nigh! St. Olaf Choir, Andrea Bocelli, Handel's Messiah, here we come! (Thank you, Lord!)

Tell me, if you have some time, what music, what singing / worshipping in song mean to you? What is its purpose and what are the benefits?

Gleefully yours,

Javamom

Wedding songs

Songs we're rehearsing for a wedding of a niece (who lives in another state) this weekend.

My brother and I are singing, "The Prayer" and much of the family (my brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews) are all singing "Sunrise, Sunset" with us as a chorus.

We all spend some time singing when we have family Christmases or Thanksgiving holidays together. The last time we sang in public was for our Mamaw's funeral, which was a celebration of her life. She liked to listen to recordings of us singing some of her favorite old songs and hymns in the comfort of her living room, so it was only natural to sing for her "home-going celebration." The only way we got through that was by singing at the back of the church, so we wouldn't have to look at family face-to-face; they could mourn and think their thoughts in private. Their necessary tears would not distract what we needed to do in that moment to comfort them, to remember Mamaw without busting up ourselves.

Now we are blessed to sing together again, but at a wedding this time. Normally this would not be a difficult thing, but this was accomplished under some stressful planning, conversations, and meetings for the bride, groom, and their families, because it is a Catholic/Protestant wedding.

My Dad will be officiating part of the ceremony, we will be singing, and I pray that the Lord be glorified in all that we do and say this weekend...I am looking forward to it, the drive notwithstanding! It will be wonderful to see the extended family again, and all our cute great- nieces and nephews.

If you think of us, keep us in your prayers!

Javamom

Currently listening to...

Because I am in a bit of a quirky and slightly wistful mood...I am loving this CD borrowed from Sparsebeard's co-worker and Spanish teacher friend.

The songs range from a lively, Latin flair to mellow and even haunting, with styles from classical to ballad to Latin, in languages from English and Spanish to French and Greek and more.

The group is comprised of a 14-piece group on vocals and instrumentals. I love it's international flair.

The song titles are: Amado Mio, No Hay Problema, Qué Sera Sera, La Soledad, Dónde Estás Yolanda, Andalucia, Song of the Black Lizard, Never on Sunday, Brazil, Lullaby (which I recognize from one of my favorite foreign films, "The Girl From Paris.")

Check out samples of the songs here.

I am absolutely loving it... :-)

Javamom

Resting and Recital

We had our first piano recital today, so Androcles and the lion got a good night's rest!



Today's recital was very sweet indeed. All the kids did such a good job! It gave our son the motivation to invite a friend next time. He really enjoys his piano lessons.


Javamom

Midis/Lyrics of Music from Puerto Rico

Check these out! (Mother Auma, you're going to love this)

In an effort to share and celebrate the music that originated with Puerto Ricans, René Ramos has gathered a host of songs from which to choose.

Haz click aquí: for Midi files and music from Puerto Rican composers. You will even find a section in his pages which contain almost fifty sets of lyrics and midis of children's songs. The web design on the individual children's song lyrics are cute; some are fun (like floating oranges around the cursor).

Can you tell that I've got some free time this week? It is our mid-winter break from our homeschool co-op.

Enjoy!

Javamom

The kids' band! again!

~On the way to the next concert~


They did so well! It is fun to see the Lord bless their gifts and grow them through these experiences. They are slowly saving up the money they earn at these things for better equipment. (J is in the middle w/guitar, our dd usually plays the bass. Here, she is holding the mandolin her father made).

Labor Day Weekend so far...

The kids played again twice this weekend all over our big city, and picked up another gig with an older singer/songwriter. He enjoyed their music so much, he invited them to come share some of his time next week at another well-known Indie coffee shop in 'Downtown.' The really cool thing is that this place is very difficult to get on.

A radio guy from *The City* (not just one of the metro areas) came to see them two nights in a row, wants a copy of their upcoming EP so that he can feature a song or two of theirs during his show.



This is fun ~ probably because the majority of them are cautious than most and didn't plan to pursue a career in music. They just love playing and singing together.

Doin' the Java Jive,

Javamom

Song for a friend undergoing cancer testing

Please pray for my friend Queen Shenanay and the whole Beehive clan. QS is still undergoing cancer testing, has undergone the first surgery, and is preparing for more surgery and treatments.

She recently shared how there is strong evidence that links -parabens in lotions and other hair and skin-care products and make-up to cancer. Parabens have been found in cancer tumors, so she threw out all of her products containing methyl-, propyl- and all the other parabens that are to be found in many popular and recommended products that we buy and use.

Well, I rewrote a song in honor of QS encouraging all of our friends and homeschool moms to consider throwing out all products with parabens in them. This song has a background story to it. The short of it is that I had sent it to the Queen through another friend of ours so that they could learn it and we could all sing it together. Well, it's a Heavenly song, really it is...but they all worked on it just a couple of days before the Queen's diagnosis came down from her doctors. I was mortified, and it bothered me for a week or so. None of us could have known...so I was able to give it to God and pray that it didn't depress my friend.

In the spirit of keeping our blogs about bloggy things, and sharing in our commonalities and the things that brought us together as friends, I rewrote the song for her to turn it around on its head, as an ode to the bad parabens.

My apologies to Annie Herring who wrote the original-CCLI #1692806.

"There's A Stirring"
sung A Capella

(altos begin softly with the lead line)

There's a stirring in my cab'nets.
Could it be the time has come?
When I throw away my lotions,
Say good-bye to my fav'rite one!

(tenors join a third below the altos, as per usual)

When I find another product
That does not ha-ave -par-a-ben,
I shall buy them for my facials;
Healthier will be my skin.

(add sopranos now, one third above the altos, singing what is normally a high tenor line)

Moisturizers and hand-cream lotions,
Hair-curling pro-ducts all so fair,
Out with my tea-scented leave-in con-dish'ner,
For my dry, slightly-processed hair.


SATB (mf):
Get rid of them all....
Get.....rid....of....the-em alllll!

Chorus:
(all parts, forte)

I will rise up,
I'll rise up!
Then I shall
wash my face
With good cleanser
from my space
Then I'll have more natural, heal-thy skin!

(altos only)
There's a stirring in my cab'nets.
Could it be the time has come?
When I throw away my lotions,
Say good-bye to the fav'rite one!

(tenors join)
When I find another product,
That does not ha-ave -paraben,
I shall bu-y them for my facials,
Heal-thi-er will be my skin,

(add sopranos)
Moisturizers and hand creme lotions,
Hair-curling pro-ducts all so fair.
Out with my tea-scented leave-in condish'ner,
For my dry, slightly-processed hair

Chorus all (forte):

I will
Rise up!
I'll rise up!
Then I shall
wash my face
With good cleanser
from my space,
And I'll have more
Natural, Heal-thy skin!!

(repeat chorus, fff)

(last line sung pianissimo, slowly and peacefully)

There's a stirring in my cab'nets...


They say laughter is GOOD medicine ;-)

Javamom

Shawn McDonald and evening with teens

...and a bit of a ramble regarding this season of life as a mom of multiple teens. It really can be a joy, we just have to figure out the best ways to juggle the "hows," "wheres," and "whens," realizing that our Joy is not dependent upon temporary things, but in Christ alone.

Each family is different, especially in the home schooling community. I do not begrudge anyone their choice of family or parenting style, to youth-group-or-not-to-youth group, or how long they have their kids live at home. This is NOT what this post is about.

Unlike some home school families, we do NOT have a family/group business (yet--I'm always hopeful and open to the possibility). We are jacks and jills of many trades, Hubby teaches in the secular, private-school sector, we volunteer a lot, and have many hobbies that stay within the rules of the hobby law, so we have not taken on converting any of that to a supportable business as of yet.

Having stated all of that up front, I'll say that for us, having older teens means more changes in family routines and time together. We've had at least one (but now three, soon-to-be four) "teenager(s)" in the house for 5.5 years. This very particular transition phase of being parents of teens that we've been in for only a year has been interesting (oldest ds didn't get an outside job until he was 17.5, now both older teens work at a "well-known" coffee shop chain, a great place for ministry).

So, as you can already guess, the biggest change in this phase is a teen's first job outside of home and getting a driver's license. We happen to have two in that category, now, one of them a high school graduate, preparing for college years. It generally means (especially for one-income families) that several drivers are juggling minimal cars over the varied schedules.

Because of these new ventures and our various individual needs, we're having to make a special effort to have family dinners together. We all have such varied schedules, plans, duties, etc, vying for our quality re-grouping time. This summer was the worst in terms of time just to hang together and simply visit or discuss big hopes and dreams. I believe we should guard this time, while it has been granted to us as families. I hope it settles down into a more regular thing again, after school gets underway.

Still, with Hubster's school schedule, the two older kids' work schedules, the kids' band schedule, my three days/week of teaching/grading schedule, and all four of the kids' youth group smörgåsbord of activities-from-which-to-choose, group-family time (family meal time) needs to be made a priority once again (preaching to myself, here). We are still a team, after-all, that lives under the same roof! When our oldest flies the nest (which may be sooner rather than later) then he is, of course, exempt!

I knew this season was coming, and I'm glad that it is a gradual shift. I don't know how well we would deal with it, otherwise. Life seems to step up a notch in "busy-ness" a little each year.

All of us of the Booksnkaffeehaus, kids and parents alike, are very "Type B" people. We are spontaneous. We are relaxed but passionate (I think we must have some Italian in us somewhere). We share similar, eclectic interests in music, and we share in music ministry sometimes, as well.

Tonight, the older two and I got to go to see/hear, and sing a little with the formerly Indie singer/songwriter Shawn McDonald, a Christian folk singer. It was a smallish venue, so we got to be close to the stage, SRO. His first album "Simply Nothing" is one of my top five, favorite albums. I appreciate this guy's humility and his dislike of receiving attention for what he does. Shawn is a dad, now, and one can tell that his depth in lyric and music has grown since '04. His witness and testimony is wonderful, too. He has not been a life-long Christian and in fact, was raised by his Grandparents.

We met up with a couple of their/our friends at the concert (both high school graduates from our home school co-op), then went into town for a late snack on the town square. Our oldest son and his friend took turns playing the guitar while we three gals sat on the grass by the courthouse and just soaked in the late-night breeze, the cooler temps, and the relaxing and calm atmosphere. THAT was a treat, and truly a bonding evening, where there was no agenda but to enjoy God's music and lyrics, and to be drawn to a deeper relationship with Jesus through contemplative lyrics and beautiful cords. It was a nice evening which helped celebrate our summer drawing to a close.

Next on the list, Hubster, aka The "Dread-Pirate Sparsebeard" wants to have some sort of an end-of-summer party/cookout.

Javamom

More band dates

The kids' band playing all together again :-). It's been over five weeks since they've done so, with oldest son away. They're all very happy to have him back! They have more dates scheduled than ever, though this was a tiny venue for which they'd been specially requested as background music. It didn't quite work out like the manager was imagining it, as so many friends and family showed up!! The manager never communicated specifics about this gig. In fact, they also double booked two bands.

In the end, it all worked out just fine.

Kids' band on the Fourth

Dear Daughter on the bass :-)





Our oldest son didn't get to join in the fun as he was having his own adventures on the way to London and Glasgow...more on that, later! Pray that he gets his luggage today. A bag and a backpack got held up for inspections in London. Security is a little hyper over there...but understandably so.

Maybe they blew up his granola bars for being too suspicious!! He did not dress up for the flight in the least, so who knows what they thought. Maybe they had to check him out since he was not with a group and so as not to look like they were profiling passengers.

~ But I digress ~

Back to the city's celebration, it was a nice event with a variety of local talent. We left before dark to avoid the traffic nightmare. Our daughter spent the evening with her friends and co-workers from another church group, but the rest of us went home to watch fireworks in the neighborhood. We climbed onto the roof for a better view, and got to see the city show, afterall!

Javamom

Mellow Saturday of Reading and Music

Currently listening to Edgar Meyer on double bass with Béla Fleck, while making up my own chocolate syrup from cocoa powder and sugar. This concoction is for a peppermint mocha that I'm making this late Saturday morning to sip whilst I read some Charlotte Mason for book club.

It is so quiet in the house, as our four jr. high and high schoolers had a lock-in with their church youth group friends or stayed at friends' homes. I'm very glad, as we had co-op, so I was "wiped out" from the time and energy that it takes for the planning and executing of a successful day. The middle two are back now, but fast asleep, of course! I hear they had a wonderful time of snacks, games, and even a 2 a.m. worship time that DD got to serve in by her preparation of the set and playing the bass guitar. Oldest son is with his best buddies-four, as one of their own has returned from college for spring break, so they have gotten to catch up and have good discussions, etc.

Most of Edgar Meyer's music (that I've heard thanks to Dread Pirate Sparse-beard) is a wonderful and interesting amalgam of sounds. In his own words~

“Most of the music I’ve become interested in is hybrid in its origins…Classical music, of course, is unbelievably hybrid. Jazz is an obvious amalgam. Bluegrass comes from eighteenth-century Scottish and Irish folk music that made contact with the blues. By exploring music, you’re exploring everything.” – Edgar Meyer

Click here to watch a clip of Edgar Meyer and Béla Fleck playing a bit of Bach on double bass and banjo, then giving an interview together on A & E's "Breakfast With The Arts."

The last time we went to see the symphony, we were given free tickets which placed us right behind the orchestra on the very front row. I always wondered what that would be like, with the whole audience looking right at this section, where the chorus sits when it joins the symphony.

We quickly forgot about the audience and got lost in the music. I had an absolutely wonderful time being so close that we could follow the conductor and watch his expressions, but also being so close that I could read the music of several instrument sections. That was an unexpected surprise! Being in these seats also meant that we were directly behind the percussion section. I have come to enjoy our orchestra's percussionists immensely, so this was another treat. It was as close to being back in the band (4th grade through high school, where I played flute and bassoon) or symphony (college-bassoon only) as I've been in decades.

James Galway, my childhood hero, played several times both before and after the intermission. That was the main reason we sought tickets this particular night. This was one of our best symphony visits, ever!

Take time to enjoy the music!
Javamom

Lyrics

This is the last song we sang for Mammaw's funeral

There's a Stirring
Words and music by Annie Herring
a capella

Altos begin:
There's a stirring deep within me, could it be my time has come?

Add tenor:
When I see my Gracious Savior face to face when all is done.

Soprano and bass join in:
Is that His voice I am hearing, come away my precious one.

Is He calling me? Is He cal----ling me?

Refrain

I will rise up, rise up,
Then I'll bow down
and bow down
and lay my
lay my crown
at His
at His wou-ounded feet.

Repeat first verse

:Repeat Refrain:

Then Fine, all parts, softly

There's a stir-ring deep with-in me....

Manhattan Transfer

I am an old Manhattan Transfer fan (since 1980). A couple of weeks ago, I won tickets on our local Classical radio station to go see them in Fort Worth at the beautiful Bass Hall Performing Arts Center in Sundance Square (which happened to be designed by a friend of ours, and his architectural team). We had great seats on the floor, basically in the middle...perfect for taking in those incredible, tight, jazz and swing harmonies.

Hubby got back from his freshman class trip chaperoning just in time to zip on over to the concert with me, though it was quite a change from being in the desert all week long!

I have to say that they've still (mostly) got it! I had wondered. I have not seen them live since 1981, so you never know (grin).

They sang some of the old standards: Candy, Tuxedo Junction, Java Jive :-) my favorite
and of course, Birdland...my second favorite.

When I was in High School, we performed many of their songs in our own high school vocal jazz group, in competitions and for shows, even at World's of Fun and Silver Dollar City. Those were busy/fun times! Oh, the memories...

Yes, it was nice to know that they've still got it...

Javamom, doin' the Java Jive

Manhattan Transfer

I am an old Manhattan Transfer fan (since 1980). A couple of weeks ago, I won tickets on our local Classical radio station to go see them in Fort Worth at the beautiful Bass Hall Performing Arts Center in Sundance Square (which happened to be designed by a friend of ours, and his architectural team). We had great seats on the floor, basically in the middle...perfect for taking in those incredible, tight, jazz and swing harmonies.

Hubby got back from his freshman class trip chaperoning just in time to zip on over to the concert with me, though it was quite a change from being in the desert all week long!

I have to say that they've still (mostly) got it! I had wondered. I have not seen them live since 1981, so you never know (grin).

They sang some of the old standards: Candy, Tuxedo Junction, Java Jive :-) my favorite
and of course, Birdland...my second favorite.

When I was in High School, we performed many of their songs in our own high school vocal jazz group, in competitions and for shows, even at World's of Fun and Silver Dollar City. Those were busy/fun times! Oh, the memories...

Yes, it was nice to know that they've still got it...

Javamom, doin' the Java Jive, swing, and even a little "Old, Soft Shoe!"

For Angela

The song you asked about in a previous post is on the Women of Faith Christmas album
and is track number 8. Hope this helps!! It is a beautiful song, and great for a trio :-)

Cheers,

Javamom

Long time no update

As you can see, I've not been able to update in a couple of weeks, so my blog has become very boring! We are about to have a brief fall break, from our hs co-op. The homework and grading continues through this week, but we won't have classes this coming Friday.

I will, however, be covering my hubby's afterschool program at school...so I'll actually be busier than usual. I am going to be one tired chickadee next week, from the driving, as well as from the work.

Oldest son finished his Starbucks training and started his "real" work this past week. He loves it. Now I pray that he can juggle his responsibilities well, and keep up with his schoolwork with a good, humble attitude.

We saw a huge flock of butterflies clustered in the trees around sunset, during their regular, Autumn migration south, and even went back to the park another time this week to take friends to see them.

My parents will be in town next weekend, and we get to celbrate my Dad's 70th birthday (which is actually in November) with some of my brothers and their families while Mom and Dad are here.

I won free tickets to see Manhattan Transfer, now I'm wondering if it's going to work out for me to go and take one of my kids or friends with me, since Hubby cannot go on concert night.

So, my to do list looks like this this week:

Sunday

~ Sing (Gals trio) for worship team this week
~ Run the afterschool program
~ follow up from parents of high school seniors meeting: make a phone call or two in planning for a couple of the activities for seniors (of which our son is one) in our co-op this year.
~ Edit and type up an old outline for new homeschoolers
~ Finish preparing speech to go along with above outline to be given on Oct. 18th
~ Send out quiz to my Spanish 1 class
~ grade Spanish 1 homework on Wednesday/Thursday
~ de junk a little in each room this week (15-30 minutes each day)
~ read for bookclub
~ shop, cook, clean-up and laundry as usual
~ celebrate a birthday


Things for which I am thankful:

~ anytime I get to see a humble spirit exhibited by loved ones, friends, or anyone in leadership
~ My family's efforts at learning to be patient with each other
~ the good friends that our kids have
~ cooler temperatures (well, it is staying in the 80's now, instead of the 90's!)
~ Bluebell icecream with caramel syrup!
~ good coffee
~ guitars and music
~ a van that runs well
~ grocery money :-)

overheard about music in our CM bookclub

When reading a score of sheet music or in a hymnal, you want to know what key the song is in so that you'll know what key to play or what pitch to blow on the pitch pipe, or which tuning fork to use. I grew up singing hymns without instruments, and by shape notes. I knew that I was an alto by the age of 8. I was in multiple singing groups and classes growing up!

I was also in band from the fourth grade through college, playing the flute and bassoon, (and as an adult, vocals and percussion instruments with a band). This is a memory trick that was taught to me by my dad, who also taught whole youth groups to sight sing (a capella).

If there is one sharp in the key signature, the song is in G
If there are two sharps, the song is in D
three sharps - A
four sharps - E
five sharps - B
six sharps - F#
seven sharps - C#

So the memory trick sentnece is: God Destroyed All Earth By Flood, Charlie.

(do note that the sharps as they appear in order in the key sig. from left to right are: F#,C#,G#,D#,A#,E#,B# and you'd have to have a different device to remember that by)

For the flats in the key signature~If there is only:
One flat - the key of the song is in F
two flats - Bb
three flats - Eb
four flats - Ab
five flats - Db
six flats - Gb
seven flats - Cb

So the memory sentence is: For Being Evil And Disobeying God, Charlie.

(note that the flats appear in this order from left to right in the key sig. Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb,Fb)

Of course, the key of C has no flats and no sharps. That you just have to remember on your own.

A neat interactive website for testing your key signature skills is here.

(let me know if you see typos.)

Javamom

Finally, The newest Mandolin!

The Dread Pirate Sparsebeard has another hobby, besides chile peppers. He plays the guitar and mandolin, and enjoys woodworking. He cuts, planes, sands, glues, bends, files, fashions, trims beautiful scrap wood, cuts inlay, and makes homemade instruments in his spare time. This is his newest finished project. He played it at the nursing home with his ChileMen buddies. Their band is called "Podnas," like 'Partners,' but with the play on green chiles and jalapeño peppers using the word "pod" in part of their name.



The mandolin, his fifth one to be exact, is made of Bois d'arc wood back and neck, Spruce top and a Mesquite wood fingerboard. The fret markers and headstock inlay are cut from the bones of an alligator that expired in Hurricane Rita last year near Galveston. The shooting star inlay piece on the headstock is out of ebony. (click to enlarge for better detail).

It has a lovely, rich sound that just resonates through the room!

Mahler

This year, Hubster and I got to experience the music of Gustav Mahler, live. Earlier in the symphony season, at our city's symphony center, we heard Mahler's first symphony, also known as The Titan. More recently, we heard Mahler's Second, also known as The Resurrection Symphony. Both are *stunning*. Mahler uses the maximum number of instruments for maximum effect! Two sets of Timpani...two harps, and so much more. Although I GREATLY enjoyed the moments (beginning in the fourth movement, before the mezzo-soprano begins) that the contrabassoon (one of my favorite instruments :-) takes center stage in The Resurrection Symphony, DH and I both agreed that we probably like Symphony Number One the best, as it exhibited the versatilities of all of the instrument families so well. Each family was showcased throughout, as the major themes moved through the sections at different times, rather like a wave of music.

Highlight from Symphony #2 : the violas played sixteen or more measures on their instruments as if they were playing guitars. I forget the technical term for this.

Another major highlight of our symphony visits is any time the Symphony Chorus (somewhere around 200 voices strong?) join the symphony for a work, we are inspired and moved. It could be Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Beethoven's Ode To Joy, Brahm's Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, or The Titan! We have enjoyed them all. I love how the voices just wash over the whole symphony hall. I just close my eyes and get caught up in the close chords and suspensions and resolutions of the altos, tenors, and baritones. One time, the chorus was singing not onstage, but from an upper room in the symphony hall. The voices echoed through windows high up in the hall. It was beautiful and a bit haunting. *sigh*

This is one of the ways Hubby and I schedule in a monthly date night. Sometimes we go out to eat, but I'd rather spend the time/money on beautiful music.

Our conductor is moving on to better things, conducting at famous symphony halls over Europe. We are sad to see him go, as he is so dynamic. He would often give a nice introduction to a work before beginning it, so we could have an insight to why HE likes a given piece. The handbills fill in all of the other details. I just enjoy hearing a conductor tell me what it means to him.

Here is the text of Mahler's Symphony Number Two (from Wikipedia) ~ Enjoy!!

Note: This text has been translated from the original German to English on a very literal and line-for-line basis, without regard for the preservation of meter or rhyming patterns.

Fourth Movement
Text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Original German
Urlicht
O Röschen rot!
Der Mensch liegt in größter Not!
Der Mensch liegt in größter Pein!
Je lieber möcht ich im Himmel sein.
Da kam ich auf einen breiten Weg:
Da kam ein Engelein und wollt’ mich abweisen.
Ach nein! Ich ließ mich nicht abweisen!
Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott!
Der liebe Gott wird mir ein Lichtchen geben,
Wird leuchten mir bis in das ewig selig Leben!

In English
Primeval Light
O red rosebud!
Man lies in deepest need!
Man lies in deepest pain!
I would rather be in heaven.
I came upon a broad path;
A little angel came and wanted to send me away.
Ah no! I would not be sent away!
I am from God and will return to God!
The dear God will give me a little light,
Which will light my way to eternal blessed life!

Fifth Movement
Note: The first eight lines were taken from the ode Aufersteh'n by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Mahler omitted the final four lines of this ode and wrote the rest himself (beginning at "O glaube").

Original German
Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du,
Mein Staub, nach kurzer Ruh'!
Unsterblich Leben!
wird, der dich rief, dir geben!
Wieder aufzublüh'n wirst du gesät!
Der Herr der Ernte geht
und sammelt Garben
uns ein, die starben!
O glaube, mein Herz, o glaube:
Es geht dir nichts verloren!
Dein ist, ja dein, was du gesehnt!
Dein, was du geliebt, was du gestritten!
O glaube: Du wardst nicht umsonst geboren!
Hast nicht umsonst gelebt, gelitten!
Was entstanden ist, das muß vergehen!
Was vergangen, auferstehen!
Hör auf zu beben!
Bereite dich zu leben!
O Schmerz! Du Alldurchdringer!
Dir bin ich entrungen!
O Tod! Du Allbezwinger!
Nun bist du bezwungen!
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen,
In heißem Liebesstreben,
Werd’ ich entschweben
Zum Licht, zu dem kein Aug’ gedrungen!
Sterben werd’ ich, um zu leben!
Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du,
mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen,
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!

In English
Rise again, yes, you shall rise again,
my dust, after brief rest!
Immortal life
will be given by Him who called you!
You are sown to bloom again.
The Lord of the harvest goes
and gathers sheaves of us,
who have died.
O believe, my heart, believe:
Nothing is lost to you!
All you have desired is yours, yes, yours!
Yours, what you have loved and fought for!
O believe, you were not born in vain!
You have not lived or suffered in vain!
All that is created must perish.
All that has perished rises again.
Cease trembling!
Prepare to live!
O Pain, all-pervading,
I have escaped from you!
O Death, all-conquering,
now you are conquered!
With wings which I have won
In love’s ardent striving,
I shall soar upwards
to the light which no eye has penetrated!
I shall die in order to live!
Rise again, yes, you shall rise again,
my heart, in an instant!
Your beating
shall lead you to God!