Song Conversion Sunday: Chorus Resonet - Celtic Wanderers, The Pilgrim's World

I did it again. I went to the iPod to find a song to convert into a therapeutic music experience (TME) and found something not at all like what I was thinking I would find. It's amazing how that can happen, isn't it?

So, this is how this all happens. I go to iTunes, set the controls to shuffle and click the play button. The musical piece that starts up is the one that I use for my Song Conversion Sunday post. I tend to do a little music theory exploration and then lead into my TME development. The last time I did this, I ended up in a totally new place with my thinking. The universe must approve of the path that I am taking because my random song this time around is a song from a culture that is not mine, but I think this one has a bit less difficulty for me because of the type of music - I feel that this one is a bit more genuine and authentic than the last song from iTunes. It still does bring up several questions for me, though.

This week's song is Chorus Resonet as performed by the Altravar Medieval Music Ensemble as presented on the album, Celtic Wanderers: The Pilgrim Road. The piece lasts for one minute and five seconds - not much to get involved with, but an interesting piece nonetheless. It starts off with a tenor voice engaged in recitative style of singing - no accompaniment. There is a wonderful acoustic echo in the recording. The style of the piece is definitely chant and the words are not easily deciphered.

If I was going to use this with clients, I think I would set the music on repeat so that the song would automatically start over again, or I would use this as part of a greater presentation about music. It has a set tempo, so I could use this in a iso-principle/mood vectoring TME to assist clients in calming or attending to external stimuli. This song is not something that my clients would ever think of requesting, but it is an option for me as their therapist. I could use this in music education TMEs to illustrate Celtic music and early church music as well.

I don't really see using this song for anything other than education or mood vectoring, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other uses. I know that I enjoy music of this style, especially when I am feeling stressed. There is just something about chant that helps me relax into a state of being that is not easily accomplished in other ways.

Isn't it interesting that my iTunes account selected this song for me?

See you next week for another Song Conversion Sunday. I wonder what music iTunes will share with us all.