Historical Setting, 626 C.E. A creek valley in the Vosges
Now it’s our youngest son, Brandell, who is first in my prayers.
Thank you God, for this beautiful youth, strong and creative, always gentle.
He loves the arts – anything with brightness and beauty takes his attention – and especially, he loves music. Making up songs and practicing his harp is more important to him than sleep or food.
These days when he brings out his harp people gather to listen. Crowds show up just to hear him unravel some long saga or to sing his newest poetry. His music has a fervor that drives people to sing with him or to join in a dance. They dance all night and when everyone is in exhausted bliss he changes to softness and the crowd of people sing with him slowly swaying together as an evening wave on a calming sea would lap at the shoreline.
What he seems to value most with his gift is not simply the appreciation from cheering throngs, he really likes to stir others to take part in the music. He’s always hoping to hear the people clapping with a rhythm or singing the chorus and he loves having other musicians with him for the music.
Brandell uses his harp for all sorts of sounds. He sometimes taps a rhythm on the resonator gourd, or plucks a string perfectly centered to ring it as a bell, so it isn’t any wonder he has a student. Brandell considers teaching a very great honor and a gift that the backup musician has asked for lessons. He is always thinking of challenges and games to lull his student into longer hours of practice. And when this fellow has accomplished any little milestone, he tells it to his audience at a performance and the audience cheers the novice as voraciously has they cheer Brandell himself. Simply said, Brandell is the kind of person who just shows up and suddenly there is joy.
In this season after Solstice, the frozen fields set peasants longing for celebrations with music and dancing so it’s Brandell’s busiest season.
At least until today. After his performance he was called to Luxeuil to meet with a Church authority. Gabe was aware that one of the new songs he sang at the solstice party was raising the ire of Church authorities and they summonsed him to an accounting of this wayward lyric.
(Continues Tomorrow)
Lazarus Ink 