RING OUT, YE CRYSTAL SPHERES!
“Ring Out, Ye Crystal Spheres!” Editor’s note: WB Gregory Martin is a composer and has also lectured on Masonic Music and the Music of Mozart in the D.C. area. He has composed music for a variety of chamber ensembles, films, several plays, electronica. His opera; “Life in Death” was just performed at the Catholic University of America this past January. WB Martin is the Master of Albert Pike Lodge No. 33. Crystal Spheres was written sometime in the early part of 2007. I had been looking at the text from On the morning of Christ’s Nativity by John Milton, specifically the XIII verse, and I was struck by the first line “Ring out, ye crystal spheres!” Remembering some of my studies of Pythagoras, I recalled that he believed in the existence of transparent crystal spheres in the heavenly bodies above. He thought that the crystal spheres created a harmony in the heavens that was too fine for man on earth to recognize. It was here in the words of Milton that I found a deeper Masonic meaning. When a brother enters a lodge he leaves the profane world behind to attempt to raise himself up. He begins to imagine sounds from the heavens above, and is uplifted, even if just for a fleeting moment. We as Masons are taught that harmony, of a non-musical kind, is what we should bring to our own everyday lives. In the poem’s text Milton speaks of trying to “have the power to charm our senses so”, so we can attempt to hear the music from the heavens. This again reminded me of always trying to improve myself in the Craft and perhaps get one step closer to harmony in my own life and those who are affected by my actions.
The Voice of Freemasonry
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WB Gregory Martin Albert Pike Lodge No. 33
The work is simply scored for piano and male voice. Throughout the beginning of the piece I purposefully leave the third beat of each measure of music without a note being struck in the accompaniment. I reserve the third note for the high point of the piece on the line “and let your silver chime.” Here too, I was reminded of the chime that is often used in the ritual of the raising of a brother. It is here that the piano begins to have a flowing nature that includes a strong presence on beat three, implying the movement from the profane world to the inner chamber of the temple. After I completed the work, I knew that I wanted to present it as a gift to the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. Having sat in lodge with so many fine brothers and having had the privilege of knowing our Grand Master MWB Akram R. Elias, I was honored to have it presented at the installation of the 2008 Grand Lodge Officers performed by Peter Burroughs and the Grand Organist, Bro. Carlos C. Rodriguez. The score can be found in the archives of the Grand Lodge. I
