phyllis cole-dai: Music Room
"Disappearing Sea"
(Phyllis Cole-Dai)
2006
(Click on the title to read an extended description
of the inspiration behind this piece.)
of the inspiration behind this piece.)
- MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)
- MP3 short clip, hi-fi play (broadband)
- MP3 short clip, lo-fi play (modem)
A response to the tsunamis that struck 13 countries on December 26, 2004. The title refers to how the first tsunami waves, just before striking land, sucked the ocean back from the coastline, exposing seabed. For people on shore, this "disappearing sea" may have been the only warning of impending disaster. Sadly, then, the title also refers to the sea of humanity that disappeared on Decemebr 26. Yet the story of the tsunamis ends not with death but with endless compassion, with human beings reaching out to ease the suffering of other human beings. So, finally, the title refers to the great oneness of humanity. The seas that we usually think of as separating, even insulating, nations and peoples can disappear when we allow ourselves to acknowledge all that we hold in common with one another; to acknowledge that all of us spring from the same source, whatever name we might call it by.