Prayer at Winter Solstice

Dana Gioia’s “Prayer at Winter Solstice” reads like a chant - a series of repetitive statements offering a blessing, reminiscent of the Beatitudes. It expresses the transition from darkness to light at the hands of God. It moves from the obvious negatives of darkness to the indirect positives that follow. As I was writing this piece, I saw the ideas expressed in the poem occur in the world around me. The concepts grew into more than what I saw originally. When a lost child is found, tears of joy are brought to the eyes of the parent. When a devastating fire swallows the lives and homes of the innocent, the result is still a permanent wound, but the community affected is brought closer than ever before. As the composition began to take shape, the piece was no longer a mere theoretical concept observed on occasion, but a statement of an ever present truth. This movement from darkness to light is a process that occurs and reoccurs, as though Something or Someone is trying to make the world the best it could be. The opening phrase in the piano is a summary of this process which opens up and is explored throughout the rest of the piece, a journey towards a better world.