ad tendo
ad tendo is inspired by philosopher Simone Weil’s insight that “Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer... Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.” This idea resonates so deeply with a feeling that I seek out and cherish, in which an experience of total absorption offers a kind of deliverance. Weil’s words electrified my thoughts about what the focus of practice and performance could unlock in a culture where human attention is treated like a commodity.
The Latin root of the word “attention,” ad tendo translated means “I stretch toward.” The solo violin works on this album animate this stretch by calling upon one another to hear and understand how attention can yield the possibility for greater spiritual alignment.
available for digital download, on CD and vinyl February 14, 2025 from Bright Shiny Things
track list
Drishti (दृष्टि) by Reena Esmail
I. Shimmering II. Tense, volatile III. Searching IV. Diaphanous V. Swiftly
VI. Yearning VII. Brewing VIII. Wild, erratic IX. Luminous X. Reaching
Lachen Verlernt by Esa-Pekka Salonen
Improvisation on O Virtus Sapientiae by Hildegard von Bingen/Olivia Marckx
Sabina by Andrew Norman
Passacaglia in G Minor, C. 105 "Guardian Angel" by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber