Faith fortified by song is revelatory

Shimmering away in a blue, floor-length dress, Bishop Debra E. Gause, of the Holy Light Pentecostal Church in Poughkeepsie, burst into the ballroom, delighting the 200 people celebrating her 60th birthday.

Throughout the night, the legendary musicality of African-American speech spilled over into actual song. This was most evident when it came time for Gause to speak, and instead, she belted out a rousing, faith-filled version of her favorite hymn, “I Won’t Complain.”

Then, in a tone that echoed Moses commanding the Red Sea, Gause called for all the microphones in the room. She collected four microphones, which she immediately distributed to the audience to continue the hymn.

Without expectation or warning, the bishop and the casually chosen singers transformed the hotel ballroom into a holy place that rivaled any cathedral.

Gail Burger, a Presbyterian minister and interfaith advocate, sat next to me thunderstruck, confirming this miraculous unfolding of faith. The congregation’s courage was revealed in the singers’ refrain that God has been “good to me.”

Given African-American history, the hymn’s massive expression of gratitude only makes sense from the perspective of faith, and maybe only a faith fortified by such soulful song.

While avoiding organized religion, there is also a spiritual dimension to professor Richard Wilson’s music.

Wilson, celebrating his 75th birthday this weekend, is also marking his 50th year in the Department of Music at Vassar College.

He understands his teaching, piano performance and composing as a “unity.” Teaching composers such as Beethoven and Schubert reveals the thousands of “decisions” they made in each piece, the very details essential to writing and playing music.

Wilson starts his own compositions with a “terrifying” blank page, which he fills with ideas that come into his “mind and fingers” as he “noodles” with the piano.

And it works!

Still going strong, Wilson has completed more than 100 pieces ranging from orchestra and opera, to songs, chamber music and even arrangements for psalms. He has earned endless awards, and his works have been performed from New York and San Francisco to Berlin and Rome — and of course, Poughkeepsie.

While Wilson’s music is always serious, it’s also often unpredictably funny.

Just glance at the title of his opera, “Ethelred the Unready,” or songs like, “Miss Foggerty’s Cake” and “Transfigured Goat.”

This mirrors Wilson’s reputation as the only person who is consistently funny at Vassar faculty meetings. He also rarely goes two minutes in ordinary conversation without saying something ironic, wry or hilarious.

What makes Wilson so funny in music, public speech and private conversation is his alertness, hyper-alertness, to the anxiety built into human life. And much of his music is an incantation, almost a prayer, to ward off these anxieties for all of us.

So long live our music makers! Happy birthday to Bishop Gause and professor Wilson.

Peter Leonard is a freelance writer. Contact him at peterleonard73@gmail.com