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<div dir="auto">Gentlemen,<br>
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<div>See below for a beautiful poem for Christmas Day. Light from Light.<br>
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<div>Rae Crossman recently wrote one of his greatest poems to honour his friend and mentor, the Canadian composer, Murray Schafer. See below for Rae’s tribute poem, “The Man Who Listened to the Stars,” a poem that divined Schafer’s spirit.</div>
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<div>Bob</div>
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<div style="">R<b style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px">aymond Murray Schafer</b><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px"> </span><span class="x_x_x_x_x_x_noexcerpt x_x_x_x_x_x_nowraplinks" style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:16px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Canada" title="Order of Canada" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none; white-space:nowrap">CC</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Conservatory_of_Music" title="The Royal Conservatory of Music" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none; white-space:nowrap">FRCMT(<i>hon</i>)</a></span><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px"> </span><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px">(18
July 1933 – 14 August 2021) was a Canadian composer, writer, music educator, and environmentalist perhaps best known for his</span><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Soundscape_Project" title="World Soundscape Project" style="font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px; text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">World
Soundscape Project</a><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px">, concern for</span><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_ecology" title="Acoustic ecology" style="font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px; text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">acoustic
ecology</a><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px">, and his book</span><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px"> </span><i style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px">The
Tuning of the World</i><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px">(1977). He was the first recipient of the</span><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_L%C3%A9ger_Prize" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_mw-redirect" title="Jules Léger Prize" style="font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px; text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Jules
Léger Prize</a><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px"> </span><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; font-size:18px">in 1978.</span><sup id="x_x_x_x_x_x_cite_ref-1" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_reference" style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; line-height:1; unicode-bidi:isolate; white-space:nowrap; font-size:11.199999809265137px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">[1]</a></sup><sup id="x_x_x_x_x_x_cite_ref-2" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_reference" style="color:rgb(32,33,34); font-family:sans-serif; line-height:1; unicode-bidi:isolate; white-space:nowrap; font-size:11.199999809265137px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">[2]</a></sup></div>
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In his memoirs, <i>My Life on Earth and Elsewhere</i>, Schafer described serving as a novice deckhand aboard the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_tanker" title="Oil tanker" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">oil
tanker</a> <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Windsor" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_mw-redirect" title="Imperial Windsor" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Imperial Windsor</a></i> in 1955.<sup id="x_x_x_x_x_x_cite_ref-3" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_reference" style="line-height:1; unicode-bidi:isolate; white-space:nowrap; font-size:9.896320343017578px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">[3]</a></sup></div>
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Born in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarnia" title="Sarnia" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Sarnia</a>, Ontario, Schafer studied at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Schools_of_Music" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_mw-redirect" title="Royal Schools of Music" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Royal
Schools of Music</a> in London, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Conservatory_of_Music_(Toronto)" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_mw-redirect" title="Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto)" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Royal
Conservatory of Music</a> (in Toronto), and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Toronto" title="University of Toronto" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">University of Toronto</a>. At the last institution
he was a pupil of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Johnston_(composer)" title="Richard Johnston (composer)" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Richard Johnston</a>.</p>
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His music education theories are followed around the world. He started <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundscape" title="Soundscape" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">soundscape</a> studies at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Fraser_University" title="Simon Fraser University" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Simon
Fraser University</a> in the 1960s.</p>
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Starting in 2010 a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World_Listening_Day&action=edit&redlink=1" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_new" title="World Listening Day (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(165,88,88); background-image:none">World
Listening Day</a> organised by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World_Listening_Project&action=edit&redlink=1" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_new" title="World Listening Project (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(165,88,88); background-image:none">World
Listening Project</a> has taken place annually on 18 July, with the date chosen in honour of Schafer's birthday.<sup id="x_x_x_x_x_x_cite_ref-11" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_reference" style="line-height:1; unicode-bidi:isolate; white-space:nowrap; font-size:11.199999809265137px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">[11]</a></sup><sup id="x_x_x_x_x_x_cite_ref-12" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_reference" style="line-height:1; unicode-bidi:isolate; white-space:nowrap; font-size:11.199999809265137px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer#cite_note-12" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">[12]</a></sup><sup id="x_x_x_x_x_x_cite_ref-13" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_reference" style="line-height:1; unicode-bidi:isolate; white-space:nowrap; font-size:11.199999809265137px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">[13]</a>
H</sup></p>
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<i>His most famous work is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patria_(theatre)" title="Patria (theatre)" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">Patria</a>: Princess of the Stars</i> (1966—)<sup id="x_x_x_x_x_x_cite_ref-14" class="x_x_x_x_x_x_reference" style="line-height:1; unicode-bidi:isolate; white-space:nowrap; font-size:11.199999809265137px"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Murray_Schafer#cite_note-14" style="text-decoration:none; color:rgb(11,0,128); background-image:none">[14</a></sup></p>
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<div>The Man Who Listened to the Stars</div>
<div>A Tribute to R. Murray Schafer</div>
<div>by Rae Crossman</div>
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<div>Listen to the music of the stars, he said </div>
<div>A hundred billon billion notes of light </div>
<div>Resonant spiral galaxies</div>
<div>Astral arpeggios</div>
<div>A luminous cosmic composition </div>
<div>Proclaiming</div>
<div>Miracle</div>
<div>Miracle</div>
<div>Miracle</div>
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<div>Follow the thread of star-music, he said</div>
<div>Give back reverence for radiance </div>
<div>Give back light for light</div>
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<div>Drumming at the edge of magic </div>
<div>Riding thunder across the sky</div>
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<div>Chanting a pathway to holiness </div>
<div>Learning the language of wind</div>
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<div>Dancing the body past fervour </div>
<div>Partnering with prayer</div>
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<div>Give back reverence for radiance </div>
<div>Give back light for light</div>
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<div>Call it mystery</div>
<div>Call it sacred mystery </div>
<div>Call it Patria</div>
<div>Call it home</div>
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<div>But midst the marvel discord sounds </div>
<div>There’s anguish in the forest</div>
<div>The trees are falling fast to the blade</div>
<div>The rivers are writhing with toxins</div>
<div>And animals lost with the loss of the wild </div>
<div>Desolation sings descant over the world</div>
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<div>Hold fast to the thread of star-music, he said </div>
<div>Hold fast to the star-song of wonder</div>
<div>The melody of healing</div>
<div><br>
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<div>Be a voice for the trees... exuberance in your lungs</div>
<div>Be a voice for the rivers... rapids in your bloodstream </div>
<div>Be a voice for the animals... wild with the animal in you</div>
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<div>The miracle is not lost</div>
<div>Tune your senses to the world around you</div>
<div><br>
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<div>To the east</div>
<div> Dawn unfurls a scroll of golden calligraphy</div>
<div>To the south</div>
<div> Blackberries astonish the mouth with the taste of sun</div>
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<div>To the west</div>
<div> Twilight pours molten sky into lake reflection</div>
<div>To the north</div>
<div> Balsam enchants the air with a fragrant spell</div>
<div>As above so below</div>
<div> A luminous cosmic composition</div>
<div><br>
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<div>The miracle is not lost</div>
<div>Listen to the music of the stars, he said</div>
<div><br>
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<div>Ecstatic listening</div>
<div>That can change your life</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Ecstatic living </div>
<div>On earth</div>
<div>And elsewhere</div>
<div><br>
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<div>Give back reverence for radiance </div>
<div>Give back light for light</div>
<div><br>
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<div>Call it mystery</div>
<div>Call it sacred mystery Call it Patria</div>
<div>Call it home</div>
<div><br>
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<div>Rae Crossman August 2022</div>
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<div><span style="font-family:serif; font-size:small"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:serif; font-size:small">"if only for one ruby-throated moment</span>
<div><span style="font-family:serif; font-size:small"> you could drink</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:serif; font-size:small"> from the chalice of the sun"<br>
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