Malcolm Guite and Marty O’Donnell’s Music of the Spheres

Ordinary Time
26 February 2019
The Edge of Elfland
Concord, New Hampshire

Dearest Readers,

For fans of Malcolm Guite, Marty O’Donnell (composer for Halo and Destiny), or the Medieval Cosmos some beautiful new music and poetry have been released. According to Malcolm, some years back O’Donnell approached him to write some poetry reflecting on the seven heavens of medieval cosmology for a game. Malcolm wrote the poetry, O’Donnell wrote the music, but none of it was ever used. Now, thanks to tireless fans, music and poetry have been united and the result is stunningly beautiful. Malcolm writes two poems on each of the seven planets, one diurnal and one nocturnal reflecting on the heavenly and infernal aspects of the planets. You can find more information over on Malcolm’s blog, a link to all the files here, and individual videos below. Malcolm has also said that these poems will be published in a forthcoming book of poetry.

I’ve been listening my through them myself and I am enamoured by them. The music matches the spirit of each planet perfectly. And the poetry is so well crafted. I really cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can read them all through. We need more art like this. We particularly need art that helps enter into deeper ways of conceiving and considering the world around us. Guite’s poetry and O’Donnell’s music do precisely that. This is an imaginative foray into the medieval cosmos worthy of C.S. Lewis, though Lewis might remind us that the Music of the Spheres is so loud that we cannot hear it, just as the Light of God is bright we cannot see it. Be that as it may, these attempts as envisioning the cosmos are beautiful.

Enjoy your perilous journey through the cosmos!

Sincerely,
David Russell Mosley