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For those of us who love the Christmas season, music is a big part of our tradition and sentimentality. Music selections can range from traditional carols to pop to grand choral works to orchestral arrangements. The Christmas season in the western world is as much a cultural celebration as it is a Christian celebration. For many people, the season brings us to the very brink of peace and harmony, and with any luck more than a few are pushed over the edge. December Peace may just be the instrument to do this.
Stanton Lanier has just released his 6th CD in time for the 2009 Christmas holiday season and December Peace is quintessential Lanier. As soon as the opening notes are played in “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” any Lanier fan will recognize his signature instrumental piano melodies. Lanier’s interpretation of Luke’s accounts (that is Luke, 60 A.D.) relay a well-known story using the piano and sounds that will remind you of the Christmas songs you have sung for years. December Peace however is a journey, not a compilation of Christmas songs for caroling. It somehow has captured the best essence of the Christmas season and has translated it into speech without words. The sounds spill out and take over the senses as if an alabaster jar has been broken and the perfume of it fills the air.
Stanton Lanier has a distinct style that has created a loyal global following. He creates music that is beautiful, but goes beyond the surface enjoyment of well composed music as it communicates movement through the story he tells in the keys. There is a deliberate slowing, measured distance, waiting, longing and anticipation told in the music. This style of imparting time and our reaction to it creates a sense of longing and lingering merged into the same moment and sound. Lanier has a way of exploring the ordinary events of human nature such as our struggle to truly live in the moment. It seems commonplace for us to strive to get to a certain point in life but find “no rest for the weary” and we push ourselves to constant improvement, transformation, and the next step to success. Stanton Lanier’s mission to bring “peace and rest in a hurried world” is not through action but through invitation. His last 3 CDs, The Voice, Unveiled and now December Peace have all been produced by Grammy Award winning producer Will Ackerman.
Stanton’s first 3 CDs were self-produced between 2001 and 2004. These albums were created at a time when Stanton was working full-time as a successful financial planner after having acquired an MBA and an undergraduate degree in Chemistry. The odd beginnings of this artist’s career were the basis and inspiration for his music as he used it to help himself understand what his life’s work should be. Stanton is a professed Christian and uses ancient scripture as the inspiration for his music however, the listener does not need to know, understand or believe the theology. The music somehow transcends any traditional message that might be obvious in contemporary Christian or secular music for that matter.
The Voice, produced in 2005 and the first collaborative effort between Lanier and Ackerman coincided with Lanier’s decision to abandon the career path he thought was his life’s work. It is no coincidence. Lanier stated in an interview in October 2009 that he had to succumb to “career surrender” as he tried to understand what path he should take. The voice is not God speaking to Stanton and then put to music to share with the listener. Rather, the voice was God speaking to Stanton through the music. The piano is the voice and we are all partakers in the conversation.
This resolution, the decision to “career surrender” and pursue full-time artistry is reflected in the selection “Freedom” from The Voice. There is resoluteness in the music as though Stanton is flying through the end of the discernment and “Freedom” gives rise to the lightness and relief we feel when a decision is made. The piece, using the movement of time in the music time, also tells the story of the uneasiness we might feel when making big decisions. Our decisions are not typically methodical, linear and final. Don’t we all, when making big decisions, think when we have arrived at our final thoughts only to find we are unsure and want affirmation? The power of making the final decision and knowing it is the right one, almost explodes as Stanton clearly has grappled with his search, finds what he was looking for and claims readiness to move forward.
Unveiled and The Voice also incorporate other instrumental artists and vocals. “Captivating,” a song composed for his wife and inspired by their love for one another includes only a few minutes of angelic vocals by Noah Wilding. It is enchanting and adds to the beauty of the piano solo. Her vocals appear again in Unveiled as well as December Peace alongside cello, English horn and flugelhorn. “Awaken The Dawn” from the CD Unveiled is a great example of Stanton’s evolution as an artist. This powerful song was remixed for a more intimate presentation on December Peace.
Christmas music productions all include many of the same songs, but it is the artist who translates the message and creates their own language for us. Our own memories are somehow included in the artist’s creation of Christmas music and Stanton Lanier has captured that for me. My favorite selection is “O Come, O Come Emanuel.” It opens with a three single notes that sound like the beating of a heart on a musical string. It is anticipation, announcement, longing and hope. Each stanza of the traditional Christmas song begins slowly expressing the hope in the possibility of the Messiah’s arrival. There is urgency in the music as the stanzas begin, like a child running towards something but being forced to slow down by an adult warning them not to run. It ends with the same ethereal three notes.
December Peace is full of the traditional Christmas songs one might expect but also has selections of Stanton’s original music such as “Awaken the Dawn” (remixed from Unveiled) “Thanksgiving” (a new version from his first CD Walk the Light, with Jill Haley on English horn) and “Silence” (a new version from his second CD Still Waters). The last song, “Peace” brings the listener to the end with the beautiful vocals of Noah Wilding. Her voice and the song title are perfect reflections of our journey’s end in this beautifully produced CD.
Some instrumental melodies can be produced for ‘background’ or ‘white noise,’ but not so in the master artist’s realm the likes of Stanton Lanier. He pulls you into his songs and his stories. There is communication between the artist and the instrument ultimately pushing through to the listener. These songs are meant for listening, for receiving, for pondering and understanding. There is storytelling in the music and like the end of a good book, the listener doesn’t want the story to end.
Solo instrumentals, when they are good, leave the listener in awe of the musical skill and artistic interpretation. When this happens anew, for an event that has been celebrated for 2,000 years, the original genius of the artist is something to just absorb and enjoy. December Peace was recorded at Will Ackerman’s studio at Imaginary Road Studios in Vermont. When you listen to December Peace, you can well imagine yourself on that road. |
