Across the Skies

Click above to listen to Across the Skies (featuring Canon in D) from the album A Thousand Years as you read. If you enjoy, consider ordering the CD or MP3 Album, or Sheet Music (the song is also on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, and more).

What is your favorite classical or hymn melody?

This question was my challenge in creating my 7th album A Thousand Years, which features original composing interwoven with six world renown classical melodies and seven great hymn melodies. One of these is Johann Pachelbel’s famous Canon in D. Since this is so often included in wedding ceremonies, it an interesting that when Pachelbel wrote this in 1694 it may have been for Johann Christoph Bach’s wedding, who was Johann Sebastian Bach’s oldest brother.

Since I was a little boy I have marveled at the skies. Maybe this is why I loved climbing trees so much in my childhood. Maybe this is why Psalm 19 is one of my favorites. Across the Skies opens with two phrases of my simple arrangement of Canon in D, then here is what happens…

An original melody appears for a new variation. The piano is “singing” word for word, “In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun” (verse 4). Then the Pachelbel arrangement expands with new variations, answered by some new variations on the original melody. This “meeting” of classical and original continues to build, then concludes with the simplest Pachelbel to take us off into the sunset after these moments of musical “sky gazing.”

What is your favorite memory of a beautiful sky?

Psalm 19 (NIV) for Meditation while Listening…

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Click above to listen to Across the Skies from the album A Thousand Years as you read, featuring Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D. If you enjoy, consider purchasing the song, album download, or CD from iTunes or stantonlanier.com (where sheet music is also available). Do the skies speak to you? I can remember it like it was yesterday. I loved climbing to the top of the tall sweet gum tree across the street from my childhood home in North Carolina. I call it the “100-foot tall sweet gum tree,” as seen through the eyes of a nine-year old boy. When I sat on a strong branch near the top, holding on to the tree trunk, my perspective shifted. I could look out over the neighborhood. I could see the birds flying high. I could sense there was something much bigger than me. I didn’t know it then, but there is scripture that speaks to what I believe I was sensing…

“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome! The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.” (Psalm 19:1-6, The Message) This is how the melody Across the Skies was birthed for the album A Thousand Years, which interweaves original composing with timeless hymns and classics. Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D became the canvas for painting an original melody inspired by the first half of Psalm 19. As you listen, think about some of your favorite “sky moments.” What vistas did you treasure as a child? Where do you like to go today to see the sky? As you take in the scene, can you hear God’s gentle whisper speaking softly to the depths of your soul? Let your heart be warmed to faith as God reveals Himself to you, as the Great Storyteller writes a page in your story today (the image above happened as my flight was landing on a recent Ohio concert trip). “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-6, NIV)

Pachelbel’s Canon in D Meets Psalm 19

Do the Skies Speak to You?