Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - For Our Common Home Resounding Ecojustice (2025) [Official Digital Download]

This cross-genre oratorio for chorus, soloists and chamber orchestra draws from sacred music, contemporary classical, jazz, gospel and klezmer traditions. Instrumental interludes lead the listener from one movement to the next guiding shifts in mood or harmony, and inviting a moment to reflect on the text which has just been sung.

I was commissioned by world-renowned theologian Harvey Cox to compose an oratorio based on Laudato Si’ which addresses the impact of the environmental crisis on the most vulnerable communities. Highlighting compassion and solidarity, this quote from the encyclical spoke to me:

Our goal is not to amass information or to satisfy curiosity, but rather to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it. (Pope Francis)

I began writing in 2020. That summer, protests around the world accelerated with the Movement for Black Lives and response to George Floyd’s murder. For many, the uprising in the streets was the first time we gathered since the beginning of the pandemic, coming together to demand that “injustice can be defeated in the land.”

The text of Laudato Si' speaks out against systems of oppression and reminds us that all are siblings. It challenged me to write music that could invite conversations addressing injustice and rebuilding our common home. Retreating from my crowded house (with the piano next to the kitchen table), I spent winter on the New England coast reflecting on environmental justice, the plight of climate refugees, and questions of responsibility. Tuning in to the Earth that sustains us and listening to the waves and wind, I reflected on the text: "May our struggles and concern for our planet never take away the joy of our hope. Let us sing as we go."


TRACKLIST

1. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Prelude
2. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: We Come Together
3. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Prayer for Our Common Home
4. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Interlude I
5. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Languages of Trees
6. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Interlude II
7. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Laudato Si'
8. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Sister Cries Out
9. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: We Are Not God
10. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Harmonize with Creation
11. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Interlude III
12. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: God of Creation, God of Liberation
13. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Where is Your Brother?
14. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Interlude IV
15. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Breathing
16. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: We Are Dust
17. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: They Are Not Recognized
18. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: What Does Earth Need?
19. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Interlude V
20. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Gratitude
21. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Interlude VI
22. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Preach to the Flowers
23. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Beyond the Sun
24. Various Artists - Linda J. Chase - Chase: Let Us Sing As We Go



Thanks to the Original customer.