Residing in London, Prayer is a classically trained pianist and composer who has caught the attention of many with his music that embodies a distinctive UK sound. With the help of his father, he gained an early insight into classical music which turned towards a keen interest into the darker sounds of the genre. Drawing on influences from the likes of Michael Nyman, Max Richter and Burial, he has been able to construct bodies of work which showcase his ability to merge sounds from opposite ends of a spectrum. In addition to his own music, Prayer forms part of the eight-member collective Grade 10, whose impressive work and diverse tastes are often shared via their own releases and shows on Radar Radio.
For Prayer’s latest project, the artist has set out to construct a concept that combines both the classical and electronic worlds. This has resulted in a four-part project titled LOST, which challenges the stereotypical views of how rigid one can be when creating classical music. The unity of these two worlds in LOST opens up a uniquely raw space in which classical music can be accessed. In association with Radar Radio, the Pickle Factory have invited Prayer to debut a live AV show on Wednesday 25th January for this project. With an impressive line-up alongside him including Joe Shakespeare, India Jordan, Forever (Grade 10) and a special guest, we caught up with the man himself ahead of the show.
What is your vision for how classical musical can develop in the future, in regards to being perceived as more than one separate entity? “I think what is needed is for there to be a continuous expansion on what is currently going on. It is such a diverse genre, especially in the 21st century in particular – there are so many different branches of it.”
How would you want people’s thoughts about classical music to change after listening to LOST specifically? “Classical music is such a loose term and when I first discovered Michael Nyman, I found that he presented something in his music that might make people think differently about it. So LOST is offering something to someone who might not have liked before, maybe someone who might be interested in more dance-related elements of music. For example, the track “Without You” would give people, through the intensity of the different elements, something that is more accessible for that type of club culture. The overall purpose of this project was to expand more ways in which classical music can be viewed and I just want it to keep on diversifying it so that people’s interest can increase.”
You have mentioned how your approach was influenced by 20th century classical/ electroacoustic works where composers would “contrast harsh sounds with more pleasant sounding tones”. How were you able to strike a balance between these two forms of sounds? “The more pleasant-sounding tones always start as the basis of the song for me as that tends to be the composition idea in my head. Then I guess by simply setting out with the intention of writing a more intense type of music, the harsher sounds would naturally come in. I also think it is down to the way I play the piano as I’ve always been interested in pianists that compose in a harsher way and but still had something more beautiful in their music like Alban Berg for example, who composed 12-tone scale music atonally.”
Apart from focusing on forming a relationship between the classical and electronic worlds, what else were you thinking about with this project? “Well, that is quite a difficult one really because I sort of sit down and material tends to comes out of nowhere.”
So you simply created whatever came naturally to you at the time. “Yeah I think so, with music I never really know what’s coming next. If I ever try and sit down to make something that is moulded to one shape, it always comes out wrong.
“Actually another intention for my project, aside from the classical music element, was to showcase the variety of music I make from the more dance-related sounds to the compositional side, which I guess is kind of classical but it exemplifies the variety of things that I do write. I write a lot of music but I do not release rapidly, so with each project I like to expand more and more on my ideas and that’s where the classical theme for LOST came from; It helped push myself to bring out the compositional elements more, rather than sticking within one realm.”
What was the idea behind the artwork for LOST? “Greg (the designer in our Grade 10 collective) has done all of my artwork up until this day and all of the art for Grade 10. The idea that he came up with was for it to be quite intense and dark, something that can come across as instantly powerful. Even when you look at it initially, you cannot tell exactly what it is, which I like. It plays upon the viewer’s imagination for them to develop their own interpretation of the piece.”
For your live show at The Pickle Factory, what can the audience expect from your set? “They can expect me to explore all of the musical styles that I have done so far with additional visuals by Liam Healy and Joe Wilson. It is an hour long cinematic journey that will be loud and powerful, definitely building on those intense emotions evident in LOST.”
What more can your audience hope to see from you in regards to your own future releases, as well as upcoming projects for Grade 10? “Currently we have just put out a compilation tape which is called Now That’s What I Call Grade 10 Vol.2, as well as a tape by Loosewomen called Metro Heat, but on the horizon we have the next major project coming up which is a Kollaps album – and in fact our first Grade 10 album. Then personally for me, I am just trying to make more music, play more shows and further discover this theme I have created with LOST.”
LOST is available to buy now on Bandcamp.
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What is the secret to the revival of the church? To spiritual restoration? How can you renew your own relationship with God? How did the ancient prayer of Daniel move heaven and change a nation? Bible Gateway interviewed Anne Graham Lotz (@AGLotz), the National Day of Prayer Task Force chairman, about her book, The Daniel Prayer: Prayer That Moves Heaven and Changes Nations (Zondervan, 2016).
Why is prayer such an important activity?
Anne Graham Lotz: Communication with God is vital to a vibrant relationship with him. We will never really know God in an intimate, personal relationship if we don’t talk to him. Half of our communication with God is listening to what he has to say through his Word, which is why reading our Bibles is so important. The other half of communication is talking to him, which is prayer. Prayer is also important because the Bible commands us to pray.
Why is prayer so often neglected?
Anne Graham Lotz: Prayer may be neglected for several reasons. Some of those reasons are doubt that God answers prayer, doubt that prayer really makes any difference, and doubt that God will truly listen to our prayers. Also, prayer is hard work. We may neglect it because we’re too tired, too busy, or too distracted to put into prayer the effort required.
What are the characteristics of an ineffectual prayer?
Anne Graham Lotz: Prayer offered without faith by a person that doesn’t truly believe God exists will not be effective. Sin in our lives that we refuse to confess will also render our prayers ineffective. A husband who dishonors his wife physically or verbally will be ineffective in his prayers.
How is effective prayer born out of a sense of desperation?
Anne Graham Lotz: Desperation compels us to pray with fervent, focused faith—especially when we have no one else to turn to. God honors our faith when we place it in him alone—with no back-up plan, no other recourse, no other way out. He hears and answers our desperate heart cry, because he loves to show himself strong on our behalf.
Why did you turn to the Bible character Daniel as a model for prayer today?
Anne Graham Lotz: Daniel’s prayer moved Heaven and changed not only his nation, Judah/Israel, but also the nation in which he was living at the time: Persia. His prayer is one that worked. God’s people were separated from God and were living in exile. But in answer to Daniel’s prayer, they were restored to God’s place of blessing.
I believe our nation is in deep trouble. We seem to have lost our identity because in many ways we’re separated from God. I believe it’s imperative that God’s people pray as Daniel did, or our nation may unravel morally and spiritually to the point of no return. I believe we desperately need the blessing of God.
What are the elements that make up The Daniel Prayer found in Daniel 9 and that you recommend should be followed today?
Anne Graham Lotz: Daniel prayed under compulsion. His prayer was based on a covenant relationship that he had established earlier with God. He was confident in the character of God whom he knew by years of experience, as well as knowing God as he’s revealed through his Word. He prayed with humble contrition as he confessed the sin of his people as though it were his own. He was very clear in exactly what he was asking God for. And he prayed until his prayer was answered.
What are the differences of praying in public versus praying in private?
Anne Graham Lotz: Both public and private prayers are acceptable. But public prayers take into account other people listening in. Private prayers are spoken to God alone. The difference is the same as the difference between public speaking versus a private conversation. Things we say, or confide, in private to our closest friend are different than what we would share in public.
What do you mean “patterns help us focus our prayers”?
Anne Graham Lotz: God knows that sometimes we lack words to express our feelings, heart-cry, thoughts. And so within the Bible he includes people’s prayers as models to help our own. Daniel 9 is one example. The entire book of Psalms is another. Our Lord’s own prayer in John 17, or the prayer we refer to as The Lord’s Prayer that many people recite every time they go to church are also examples. At the end of The Daniel Prayer, I include prayers that I wrote to help the reader articulate his or her thoughts after reading a particular section of the book.
What should be the ultimate goal of praying?
Anne Graham Lotz: The ultimate goal for me in prayer is to draw near to God…to fall in step with him…to discern his will so that my life might be lived accordingly…to discover what burdens are on his heart that I might take them into my own heart, then pray them back to him.
You say The Daniel Prayer is a battle. How so?
Anne Graham Lotz: Prayer taps into the very power of God. The devil resists serious, focused prayer because he’s defeated by it. And so the devil will try to attack our concentration in prayer; he will try to confuse or contradict the content of our prayers; he will do his best to distract and/or divert us in prayer so that we’re crippled by inconsistency.
What are your thoughts about Bible Gateway and the Bible Gateway App?
Anne Graham Lotz: Bible Gateway is my go-to app when I can’t remember a Bible reference, or when I’m searching for a particular verse. It’s easy to use. I have it on my mobile device as well as on my computer.
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Anne Graham Lotz: Yes. One of the most effective ways to pray is to ask God to give you a promise from his Word concerning whatever it is you’re praying for. Then hold him to his Word as you pray it back to him. It’s what has been called “reversed thunder.” God keeps his Word, and basing our prayer on his Word gives our prayers strength and confidence because we know we’re asking for something God wants to give us.
Bio: Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy and Ruth Graham, is the president and CEO of AnGeL Ministries, a nonprofit organization that undergirds her efforts to draw people into a life-changing relationship with God through his Word. Anne launched her revival ministry in 2000 and has spoken on seven continents, in more than 20 foreign countries, proclaiming the Word of God in arenas, churches, seminaries, and prisons. She’s the award-winning author of numerous books, including The Daniel Prayer: Prayer That Moves Heaven and Changes Nations, The Magnificent Obsession: Embracing the God-Filled Life, Wounded by God’s People: Discovering How God’s Love Heals Our Hearts, and Fixing My Eyes on Jesus: Daily Moments in His Word. She’s also the National Day of Prayer (NDP) Task Force chairman.
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From the hovels of the peripheries of Rome, at the end of the 60s, to Africa, Asia, and America, taking everywhere the passion for the three “Ps,” as Pope Francis once said: prayer, poverty and peace, this is the story of Sant’Egidio Community, which in 2018 is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
In the burning atmosphere of the youth protests, among the powerful ferments of novelties that were shaking the Church designed by Vatican Council II, the eighteen-year-old Andrea Riccardi gathered around him a group of high-school students to pray, to listen to the Bible, to lead an after-school program for poor children in the southern outskirts of Rome. The Community then took the name “Sant’Egidio,” the Saint after whom the premises were named, which became the headquarters of the Community, in the popular neighborhood of Trastevere. Then the Holy See recognized the Community, in 1986, as an international Association of lay faithful. Today its close to 60,000 members are scattered in 70 countries. The first communal work is prayer and the reading of Sacred Scripture; then communication of the Gospel and, especially, service to the poor, wherever a small Community was present and active.
The friendship, with the pupils of the Roman slums, broadened in time with the disabled, the homeless, immigrants, the terminally ill, prisoners, nomads refugees, and drug addicts with a myriad of initiatives. Outstanding among them is the Christmas lunch: on December 25, all the Communities worldwide offer a lunch and an afternoon of celebration to the poor, the elderly who are alone, and the homeless. The last time 240,000 persons participated in more than 70 countries.
The step was brief from solidarity with the poor to the commitment for peace in several hot spots of the globe, with members of the Community who were mediators in long-standing conflicts, such as the civil war in Mozambique, which lasted a good 16 years, to the signing of peace in Rome, at the Community’s headquarters, in ’92 – hence the nickname “UN of Trastevere.”
The Community supports a worldwide opinion campaign for the total abolition of the death penalty in the world. In addition, the Dream Project is a vast program of prevention and therapy for AIDS in Africa. Another program, “BRAVO: (Birth Registration for All Versus Oblivion) seeks to promote the registration of newborns in countries where children without documents risk being victims of slavery, organ trafficking or sexual abuses.
To address the waves of landings of immigrants and refugees from Africa or from the Middle East on the Italian coasts, in 2015 the Community began to establish “humanitarian corridors” to make possible access in Italy of refugees and those requesting asylum in conditions of legality and security. After Italy, others corridors were opened to France and Belgium.
Finally there is the original vocation of commitment to ecumenism and the dialogue between cultures, peoples and religions. Every year the Community convokes in a different European city (with the exception of Jerusalem in 1995) a great meeting of prayer for peace, in ideal continuity with the historic Day held by Pope Wojtyla in ’86 at Assisi, together with the religious leaders of the whole planet.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary, ZENIT Interviewed Marco Impagliazzo, 55, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Perugia, President of the Community:
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ZENIT: Professor Impagliazzo, how and when did you get to know the Community? And what struck you of what the Community did?
Professor Impagliazzo: It was 1977; I was 15 and was a young student at the Visconti classic high school, a bourgeois high school of the center of Rome, next to Piazza Venezia. That year there was a student revolt again, although in a minor tone compared to ’68. The students occupied the schools and managed themselves the hours of lessons in class. Then a group of students of Sant’Egidio Community organized a week of lessons on the relationship between the school and the city. The idea was to tell Rome, especially the peripheries, how the working class suburbs were born, the great conglomerate of palaces of the Fascist period and who lived in them . . .
They were truly interesting, managed by the students themselves until one day they said: “up to now we have talked a lot, now let’s go to see the peripheries!” Then they went to a working class suburb of Rome, where there was a “school of peace” for children. They asked there if they could give a hand: you are students, you have education, help these poor children to study,” . We did so, and it was a most beautiful moment. I said I was a Christian, that I had been a scout, but that I was living a period of difficulty in my relationship with the Church. That meeting with the children of the Garbatella – a neighborhood that is much improved as compared to before – to be able to teach them, meeting with the poor, struck me so much: it seemed to me the realization of what Jesus says in the Gospel. Since then, I have never left the Community.
ZENIT: After the Council, there was much talk of attention, on the part of the Church, to the “signs of the times.” They were years full of novelty for the Church, but not always easy. What were “the signs of the times” that inspired the Community?
The first, I believe, was the clear word of Pope John XXIII, when he said that the Church belongs to all and especially to the poor. At that time there was still too much distance from the poor, despite the many works of charity that the Church was doing, and that distance was filled. It was as if the poor were considered “clients” of the Church, which the Church should consider in fact as “clients.” Instead, it seems to me, the Church of the poor meant that the poor were “part” of the Church, not its “clients.” And this was very important for the beginnings of the Community.
Another sign of the times were the “peripheries.” In the peripheries, Rome was a city made of hovels, between the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s, 100,000 people lived in hovels. It was necessary to fill the distance between the city of the rich and the city of the poor of the peripheries.
Yet another signs was that the Word of God began to occupy a central place in the life of the Church. The Council had again given back to all Christians the Word of God, saying” now read it, study it, love it, and pray with Scripture.” And this familiarity with Sacred Scripture has been always at the heart of the Community’s vocation up to today.
ZENIT: In half a century of the Community’s history, 1986 was a very important year, when Pope St John Paul II convoked the world’s religious leaders to Assisi to pray for peace. Since then, the Community has kept alive the so-called “Spirit of Assisi,” organizing a meeting of prayer for peace every year in different cities of Europe, with representatives of all the world’s religions. The reality of the last years, however, has often contradicted in fact the idea that religions don’t admit hatred and violence . . . What do you think? What is the sense of your commitment?
First of all, I say that this intuition of John Paul II was truly prophetic, in the sense that it anticipated the times, given that terrorism was not yet born, which was cloaked with religion; I’m thinking of the attacks of 2001 in the US and what was said then and is said about Islam in particular, which is a religion linked to violence . . . well before all of this, Wojtyla understood that it was truly necessary to have a discourse of great clarity, to get rid of all ambiguity on the religion-violence relationship. And his wasn’t a defensive discourse, if anything it was a discourse to attack, because he affirmed that religions must not only say “no” to violence, but must say yes to peace.
We believed it a lot, therefore we put it into practice asking the religious leaders, who come to our meetings, to work together for peace and also for development, to help those who suffer. A common ground can be found here between religions, which can certainly not be theological. However, it can be a commitment for a better world and, especially, for peace. Naturally, it wasn’t always easy. In the first years of 2000 the “Spirit of Assisi” suffered because of the attacks on Islam, the widespread Islamophobia, and sometimes also because of the leaders’ inability to seriously take a position against violence. Then we began to be asked: “how useful are these meetings?”
In reality, we saw over the course of the years that, yes, these meetings were useful because they created bonds and inspired new choices, and also much of the work for peace in the Community, in so many areas of the world, especially in Africa, up to the Central African Republic, where we had worked on a road map for peace together with Muslims . . . But I could give so many other examples.
ZENIT: One of the Community’s commitments, at the global level and especially in Italy, is for the reception and integration of migrants, a topic favored in Pope Francis’ teachings. However, there are numerous others in which immigration from below, becomes unsustainable for a society. So what’s the task of politics in face of this phenomenon?
I must say that to listen to the Pope, who speaks of migrants, always strikes me so much, because I see two sources in his words. One is the Gospel, from which the Pope draws strength — I’m thinking of the account of the Last Judgment, Matthew 25, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” — but I think of the whole Bible, where the foreigner is always under God’s protection. Then there is the Pope’s personal history, connected to Argentina, which became a great country, precisely because of the mixture of many peoples.
Unfortunately, unfounded and erroneous discourses are made on immigrants, especially in Italy. The first mistake is to confuse the reality with the perception that one has of the phenomenon. And the responsibility here is on many intellectuals, on politicians and politics, also on the press that sometimes does not give the true dimensions of the phenomenon. In Italy, especially in these days of electoral campaign, we are forgetting that the immigrants contribute to our wellbeing; they constitute 8% of the population, and the vast majority is working, in factories, in fields, in families. Then there is a certain integration, which works. The problem is to conjugate the two verbs that Francis says: to welcome and to integrate, because it’s correct to welcome, however, it’s also necessary to integrate. And here politics is lagging behind; I’m thinking only of the law on mitigated jus soli and jus culturae, that has not been approved by the Italian Parliament. We welcome but we are unable to integrate. Then citizens react with fear when, instead, the responsibility of politics should be, in fact, not to blow on the fire of fear but to resolve the problems.
ZENIT: What is lacking to facilitate the integration of foreigners?
An elementary thing is lacking: to open legal ways for immigration. There are many legal immigrants in Italy, along with a certain number of illegal ones, those that arrive via the sea , because in Italy, as in Europe, the legal channels are closed, or there are pre-established quotas of arrival that are very low. However, our economy is in need of immigrants. Therefore, if anything it would be necessary to discuss the establishment of higher quotas and to establish agreements with the countries of departure to make them respected, making those governments responsible; then to try to simplify so much legislation that doesn’t help the integration of those who arrive. A good example is the humanitarian corridors, a legal way of emigration for one fleeing from war and not leave him/her in the hands of traffickers of human beings.
ZENIT: When you speak of the press, which also manipulates the reality, what are you referring to specifically?
There is a certain type of press, linked to certain parties as the Lega in Italy, where the migrant is always presented as a problem, AS someone who wants to take away our jobs, our serenity . . . not to speak of the fake news that goes around on the social media networks>.
ZENIT: The vocation to service of the poor is part of the DNA of the Community. Francis said right away that he desired a “poor Church for the poor.” How do you imagine such a Church? And can we say today that the Church is or is not in tune with Francis on this point?
ZENIT: I see great changes, especially after the Holy Year of Mercy, happening particularly in Europe. I see that the Pope’s words have been listened to in parishes, families, Associations, which now pay more attention to the poor, with new structures and a new sensibility. For attunement to be truly realized, time is still needed, naturally. What is lacking, in my opinion, is to insert the poor and ‘the meeting with the poor also in catechesis, in the talks we address to young people. For a young person encountering an elderly man alone or a poor child, and helping a man who lives on the street is a great catechesis. We have yet to understand in depth how much the poor evangelize us, because they represent Jesus. The poor person is a “sacrament,” which should grow in the awareness of the life of the Church.
ZENIT: Sant’Egidio Community has just celebrated its 50 years with a visit to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella. What help will this visit give you for the future and why was it so meaningful?
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President Mattarella struck me especially when he said that the Community has overcome barriers of space and time. That is, it didn’t remain caged in the space of the origins, namely, Rome, but extended itself to the whole world. And it didn’t remain linked to the period of its birth, but succeeded, then, in the new times that came later. This stress on the dynamic capacity of the Community, to go across space and times, struck me. It means that it’s still a young Community, with the audacity and wish of the origins to live in the world to make it more just and more human. And this acknowledgement makes us happy because it comes from the Head of State; it’s like a “thank you” from the whole of Italy, which he represents.
zenit.org
