Return Home: The Echoes Resound
Track Information
*All poem and prayer references are excerpted from "Fall in Love with the Whispers of Your Heart, Book 1" by Ann Ruane
Divine Spirit This piece was inspired by the closing poem of my book. Allow the flow of the refrain to represent the fluid desire for connection, while the verses guide your steps along the way.
Refrain: O, Divine Spirit, I seek your wisdom. I seek your truth. O, Divine Spirit, come and speak to me.
Verse 1: Teach me to appreciate the gits of this life. Teach me to love all of me.
Refrain
Verse 2: Teach me to forgive so I may cleanse my heart. Teach me to speak truth.
Refrain
Verse 3: Use me as a vessel for your light and your love. Teach me to use my gifts.
Refrain
Bridge: Teach me to find laughter. Teach me to find joy. Teach me to see all the blessings around me.
Refrain
Let me hear my heart. (2x)
Prayer Although the only lyrics are in the Bridge, this piece was inspired by the poem opening the chapter on prayer. Imagine this piece being a vehicle for the prayer in your heart.
Bridge: Speaking to my heart. Healing for my heart. Seeking in my heart. Be in my heart.
Shifting the Lens The ostinato found in the left hand represents the constancy of routine, habit. As the piece progresses, the monotony starts to break up a bit, attempting change. The ending reflects the shift.
Hope This was the second piece I wrote. It came as such inspiration and helped me see what was ahead for me. It felt different than my first composition. I believe it was my own beacon of hope and light.
Reflection This piece was titled by a friend on Facebook. I was torn with what to call it, so I did a live video and asked for a title. It was inspiring to see how others responded to this piece and the titles they had chosen. What title would you choose for this piece?
Remembrance Laura Fannon wrote "Remembrance" to suggest the beauty and pain of life after loss. She is deeply grateful to Ann for having created such a moving and evocative arrangement for this piece, as well as her nuanced and elegant performance of it. Laura lives in Northern California.
See Me There are no lyrics to this piece though it was inspired by the poem opening the chapter on feelings. Let the longing to be seen and accepted in your fullness be heard.
Worthy “You are worthy because you are.” This is also inspired by a poem in the book, opening the chapter on self-worth. Allow the color changes in the piece to reflect a deepening of your own enoughness.
Awaken My Senses The poem opening the chapter on pain provides the text for the verses of this piece. Imagine the color change and expansiveness of the Bridge to bring renewed vitality, opening your senses to all that is around you.
Verse 1: Help me know the pain, this aching in my heart. Help me know the truth known from the start.
Verse 2: Help me hear the stories held so deep within. Help me hear the answers guiding where I begin.
Verse 3: Help me touch the wounds with love and gentle care. Help me touch the burdens that I bear.
Bridge: Seeing beauty in ev'ry place and Your presence in ev'ry face. Tasting richness and sweetness in my life.
Sweet Surrender Nothing speaks to forgiveness like surrendering does. Using the poem on forgiveness as lyrics, this piece invites peace and presence. How can this piece serve you and your relationship with forgiveness?
Verse 1: Merciful, compassionate, releasing, healing, freeing. Deep understanding, acceptance. Profound.
Verse 2: Gracious, vulnerable, deserving, allowing, welcoming. Necessary freedom from chains. Expansive.
Bridge: Sacred, holy, expression of Divine. Transforming., transmuting, transcending. Blessed.
Hollowed Out This piece emerged out of a vacancy I was feeling within myself. Let it be the voice to express what is within you when words do not suffice.
Conversations Imagine this to be a conversation between you and Divine or someone with whom you long to share a chat. Bring out the back-and-forth conversation between the hands in the Bridge.
Cherish the time spent in conversation.
Forsaken The feelings of rejection and abandonment need a voice too. The inner conflict and turmoil that get stirred up are heard in the Bridge. Take your time with this piece, honoring what moves within you.
Teach Me Enjoy the optimistic contemplation of the many ways to take in life. The verses represent the feet, hands, intuition, and the heart. The piece reflects the poem opening the chapter on being heard. As I was preparing for the launch concert, I 'heard' the lyrics for the refrain,
Refrain: Teach me, O, my soul, the beauty that is me.
Teach me, O, my soul, show me who I am.
Confusion I love the story behind this piece. I received the nudge that there were to be 17 pieces in this first collection. I was getting somewhat stuck on #17. I said, “Ok. If there are to be 17 pieces, could you please let me know what #17 sounds like?” This is what came…along with the title. Give yourself permission to not know the answers.
Gratitude Let this piece be a vessel for your gratitude. Even when times are challenging or seem heavy, gratitude can still be found. While you play the last four bars, you can think or sing, “I am grateful. I am grateful. I am grateful in my heart.”
Come Home This is my first authentic composition, based on the Opening Poem of my first book. Not only was this piece the foundation of my composing, it also is a vulnerable representation of my own story.
Verse 1: The mind, noisy, grasping, and busy. Seeking answers, searching for purpose. Feeling lost and alone, wondering, wand'ring, directionless.
Refrain: Come home, come home to your heart. Your sacred vault of truth. Your sacred vault of truth. Come home, come home to your heart. Be curious, awaken, love. (2x)
Verse 2: Groping in the darkness, waiting for a glimmer of light. Then a whisper, a whisper to come home. Breathing, scared, unsure.
Refrain
Verse 3: The whisper returns. Quietly nudging to be heard.
Refrain
About the Composer: Ann Ruane
Born with an insatiable hunger to play the piano, it became a reality when I was 11 years old. There was something about the piano that resonated deeply within me...the colors, the styles, the depth, the emotions...an endless opportunity for expression. I was in awe of what could be spoken with 10 fingers and 88 keys.
I pursued a BM-Music Education from UW-Whitewater to satiate my love of music and playing piano. Upon graduation, I taught in the schools for a year and longed fro my piano, so off to grad school I went. I completed my MM-Collaborative Piano at UW-Milwaukee and deepened my love for the vast variety of moods I could portray through my fingers. I enjoyed many experience as Musical Director and Assistant Musical Director in a variety of settings, along with being a choral accompanist. These served to foster the joy of story telling through music.
My passion for reading beyond the notes on the page yielded writing the notes themselves. I had no idea there was a wellspring of 'words to be spoken' through my own composing. The journey continues, the path unfolds, and the echoes resound. It is with humble gratitude that I offer these pieces to you. ~Ann
Recorded by Ann Ruane on a Ritmuller Grand piano
Recordings mastered at the SoundLAB at DiscMakers.
Thank you to Ted Deacon at his team at DiscMakers for helping me navigate the production of this CD.
A Special Thank You to Tracy Delfar for her stunning artwork, photography, and graphic design of the CD cover and case. My deep gratitude for her ability to see, feel, and hear my music and respond with her grace-inspired gift.