麻豆约拍

Good morning.听 Today it is thirty years since I was taken hostage in Beirut.听 Since then I have taken many opportunities to promote peace, and one of them uses the language of music.听 I鈥檓 currently President of the International Musical Eisteddfod held annually in Llangollen, North Wales.听 One of the first groups to attend the first Eisteddfod held in 1947, just after World War Two, was from Germany and across the years choirs have performed and competed from nations many of whom have been in conflict one with another.听 I have often said that good music has the capacity to breathe harmony into the soul and Llangollen has made a significant contribution towards the promotion of harmony and peace in this troubled world.听
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It was at Llangollen that I first met the contemporary composer Karl Jenkins who has written works that powerfully express the horrors of warfare and the blessings of peace.听 He invited me to write some words to be set as a soprano solo for a new work he was composing, 'The Peacemakers'.听 I did so and this morning I would like to read the words I wrote entitled Peace,听 as my prayer for the day and my hope for the future.
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Peace is the fragile meeting
Of two souls in harmony.
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Peace is an embrace
That protects and heals.
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Peace is a reconciling
Of opposites.
Peace is rooted in love,
It lies in the heart,
Waiting to be nourished,
Blossom
And flourish,
Until it embraces the world.
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May we know the harmony of peace,
May we sing the harmony of peace,
Until in the last of days,
We Rest In Peace.
Amen.