One Heart

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Upon receiving the commission from the Heritage Chorale to write a piece in celebration of their 85th anniversary, I did some reading about Framingham, Massachusetts, the city where the Chorale is based. I was intrigued to discover that, in the years before the Civil War, Framingham was an annual gathering place for members of the abolitionist movement. On Independence Day from 1854 to 1865, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society held rallies at an area called Harmony Grove near what is now the city’s downtown. At the 1854 rally, William Lloyd Garrison burned copies of the Fugitive Slave Law, with fellow abolitionists Sojourner Truth and Henry David Thoreau in attendance. This piece of history sparked my imagination and led me to think of Emily Dickinson’s poem “If I can stop one Heart from breaking,” which was authored during the same period of history.

Dickinson’s deceptively simple poem underscores the importance of cultivating compassion and shifting our focus from separateness to interconnection. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Dickinson’s poem operates from a similar understanding of mutuality. If the suffering of one life affects all, then the alleviation of suffering also affects all, and ultimately makes life worth living.

One Heart honors this spirit of compassion and mutuality. At the same time, it celebrates the interconnections of breath, sound, spirit, and community that make choral singing such a powerful unifying experience and force within society. The words “One Heart – One Life” from Dickinson’s poem are sung as a choral mantra, while the piano represents the steady beating of our collective heart.

If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain

Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.