If It Is Honest, commissioned by MPLS (imPulse), was written to celebrate Christ Church Lutheran and its architect, Eliel Saarinen. The text was compiled and adapted by the composer from several sources, including Saarinen’s own book “In Search for Form in Art and Architecture”, the application form for Christ Church Lutheran to be recognized as a national historic landmark, and a quote by Saarinen from the Minneapolis Star newspaper in 1949.
The soul of the past is conveyed
through the infallible language of art.
It is as if dwelling in a sacred grove of memories
where the thoughts, the feelings,
and the aims of our forebears
speak to us their silent tongue.
Art is like a plant, growing from its seed.
Its characteristics and its quality are concealed
within the potential power of people
until it is given the strength to grow.
Faith, hope, charity, teaching.
If a building is honest,
the architecture is religious.
Recording of If It Is Honest by MPLS (imPulse)