Alan Sullivan's Psalms
 

Oct 15, 2011 UPDATE: Part 2 added to the podcast

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I'm delighted to continue the Eratosphere podcast series with the translation of King David's Psalms by Alan Sullivan, in collaboration with long-time Eratospherean and Hebrew scholar Seree Zohar. The Sullivan-Zohar Psalms are the first praiseworthy metrical translation of King David into the English language, and is already enjoying wide acceptance in several premier venues such as First Things and Sewanee Theological Review. This reading performance from Tim Murphy who needs no introduction in these parts, is one of our finest, and includes a chant of Psalm 139 by Monsignor Robert Laliberte in four tone Gregorian mode that's not to be missed.

Alan Thomas Sullivan was born August 14, 1948, in Brooklyn, NY, the only son of Betty and Andrew Sullivan, and died July 9, 2010 in Aventura, FL. A 1970 graduate in English from Trinity College, Hartford, CT, he moved to the Midwest with Timothy Murphy in 1973. He lived in Minneapolis, MN, then Fargo, ND, for 32 years. Diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2005, he relocated permanently to the Fort Lauderdale area of Florida to pursue medical treatment and be near the sea he loved so deeply and missed so dearly during his decades on the prairie.

Alan was a tireless poet, polemicist, raconteur, translator and teacher of poetry. He wrote many books, and much of his writing can be found at www.seablogger.com, the blog he maintained which drew an eclectic group of readers drawn by his disquisitions on weather, volcanology, foreign and domestic policy, poetry and matters of the spirit. Alan was a spiritual seeker all his life, and toward its end he turned to the Catholic Church from which he drew great strength and solace. In his final year he undertook to translate the poems of King David. With the able assistance of Seree Cohen Zohar in Israel, he completed this great, metrical work, which will soon begin appearing in periodicals, and ultimately in book form. All who knew him marveled at the energy he focused on this final task which he completed on June 24, 2010.

A Requiem Mass will be celebrated at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Fargo by Monsignor Robert Laliberte The Mass will be at 10:30, Thursday, August Fifth. Memorials can be sent to St. Anthony's Church.

Sullivan is survived by his mother, Betty, and by his literary partner, Timothy Murphy.

LISTEN:
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Alan Sullivan Psalms Podcast, Read by Tim Murphy, with Chant by Monsignor Robert Laliberte

PART 2 - Alan Sullivan Psalms Podcast, Read by Tim Murphy, with Chant by Monsignor Robert Laliberte


DOWNLOAD:
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Alan Sullivan Psalms Podcast, Read by Tim Murphy, with Chant by Monsignor Robert Laliberte

PART 2 - Alan Sullivan Psalms Podcast, Read by Tim Murphy, with Chant by Monsignor Robert Laliberte

Absolutely stunning work.

What I didn't say when I drafted the obituary, was that when Alan undertook this, he had just been told he had thirty days to live. Instead he lived fifteen months. Dr. D. is not a believer, but he is a world-class hematologist/oncologist, and he ascribes Alan's survival to his fierce will to live. I ascribe it to the Holy Spirit, who wanted his favorite poet translated for his English-speaking children by Alan and Seree.

Excellent introduction to the Psalms, Tim, and to Alan’s versions of them. I could smell the incense and I could feel David as poet. #133 is tremendous, in all the senses of that word.

My only disappointment was that Seree doesn’t read them in Hebrew first.

Andrew, you are a young man who has engaged, thoroughly engaged, Dante. You can't aim much higher than him. I am very pleased that our little recording pleases you. 133 is tremendous, but the poem I read was 33.

It took a while since Tim initially sent it to me (sorry, Tim!), but, part 2 has been added to the podcast. Check the first post of this thread.

Cheers,
...Alex

Andrew, now you can hear 133. My publisher will be bringing out The Poems of King David early next year, and I think we will sleeve these two recordings as a CD in the front jacket of the book. Most of the first recording was from Book I of the Psalms. Part II is the late, greater work.

Just saw and listened to this, Tim. I greatly enjoyed the reading. Psalm 144 was my favorite this time around. The chanted psalm is a good addition to the repertoire as well. These translations are alive and fresh and can help someone like me who has heard the psalms since childhood to hear them again in a new way. It’s a reminder of how mind-bogglingly profound these poems are. Thank you.

Just bumping this to the top of the marquee. Msgr. Laliberte, 17-year-old Alex Seefeldt, and I just finished our recordings for public TV and radio, and Seree will explain the book launch at Accomplished Members.

Keep us posted. I'm enjoying getting to know these.