Songs of Comfort

I’m watching on a small screen in my hand. A man in his bedroom in Brooklyn, with his back turned to the camera, is playing Komitas on his violin while looking outside of his window. It’s “The Crane” or “Groong” in Armenian. It’s raining outside. The music is so calming and moving. Full of memories from the past. “Groong, mer ashkharhén khabrig m choonis?” [Oh crane, don’t you have news from our homeland?], the lyrics go. It’s Haig Papazian, the violinist of Lebanon’s Mashrou’ Leila band. “When grief and anxiety render words inadequate in times of uncertainty, music offers a space to seek refuge, mourn, reflect and find hope,” explains Papazian in his post on Instagram with the hashtag #SongsOfComfort.

Songs of Comfort is an initiative of the international Cello Maestro Yo-Yo Ma, who started posting recordings of himself playing music that gives him comfort in times of anxiety. His challenge was picked up by so many in an attempt to spread comfort and inner peace while half of the world is in lockdown due to the outbreak of COVID-19.