In time when politics ideas, understandings, and communications shift, it is challenging to find touchstones,signposts, if you will, to guide decisions. The sort of music we share in this series -- a series which is, after all, called music for shifting times -- can offer guidance and space for reflection. In this story, there are artists from New England, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, and Indiana.

There are threads which pull through, and ideas which resonate across the very different stories they tell.

Perhaps you have made journeys and travels in landscape which you planned and looked forward to. Perhaps there have been other travels which you've made not so willingly. At times, it may feel as though things are moving even when, geographically, that is not so for you. There are, too, events which spark changes and journeys in imagination, thought, and questions. All this is part of the reason we chose to call this series music for shifting times.  

Making sense of the shifts and changes in the world has always been one of the roles of music. This might by songs which teach; it could be through songs which offer escape. Maybe there a tune which gets people dancing together; perhaps there's an uplifting song which opens doors to community, perhaps it is a piece that expresses grief, or joy, or understanding which can be shared as the music is performed and heard. Events change, but the role of music continues on. 

Music for shifting times: that is what we've called this series. Part of the idea behind the music shared with you in the series is to guide you to music which may help you think about or live through the unexpected, disconcerting, strange -- choose your own more emphatic adjective if you like -- situations facing the world. 

Winter. It is a time, at the turning of the year, for looking back, and looking forward. It is a time for silence and solitude, for gathering in community and sharing with friends, as well.  

Harsh weather sometimes comes along; at this writing, harsh political and social situations abound. Yet there is, there can be, hope. That may be found in the solitude and in the community the turning of the year invites. 

December: it is a time of darkness and light, star-filled nights and bright celebrations.

As the calendar of the year begins to turn, December is a time of reflection.

As winter sets in, December is also a time for community, and for solitude. 

See how the work of these musicians encourages you to reflect on all these things...

Autumn: at times there are vibrant colors in the foliage. At times there are muted hues of rain swept days. The stars are brilliant some nights. On other nights,there are no stars to see for the clouds. Sometimes there's a hint of warm breeze; more often, it's the sharp edge of wind that hints of winter. At times there's sunshine; at times there's snow. It is a time for gatherings, and a time for solitude. There is time for conversation, and space for reflection. Autumn: it is  a season of shifts.
 

Writers, artists, musicians, actors, creative people of all sorts, often ask the best questions, questions which have to do with real values, fundamental choices, important relationships. As is true with any sort of art, these questions may at times be framed in poetic and indirect ways. Directly or indirectly, these works of creation help with reflection on such matters.

Cape Breton Island is part of Atlantic Canada, in the far north of the province of Nova Scotia. It is a place where Mi'kmaq First Nations communities share the land with Gaelic and English speaking people whose ancestors came from Scotland. There are Cape Bretoners whose ancestry connects with France, those who trace their roots to Ireland, to New England, to other parts of Canada, and to other places in the world.

Living the questions: that's a philosophical concept – or at least, suggestion – which shows up in many ways people have tried to understand life across the centuries. Music is, or can be, a part of living with and through questions, both as companion and as source of ideas.

Often, in this series of stories, the idea of questions has come up. As unexpected changes continue in the world's political and social spheres, here are four more songs which have good questions at their heart.