Contemporary American composer Christopher Tin wanted to write a song cycle about water. The piece’s title, The Drop That Contained the Sea, was taken from a Sufi concept that says in the same way that every drop of water contains the essence of the sea, inside every human is the essence of all of humanity.

“Water is one of the most powerful forces in the world. It creates life and brings about death, and it has the power to shape the face of the earth. Water means different things to different cultures, and I wanted to explore this in The Drop That Contained the Sea. Each piece is inspired by water in a different form, arranged in the order that water flows through the world: melting snow, mountain streams, rivers, the ocean, and so forth. And like Calling All Dawns, the end of the album flows back into the beginning, reflecting the endless nature of the water cycle. Each of the 10 pieces is also sung in a different language, exploring a different vocal tradition: Bulgarian women’s choirs, Mongolian throat singing, and Portuguese fado, to name just a few.”- Christopher Tin, album liner notes

The song cycle consists of ten songs, each sung in a different language including Bulgarian, Turkish, Mongolian, Xhosa, Ancient Greek, and Sanskrit. The first video below is the segment that initially caught my attention. The second video has the full 1-hour song cycle (complete with original lyrics and translations).

Tin is a really interesting character. His compositions range from Grammy-award-winning videogame soundtracks to a new ending for Puccini’s unfinished Turandot. The latter, commissioned by the Washington National Opera, was performed to a sold out house in 2024, and received wildly-positive reviews. Tin may be the most interesting person about whom I’ve written!

You can learn more about Christopher Tin on his website and on YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.