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In
Memoriam: Derek Bell 1935-2002
Friday,
October 18, 2002
Ananda Prayer
Ceremony Commemorates Life of Legendary Harpist Derek Bell
A Tribute
to Derek: Video
of Derek Bell during a live performance introducing, and
performing, three songs—one by Carolan, and two by Swami Kriyananda.
A delightful view of Derek's unique humor and his virtuoso harp
playing (RealPlayer, 13 minutes).
A spiritual
astral ascension ceremony was held today at Ananda Village for Derek
Bell, the legendary harpist for the Irish group The Chieftains,
who died suddenly in Arizona this past week, following a routine
surgery.
Ananda ministers
Ram and Dianna Smith led the ceremony, which included prayers for
Derek, chanting, meditation, and a performance of New Dawn by cellist
David Eby with David Gortner on viola. Members of Ananda who had
been friends of Derek's for many years offered their eulogies and
remembrances, many referring to him as "deeply devoted to God",
"a Divine Angel", and "A friend to all, and a humble
servant of God."
Besides being
a renowned harpist and musician, Derek Bell had a deep spiritual
side. Since the early 1960's he was a disciple of the great yogi
Paramhansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi. For the
past 12 years he was a frequent visitor to Ananda Village, the spiritual
community in Nevada City, CA, founded by Swami Kriyananda, a chief
disciple of Yogananda's who lived with the great master before his
passing in 1952. His most recent visit to Ananda was to attend Spiritual
Renewal Week in late August, 2002, where Kriyananda gave many of
the classes and lectures.
Swami Kriyananda and Derek Bell
In 1989 Derek
Bell discovered Kriyananda's autobiography, The Path, in a London
bookshop. In the preface to Kriyananda's Art as a Hidden Message,
Derek recounts his association with Ananda:
"After
reading it (The Path), I decided at last to get in touch with him.
We corresponded, and I subsequently read a fair cross-section of
his books, heard some of his tapes, and watched a few of his videos.
I also visited Ananda several times, the beautiful village Kriyananda
himself founded in 1968. There I learned from him and his followers
as much about Yogananda as I could. In 1995 I offered to record
some of Kriyananda's music, both because I loved it, and for the
sake of completeness-of returning with gratitude what I had gained."
(Bell's complete preface to the book follows this article)
 In
1996, Derek recorded Mystic
Harp, a solo harp album of mystical Celtic music that Swami
Kriyananda composed expressly for Derek Bell's performance. The
best-selling album went on to be selected for the One Spirit Book-of-the-Month
Club, as did Mystic Harp II, the second album of Kriyananda's music
that Bell recorded in 1999.
Derek Bell was
a frequent visitor to Ananda Village, where he became close friends
to many of the 250 residents. Despite his demanding tour schedule
with The Chieftains, he would always plan a visit to Ananda each
year for Spiritual Renewal Week, when Ananda members and disciples
of Yogananda come together for classes, meditations, and spiritual
ceremonies. He often performed harp concerts for Ananda guests and
residents, interspersed with his humorous stories of classical musicians
and composers.
He also performed
solo harp to sold-out concerts at Grass Valley's St. Joseph's Hall,
and at The Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. A third
solo album, A Celtic Evening With Derek Bell as well as a video
of the evening, was recorded from his Mountain View concert. All
three albums, Mystic Harp; Mystic Harp II; and A Celtic Evening
With Derek Bell were recorded by Clarity Sound & Light, the
music and video studios located at Ananda Village.
• Listen
to Derek performing Celtic
Moonrise (RealPlayer format) from Mystic
Harp, and Brave
Were the People (RealPlayer format) from Mystic
Harp 2.
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