In the opera, Lucia is in love with Edgardo but her family wants her to marry Arturo—because Edgardo is broke but Arturo has money. Edgardo goes away on business, so Lucia’s brother forges letters and generally convinces her that Edgardo has been faithless.  So she reluctantly marries Arturo after all, but of course Edgardo returns from his trip just in time for the conclusion of the wedding—too late. Despondent, Lucia stabs & kills Arturo on their wedding night, goes mad and dies. Then Lucia’s brother kills Edgardo (it takes him an entire aria to die, of course) and the opera ends.

They have a faux glass armonica which they use in the ‘mad scene’  — a fun prop (the glasses are actually plastic bowls):

The glasses turn — powered by batteries. During the ‘mad scene’ it sits on the side of the stage, the glasses turning & the foot treadle going up and down by itself, adding marvelously to the general spookiness.

Meanwhile, I’m down in the pit: I’m actually under the stage, all the way in the back:

Whew, that darn Lucia gets her bloody paw prints on everything:

All in all it was an extraordinary experience, as you might well imagine. Aaron Doty, the operations & personnel manager (he manages the musicians — think ‘herding cats’) deserves a special shout out for elegantly handling my logistics and shepherding me through the whole process.

Here are excerpts from reviews in which the glass armonica and/or yours truly were mentioned:

Washington Times

Nov 11, 2011

(Entire article)

Enhancing this haunting performance was the musical master-stroke of the evening, as the orchestra added a “glass armonica”** to its accompaniment. Actually scored by Donizetti himself for the opera’s initial performances, its spooky, shimmering echoes underscore the pure madness of Lucia and her hopeless situation. It’s a shame that most performances of the opera today neglect to employ it.

——

** Although the “glass armonica” for this production actually appears on stage, the performing instrument in the orchestra pit and is being played by soloist William Zeitler for these performances.

ConcertoNet.com

S. Coburn, S. Pirgu (photo by Scott Suchman)

Nov 11, 2011

(Entire article)

Maestro Auguin worked from the critical edition and made very few cuts. He employed the glass harmonica in the Mad Scene, which gave Ms. Coburn the opportunity to do wonderfully imaginative touches. Most notable was the cadenza of the Mad Scene, in which the eerie sounding glass harmonica replaced the traditional flute. Whoever wrote her cadenza did something really brilliant. It was completely outside the 19th century bel canto style of music. It was like a young Arnold Schoenberg had composed it. It was lush and explored new possibilities in the tonality as she searched for that final Bb. To say the very least, her performance of the Mad Scene completely brought down the house.

DC Theater Scene

Nov 12, 2011

(Entire article)

Conductor Philippe Auguin makes wonderful music, and the orchestra, once warmed up, did well. I very much liked how Auguin let Coburn shape her mad aria. I was especially delighted that the production returned to the original score, restoring the glass armonica as accompaniment in Lucia’s mad scene.  (Its unworldly sound was thought to induce hysteria.) It suitably evoked the voices echoing in Lucia’s head.

Baltimore Sun

November 16, 2011

(Entire article)

 In this visual and theatrical context, the use of an armonica for the mad scene, as Donizetti intended, is the crowning touch. (It is quite rare to hear this instrument in a “Lucia” performance, live or on recording.)

This Benjamin Franklin-perfected instrument of musical glasses produces a sound so eerie and ethereal that it can’t help but reflect Lucia’s fragile mental state. Heck, people used to think the instrument itself could trigger nervous disorders. (William Zeitler is the accomplished armonica player here.)

Alas, like every family, there are always a few malignant growths on the family tree that all would like to pretend don’t exist. Count Bachula, and P.D.Q. Bach are two, of course. Unfortunately for Lovers of Music everywhere, I’ve unearthed another one this year: O.C.D. Bach. Sadly, O.C.D.Bach died at age 5—some say he was strangled by folks driven mad by his music—which makes his output of almost 20,000 sonatas by the time he was barely out of diapers truly remarkable.

O.C.D. Bach’s music is important in that it anticipated the 20^th century ‘minimalists’ such as Phillip Glass by over two centuries.

Here is a ‘late work’  (age 4) by O.C.D.Bach which I unearthed this year. Notice the masterful way he develops the theme in the middle section:

Sonata No. 17265 mp3

Sonata No. 17265 pdf

http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

Chorale preludes have a long history in music. Even not-particularly-religious composers wrote them—just because!

By the way, hymn tunes get all sorts of different words set to them, so the tunes themselves have been given nicknames to keep them straight. (E.g.”‘Nicaea” and “St. Denio”). If you’re acquainted with any hymnal at all, you’ll certainly recognize these tunes right away.

So, here are two more contributions to that long and honorable tradition. In the mp3 I’ve played the hymn tune itself once straight, and then the chorale prelude. Both are for pipe organ.

Nicaea

• Here's the the whole piece (3:23)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

St. Denio

• Here's the the whole piece (2:07)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

The Journey

If darkness be east,
Go west!
If evil be south,
Go north!
If want be below,
Go above!
If sadness be without,
Go within!

You will never find the Water of Life
Lying in the desert:

“Look how bright is the sun!” you say.
“See how the dunes shimmer!
See how beautiful and unique
Is each and every grain of sand!

Or:

“Woe is me!
It is too hard!
I am not strong enough,
Wise enough,
Beautiful enough,
Wealthy enough,
Anything enough
To rouse myself!

Countless are the excuses
With which we distract ourselves,
That keep us prostrate,
That lull us into a fatal sleep,
Slowly dying of thirst,
Slowly transforming us
Into crumbling bones in the sand.

Better to follow visions of Water,
Even mirages!
Than to lay down in the sand and die!

Better to follow rumors of Water,
Hearsay from fellow travelers,
And even the occasional deliberate Lie
Than to lay down in the sand and die!

Run when you can!
Crawl when you must!
But if you keep your course
Strait and True,
Guided by Eternal Polaris by night,
And the sun’s passing shadows by day,
In due time you will find Paradise.

The Compass

An Ordinary Compass

Every journey needs a compass. But compasses usually have their arrows pointing outward–the image for “The Journey” has its arrows pointing inward.

And, the ‘eye’ is an apt symbol for ‘reason’ (as in: “I SEE what you mean”). Meanwhile,  St. John (and others) inform us that “God is Love” (heart)–and not “God is Thought” (mind)! In this image, “heart/Love” envelopes “mind/reason.” Mind without heart is as inclined towards Evil as Good (e.g. Hitler’s acknowledged genius). But Mind directed and focused by Heart/Love–ah–that be a True Compass!!

With your indulgence, the remaining symbolism of this image is left as an exercise to the reader…

The Compass

The Music

“The Journey” is scored for glass armonica, string orchestra and harp.

• Here's the the whole piece (7:04)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

The famous psychologist Carl Jung wrote extensively about this ‘inner alchemical’ literature.

Some of it is in the form of images, others as poetry or wildly metaphorical prose. The Book of Lambspring is a set of images and accompanying poems. It dates from around 1600.

The poem says that the two fish are the Soul and the Spirit, swimming in the sea of the Body. You can read the poem for yourself, but I’ll leave you with a thought that has helped me make sense of this image and sacred literature in general. And that is: perhaps one way of thinking about the difference between Soul and Spirit is that ‘soul’ is our consciousness directed towards OURSELVES, where ‘spirit’ is our consciousness directed toward God. You’ll notice that the two fish in the image are swimming in opposite directions.

So here’s the first image in the alchemical Book of Lambspring, and my own new piece to go with it.

1. The Two Fish

The Sea is the Body, the two Fishes are Soul and Spirit.

The Sages will tell you
That two fishes are in our sea
Without any flesh or bones.
Let them be cooked in their own water;
Then they also will become a vast sea,
The vastness of which no man can describe.
Moreover, the Sages say
That the two fishes are only one, not two;
They are two, and nevertheless they are one,
Body, Spirit, and Soul.
Now, I tell you most truly,
Cook these three together,
That there may be a very large sea.
Cook the sulphur well with the sulphur,
And hold your tongue about it:
Conceal your knowledge to your own advantage,
And you shall be free from poverty.
Only let your discovery remain a close secret.

• Here's the the whole piece (5:59)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

It’s interesting to take a childhood memory like this song and reflect on it through the lens of the joys and sorrows that have intervened over the decades. Some childhood ideas and dreams are left behind. But other childhood ideas and dreams end up defining the course of our lives–although perhaps now reframed and deepened by an older, hard-won perspective. (I’ve symbolized that in this piece by restating the song–as dreamlike fragments of it appear–with a different meter.)

So here’s a solo piano piece, reflecting on this iconic children’s song:

• Here's the the whole piece (5:07)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

In Search of the Philosopher's Stone

(Click here for mp3 and order page)

The “Philosopher’s Stone”, reputed to be hard as stone and malleable as wax, is a legendary alchemical tool, capable of turning base metals into gold—which we’ve seen can be a metaphor for ‘enlightenment’. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixer of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality—all of which fit in nicely with alchemy processes in general being metaphors for  ‘enlightenment’.

“The stone, also referred to as the “tincture,” or the “powder” (Greek xerion, which passed through Latin into Arabic as elixir), was allied to an elixir of life, believed by alchemists to be a liquid derived from it. Inasmuch as alchemy was concerned not only with the search for a method of upgrading less valuable metals but also of perfecting the human soul, the philosopher’s stone was thought to cure illnesses, prolong life, and bring about spiritual revitalization. The philosopher’s stone, described variously, was sometimes said to be a common substance, found everywhere but unrecognized and unappreciated.”¹

What a wish list! Wealth. Spiritual renewal. Longevity. Health. Even an elixir of life! In essence, the philosopher’s stone offers all human values. The Philosopher’s Stone is like gold, but even better. Gold is a means to all material wealth, but the philosopher’s stone is a means to all ends, a universal means. And it’s lying around for the taking. It’s everywhere! If you have the wit merely to recognize it and learn how to use it, then all ends are within your reach. We needn’t wonder why those who believed in the philosopher’s stone devoted their lives to finding it. What higher ideal could they seek? What better end could a man set himself than a universal means?

The search for the Philosopher’s Stone occupied some of the finest minds of the Middle Ages and Renaissance: Isaac Newton (1643–1727: yes, the famous physicist!) was deeply interested in alchemy and particularly interested in finding the Philosopher’s Stone.² And, according to legend, the 13th-century scientist and philosopher Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280)  is said to have discovered the philosopher’s stone and passed it to his pupil Thomas Aquinas (c.1225–1274: yes, the famous Catholic theologian!) shortly before Magnus’ death.

And just pure speculation: in the  ‘Sword in the Stone‘, might the stone from which young Arthur pulled Excalibur and proved his right to the English throne be related to the Philosopher’s Stone?

More generally, isn’t the never ending search for the Philosopher’s Stone, in all of its guises, one of our quintessentially human qualities: never satisfied with the status quo—always picking away at the chains that bind us all—longer life, better health, more comfort, more knowledge, more Art, more spirituality, more more more! That quality has been both our Great Glory and our Great Curse.

In Search of the Philosopher’s Stone is scored for glass armonica and symphony orchestra.

1. Encyc. Brit., 15th ed., 1976
2. NOVA: Newton’s Dark Secrets (2005) USA: PBS

"Harmony of the Birth of the World"—Kircher

To write a piece about Creation that’s only a few minutes long seems almost preposterous—Haydn takes a couple hours of music in his oratorio Creation, and even God Himself took 6 whole days to create the Cosmos! But I like to think about how these Archetypal Stories continue to re-enact themselves today, in my own life. If we’re “created in the image of God”, does the Genesis story say something about how my own acts of creation unfold?

Here is one imagination of that. You may have another, and tomorrow I could likely have yet another still! But here’s one for today:

• I first start with ‘darkness’—before any creation commences or insight occurs.
• Then I have an ‘idea’—Light is a frequent metaphor for ideas (including the light bulb turning on over your head).
• Then this idea begins to give structure to whatever it’s about (separating the firmaments): it begins to give structure to the notes if it’s a piece of music, it begins to give structure to personal decisions if it’s an idea about how to move forward in my life. At this stage I can separate elements in my life into “this furthers my Idea” (the firmament ABOVE) and “this hinders my Idea” (the firmament BELOW) and start making choices accordingly.
• And, any really Good Idea brings forth lots of implied additional ideas as it works itself out—it’s “fruitful and multiplies”.

Another thought: a rather a tacit assumption from the Genesis story is that God stopped creating after Creation. But the story only says that He rested on one day—not that He took the rest of Eternity off! Perhaps after a day of rest, He gets right back to work creating some more? Hmm…

The piece opens with a single note ‘E’. This has a definite symbolic significance:

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the cosmos—it accounts for about 75% of the universe’s elemental mass. Stars are mainly composed of hydrogen in its plasma state, and our Sun accounts for 99.9% of the total mass of our solar system—the earth and other planets are just the tiniest dust motes floating around our Solar Candle.

Hydrogen generates a spectral line at 1420.40575 MHz due to changes in its energy state.  These changes actually occur very rarely, but there’s just so darn much hydrogen in this Really Big Cosmos that there’s a constant 1420.40575 MHz “hum” going on all the time as a cosmic background whistle. If we were to transpose this “hum” down into the audio range (20 octaves more or less), its closest note (in standard Western tuning) is ‘E’, so that’s the sustained note with which the piece begins.

And much more. But I can’t give away all my secrets! <wink!>

So here we are, starting a new year. We’ve just completed our ’6 days of creation’ called 2008, and the whole world takes a deep breath at the Winter Holy-Days—a ‘day of rest’—before plunging into the next ’6 days’ called 2009. This piece is my wish to you for a blessed new year!

“The Harmony of the Birth of the World” is scored for symphony orchestra and pipe organ (see Kircher’s image).

• Here's the the whole piece (9:44)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds
• Here's the the score

Sincerely,

william

Here’s an image from the Quinta Essentia by Thurneisser (1530–96):

The Alchemical Tree

Until you get some familiarity with the ‘language’ of these alchemical images, it’s hard to even know where to begin. So here’s is one interpretation—and by no means the only one:

The tree: what do trees do? They have their roots in the earth, but they reach for the heavens.

The birds: their natural abode is the heavens.

The dragon: unlike western children’s bedtime stories, dragons in the alchemical literature are not necessarily evil and destructive.  And the natural abode of dragons is also the heavens. But this one is on the earth. And kneeling (as well as a dragon can kneel!)… and instead of breathing out fire, it’s drinking in water. And the result of that is that the Alchemical Tree is blossoming…

Again, my hints at ‘interpretation’ have no more authority than anyone else’s. But it’s a place to start!

Here’s my companion piece. It’s scored for chamber orchestra (strings, french horns, flute, oboe, clarinet, harp, celesta, finger cymbals):

• Here's the the whole piece (5:44)
• Here's the the first 30 seconds