8. SOURCES

What has not yet been discussed is the sources used for the vocal works analyzed.

8.1. The meter

A first-layer answer could be that ancient tragedy (Euripides' “Bacchae” and “Hecuba”), John Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Inferno are time-less, speaking for ever-lasting / ancient issues. Human interest is by default triggered, either by their social / historical / mythological / psychological / linguistic or religious dimensions. Especially for a composer of vocal music, the poetry and meter is of high interest.

Dante writes his Inferno and the whole Divine Comedy, in “hendecasyllabic” lines, which means eleven-syllables per verse, also using “terza rima”. Terza rima has the form of “aba bcb cdc” etc, in terms of verse rime.

Opening verses of Inferno

     Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita      A

      mi ritrovai per una selva oscura             B

      ché la diritta via era smarrita.                A

      Ahi quanto a dir qual era è cosa dura   B

      esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte      C

     che nel pensier rinnova la paura!          B

     Tant'è amara che poco è più morte;      C

     ma per trattar del ben ch'i' vi trovai,      D

     dirò de l'altre cose ch'i' v'ho scorte.      C

In Milton's own words, he uses for Paradise Lost “English heroic verse without rhyme”, known as “blank verse” or unrhymed iambic meter. This a ten-syllable verse. He is not the one who introduces this meter, but he extends it, by stretching the meaning of a phrase beyond one line, breaking the monotony of blank verse's earlier uses.

Example - Book IX, verses 179-190

So-say-ing,-through-each-Thi-cket-Danck-or-Drie,
Like-a-black-mist-low-creeping,-he-held-on
His-mid-night-search,-where-soon-est-he-might-finde
The-Ser-pent:-him-fast-slee-ping-soon-he-found

Ancient tragedies are concretely built on ancient Greek rhythms, which can be of course traced only on the original ancient text. There are mumerous variations, based on long ( _ ) and short( U ) “feet”, creating longer cells-rhythms, which usually stand for a certain “mood”.

examples

         iambus U _

         Trochaic _ U

         Daktylus _UU

All the texts used, offer an innate playground of metric information. Even if I am not directly using it, I l often use the general “pulse” feeling in order to achieve a certain degree of estrangement between the initial text and the result.

8.2. The nature of the source

A second layer approach has to do with the nature of the texts mentioned. In a broad sense, all of them share an air of spirituality, a deeper look to human concerns, which is an essence I am always seeking in my work. The creation of works of art with roots in religion, psychology, sociology etc, create “spiritual shelters”: artistic environments suitable for personal contemplation and introspection, due to the aforementioned dimensions.

Dante creates a unique brutal allegory, commenting on every aspect of his contemporary life. Virgil witnesses a serpent embracing a man till they become “one” (Inferno).

Milton uses the Holy Books, often reaching the limits of “blasphemy”. The Devil, first enters the serpent's body and then drags Adam and Eve into sin and intercourse till they wake up, Fallen, in the mist (Paradise Lost).

Ancient tragedies use Greek mythology at its extreme demonstration, creating characters and situations of archetypical nature. The Bacchae eat Penthefs alive and the Trojan women slaughter two infants.

8.3. Recognisability of the source

There is a third way to look at the “big line” connecting these sources, which is connected to the actual way I am using them. There is a little paradox here - I choose specific texts of specific content, nevertheless, the process aims at removing the semantic aspect, less or more. In many cases I even take complete distance from the text by completely “dismantling” it (eg. The “stutter” section in “Eve's lament”). The common element of all the sources is that they already offer a certain degree of “non-colloquialism”: Ancient Greek, the Renaissance English of Milton, the early-Renaissance Italian of Dante, are all dialects which come, apart from their beauty, with a heavy curtain of vagueness. This is already a tool assisting the effort of estrangement via the processes I am applying.

There is a similarity between the way I am using the text of my sources and the way I am approaching their subject – I see them both as open material in order to convey my personal impression towards these texts. The resulting sound mirrors my emotional response to them, the impact they have on me, how they are filtered and what remains or flourishes when they enter my personal lense. The outcome of my processes substitutes the semantic aspect of the original, which is not there anymore.

In the case of an already “estranged” language or communication code, its “units” can much more easily become neutral tools / “toys” for experimentation. This is why dealing with modern Greek is for me the most difficult task – the semantic power of the words is so present that extra effort is needed for personal filtering. The physical contact with the mother-tongue is so imposing that the chances to escape from it and take a personal path are few. The phrase "Words are prisons to escape from" (chapter 4.1.) is relevant here. This was the case with “Hecuba”, which was worked out through a modern translation made specifically for the performance. This was possibly the reason why, in my effort to escape from my personal experience with the words, I created “shadow language”, a derivative-language consisting of “relics” of the original text.

Also, even If these texts are already, by nature, rich in rhythmical and metrical information, I consciously do not use it, even If I am aware of it. The reason is related to the degree of estrangement I am aiming for. This innate rhythmic information assists the existing contextual meaning, but it would not assist an attempt of “departure”.

Eventually the sources end up being “non-sources” since I take little care of making them audible. What matters though is that, while composing, I never forget which source I am dealing with. In the same way, I consider highly important that the listener also knows what is the source text, even If they do not perceive it in a conventional way. The music itself, in combination with the listener’s personal knowledge of the subject (even if it is very basic), is, in my view, already enough to give the imagination some proper space. Many of course have disagreed and stated that they would have been more engaged to the music If they knew the specific sources that are used, which is of course an acceptable criticism.

Eventually, the original source becomes a nostalgic memory, present mainly in the mind of the listener.

It is as important to remember the origins of the text and to forget it as well. Abu Nuwas, was a great figure in the Arabic literary tradition, who lived around the 8^th century AC: It is said that he went for guidance to Khafal al-Ahmar, who was an authority in the literature of his time. The latter demanded from Nuwas to learn a thousand passages of ancient poetry before he would let him write something of his own. Once Nuwas did that, Khafal al-Ahmar demanded from him to forget all of it before he would again allow him to write something of his own. Only when he made sure that Nuwas forgot it all, did he allow Nuwas to start writing.

This story touches, as an allegory, my thoughts for the relation among the original source and the text, the composer and the listener.