Through Space and Time
A fantasia for Bassoon* & Piano on themes from Sailing to Byzantium by W.B. Yeats (1865-1939)
Referencing Byzantine mosaics from San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy; the Holy Fire Ceremony at the Jerusalem Sepulchre; & the Cherubikon, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, from the Byzantine Liturgy of St. James for Holy Saturday.
Duration: 5'30"
A fantasia for Bassoon* & Piano on themes from Sailing to Byzantium by W.B. Yeats (1865-1939)
Referencing Byzantine mosaics from San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy; the Holy Fire Ceremony at the Jerusalem Sepulchre; & the Cherubikon, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, from the Byzantine Liturgy of St. James for Holy Saturday.
Duration: 5'30"
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WORLD PREMIERE
Conor Bell, Bsn & Tiantian Liang, Piano Tuesday 23 July 2024 at 1015 Kitt Recital Hall, NAU, Flagstaff AZ, USA IDRS 53rd Conference |
SECOND PERFORMANCE
Conor Bell, Bsn & Sarah Rushing, Piano Tuesday 27 August 2024 at 1930 Northen Recital Hall WTAMU, Canyon, TX, USA |
IMPORTANT
Through Space and Time is only available to commissioning consortium members, until further notice.
To find out more, please visit the About Byzantion, Consortium Info & Members pages. Many thanks.
*Alternate instrumentation: Bass Clarinet, Baritone Sax
Through Space and Time is only available to commissioning consortium members, until further notice.
To find out more, please visit the About Byzantion, Consortium Info & Members pages. Many thanks.
*Alternate instrumentation: Bass Clarinet, Baritone Sax
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From Sailing to Byzantium (1927)
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O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall, Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre, And be the singing-masters of my soul. |
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is; And gather me Into the artifice of eternity. |
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Images: W.B. Yeats (1908): charcoal portrait by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), public domain
Christ in Majesty/Pantokrator icon, Emperor Justinian, & Empress Theodora (6th Century A.D.): Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy; Wikimedia Commons
The Holy Fire Ceremony, Jerusalem, 2022; Wikimedia Commons
Diagramme of Yeats' concept of historical gyres; public domain
Christ in Majesty/Pantokrator icon, Emperor Justinian, & Empress Theodora (6th Century A.D.): Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy; Wikimedia Commons
The Holy Fire Ceremony, Jerusalem, 2022; Wikimedia Commons
Diagramme of Yeats' concept of historical gyres; public domain
Conor Bell & Sarah Rushing perform Byzantion II at WTAMU in Canyon, Texas - 29 August 2024.
The sampled file shows the Grand Canyon & other Arizona highlights near Flagstaff, AZ; Conor & Tiantian rehearse the finale, Ceremony, on world premiere day; Kathleen, Conor & Tiantian perform Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia (2022).
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Artistic & Theoretical Properties
The Role of the Bassoonist
In Byzantion II, the bassoonist has two principal roles. The first is that of the protagonist, Yeats, who importunes the saints in an elevated Byzantine mosaic to descend from their high position, and to whirl through time and space into his presence, in order to help him prepare for his future life in Eternity. The second role is that of cantor, leading the cherubikon* near the end of the piece.
To elaborate on the points above, the bassoon's extended range - which covers the entirety of the male voice (from deep bass to counter tenor) - has been a major factor in my conceptualisation of this piece. The instrument speaks for Yeats, and for the tradition of male voice singing in Orthodox worship. For those unfamiliar with Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia, this fact was one of the reasons that I chose the English Horn, rather than the oboe, for the upper part: so as better to approximate an adult-male-voice choir, singing one octave apart. However, I also selected the English Horn for its superior blend with the bassoon. My own career as a Cor anglais (EH) player was also a factor in my decision to depart from the standard instrumentation of the double-reed piano trio.
Structure
Unlike Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia, the structure of which is strictly determined by the iambic pentameter, ottava rima and number of verses in Sailing to Byzantium, and which commences with 12th-century historical chant from Patmos, Byzantion II is a freely-composed fantasia. It has three principal sections, as follows:
1) O Sages standing in God's Holy Fire, As in the Gold Mosaic of a Wall: The protagonist regards the mosaics and importunes the saints to descend to earth. This is represented by the descending bassoon line, which commences with a high B and moves steadily downwards, by step. The brilliance of each tiny piece of mosaic is rendered by the very high piano notes.
2) Perne in a gyre: After a transition section, we enter the gyre. Time is progressively condensed through seven sevens of turning. The bassoon continues its descent to an eventual low 'D'.
3) The Holy Fire and Ceremony: An aural depiction of the annual Holy Fire ceremony which takes place on Easter Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Contains a cherubikon composed by me (not taken from historic chant). Each note played by the bassoon corresponds with one syllable of the first three lines of the cherubikon for Holy Saturday from the Liturgy of St. James: Σιγησάτω πᾶσα σάρξ βροτεία, καὶ στήτω μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου, καὶ μηδὲν γήϊνον ἐν ἑαυτῇ λογιζέσθω (Silence all fleshly noises, and stand with fear and terror, and consider no earth in thyself). I chose to compose a cherubikon because it encapsulates what Yeats was searching for, in his appeal to the sages: a meeting between those who reside in eternity, and those alive on the earth.
Yeats composed Sailing to Byzantium in later life, when he was struggling with ageing. The focus on mortality in the liturgy connects with Sailing to Byzantium, thus: "Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is; And gather me Into the artifice of eternity". Also, "That is no country for old men... An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick", etc.
In Byzantion II, the bassoonist has two principal roles. The first is that of the protagonist, Yeats, who importunes the saints in an elevated Byzantine mosaic to descend from their high position, and to whirl through time and space into his presence, in order to help him prepare for his future life in Eternity. The second role is that of cantor, leading the cherubikon* near the end of the piece.
To elaborate on the points above, the bassoon's extended range - which covers the entirety of the male voice (from deep bass to counter tenor) - has been a major factor in my conceptualisation of this piece. The instrument speaks for Yeats, and for the tradition of male voice singing in Orthodox worship. For those unfamiliar with Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia, this fact was one of the reasons that I chose the English Horn, rather than the oboe, for the upper part: so as better to approximate an adult-male-voice choir, singing one octave apart. However, I also selected the English Horn for its superior blend with the bassoon. My own career as a Cor anglais (EH) player was also a factor in my decision to depart from the standard instrumentation of the double-reed piano trio.
Structure
Unlike Byzantion I - Hagia Sophia, the structure of which is strictly determined by the iambic pentameter, ottava rima and number of verses in Sailing to Byzantium, and which commences with 12th-century historical chant from Patmos, Byzantion II is a freely-composed fantasia. It has three principal sections, as follows:
1) O Sages standing in God's Holy Fire, As in the Gold Mosaic of a Wall: The protagonist regards the mosaics and importunes the saints to descend to earth. This is represented by the descending bassoon line, which commences with a high B and moves steadily downwards, by step. The brilliance of each tiny piece of mosaic is rendered by the very high piano notes.
2) Perne in a gyre: After a transition section, we enter the gyre. Time is progressively condensed through seven sevens of turning. The bassoon continues its descent to an eventual low 'D'.
3) The Holy Fire and Ceremony: An aural depiction of the annual Holy Fire ceremony which takes place on Easter Saturday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Contains a cherubikon composed by me (not taken from historic chant). Each note played by the bassoon corresponds with one syllable of the first three lines of the cherubikon for Holy Saturday from the Liturgy of St. James: Σιγησάτω πᾶσα σάρξ βροτεία, καὶ στήτω μετὰ φόβου καὶ τρόμου, καὶ μηδὲν γήϊνον ἐν ἑαυτῇ λογιζέσθω (Silence all fleshly noises, and stand with fear and terror, and consider no earth in thyself). I chose to compose a cherubikon because it encapsulates what Yeats was searching for, in his appeal to the sages: a meeting between those who reside in eternity, and those alive on the earth.
Yeats composed Sailing to Byzantium in later life, when he was struggling with ageing. The focus on mortality in the liturgy connects with Sailing to Byzantium, thus: "Consume my heart away; sick with desire And fastened to a dying animal It knows not what it is; And gather me Into the artifice of eternity". Also, "That is no country for old men... An aged man is but a paltry thing, A tattered coat upon a stick", etc.
*Glossary of Terms
Gyre ~ In the contemporary world, the word 'gyre' primarily applies to rotating ocean currents. Yeats used it to conceptualise successive periods of history which moved in dialectical opposition to one another. In the context of the poem, the gyre functions as a spinning vortex in time and space, through which eternity can break into the earthly, carnal world.
Perne ~ to turn, whirl or spin. A word associated exclusively with Yeats, originating from the Gaelic word for 'bobbin'. Yeats' innovation was to use this noun as a verb.
Perne ~ to turn, whirl or spin. A word associated exclusively with Yeats, originating from the Gaelic word for 'bobbin'. Yeats' innovation was to use this noun as a verb.
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Cherubikon ~ the Greek Orthodox term for the Latin mass's gradual. A hymn of around 10 minutes' duration, sung at one of the most crucial points in the Orthodox divine liturgy. The priest and his assistants approach, and open, the central door in the iconostasis, thereby linking the human worshippers (present in time) with the unseen cherubic worshippers (the eternal heavenly host) standing behind the iconostasis.
Iconostasis ~ the word means 'ikon stand' in Greek. Iconostases developed, by the seventeenth century, from the original templons: a series of columns separating the sanctuary area of an Orthodox church from the nave (wherein the congregation sits). Hagia Sophia had a templon. The Moscuvite iconostasis in the photograph dates from the period when Hagia Sophia was lost to the Ottoman Empire. Note the central doors. Modern iconostases uniformly have two single side doors and one central pair of doors. |
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The Holy Fire Ceremony ~ central to worship on the Great and Holy Saturday (Easter Saturday), when a flame is brought forth from the inner sactum of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and passed around the congregants there present, before being taken to Ben Gurion airport and then flown to all the capital cities in the Orthodox world. This symbolises the overcoming light of Christ after the Harrowing of Hell (anastasis). A controversial ceremony amongst some non-Orthodox Christians, but one in which many visitors to the Holy Sepulchre have testified that they were able to pass their hands through the flame, without injury.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence ~ our sublime Western hymn (which uses music sourced by Ralph Vaughan Williams) is based upon a paraphrase, by Gerard Moultrie, of the words of the cherubikon for Holy Saturday from the Byzantine Liturgy of St. James.
The full text of Sailing to Byzantium from The Tower (1928) by W. B. Yeats
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence ~ our sublime Western hymn (which uses music sourced by Ralph Vaughan Williams) is based upon a paraphrase, by Gerard Moultrie, of the words of the cherubikon for Holy Saturday from the Byzantine Liturgy of St. James.
The full text of Sailing to Byzantium from The Tower (1928) by W. B. Yeats
