This Ravelled Dust: Cantata for a Nuclear Age

About the piece

This Ravelled Dust tells the story of nuclear proliferation. We hear often about the practical and political problems of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. But it is just as important to address these issues in terms of ethics, the human spirit, and the myths and religious symbols that underlie contemporary Western culture.

In developing nuclear energy, we have opened something that can never be closed again, and we need to deal with our collective feelings about that. This piece borrows imagery from the Old Testament to explore this very current dilemma.

The piece focuses on the phrase: "His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord" [Isaiah 11:3], and the paradox of true wisdom ("delight") through fear (Biblically understood as love, awe, respect). In other words, coming to terms with our fear of self-destruction can result in a profound understanding of our true nature as "fallen" creatures, and, ultimately, a desire to embrace and even live better from that fact.

The choir sings the seven "O Antiphons" — a set of prayers sung in Christian churches over many centuries — alternating with episodes of Muir-Miller’s poem Morning Glory: Radiant Night, set for Tenor and Bass soloists and accompanied by a small group of instruments; in the latter sections the choir (now in a background role), and three boy sopranos, interject brief comments from the Old Testament.

I wrote this piece in close collaboration with Robin Muir-Miller, a respected Australian poet and also an experienced musician; her input, entirely via email, was integral to the piece from first glimmers to the final product. The piece draws from Benjamin Britten's church opera Curlew River, and includes quotes from Handel's Messiah and from early Celtic sources.

~ Robin McClellan

(poem at far left; other texts indented)

PART 1

CHOIR ALONE [Antiphon 1]:
O wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the most high,
Reaching from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come to teach the way of prudence.

TENOR / PERCUSSION / HARP / VIOLA [stanza 1]: (video timing, 2:20)
Glory’s lavished
over the shale -

CHOIR:
I came forth from the mouth of the Most High [Sirach 24:3]

a gauzed and
shimmering hush.

BOY SOPRANOS:
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. [Isaiah 11:3]

The mantra

CHOIR:
Come to teach the way of prudence. [Antiphon 1]

moulds its singers,
mosses chime in the
chiselled dust.

CHOIR:
And all flesh shall see it together…
shall see it revealed [Isaiah 40:5 (Messiah)]

BOY SOPRANOS:
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. [Is. 11:3]

PART 2 (video, 6:08)

CHOIR ALONE [Antiphon 5 (switched with Ant. 2)]
O Morning star, splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

BASS SOLO / VIOLA / FLUTE [stanza 2]:
Adam the dust
sifts quickening wind
through his shadowy sighs;

SOPRANO SOLO:
But the Lord shall arise upon thee…

BASS SOLO:
lustre infuses his rising

ALTO SOLO:
…and the nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. [Is. 60:2-3 (Messiah)]

TENOR / BASS SOLOS:
with tendrils of melody,
missel and brier.

ALL [stanza 3]:
Rapturous singing
ravels the roots
of a cloven thorn.

[HARP interlude]

TENOR / FLUTE: (video, 9:57)
Viper-tides
slide writhily,
slaking his aspirations.

BOY SOPRANOS:
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

PART 3 (video, 11:47)

CHOIR ALONE [Antiphon 3]:
O root of Jesse, standing as a Sign among the peoples;
before whom kings will shut their mouths, whom the nations will implore: Come deliver us, and do not now delay.

TENOR SOLO / FLUTE [stanza 4]:
Hissing its wisdom and

CHOIR:
O wisdom, coming forth [from Ant. 1]

sloughing its wiles,

CHOIR:
The kings will shut their mouths at him...

the malus wood exhales.

...for that which had not been told them shall they See;
and that which they had not heard shall they consider. [Is. 52:15]

A raunchy, luring aroma
invades...

BASS SOLO:
...invades the Arcadian glade
like an alien fungus.

CHOIR / HARP:
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. [Is. 11:1]

BASS SOLO / FRENCH HORN / DB.BASS [stanza 5]: (video, 17:25)
Its spores sufflate

CHOIR:
O root of Jesse [Ant. 3]

and gust awry:
it looms into
a lusting,
gruff miasma.

On that Day the root of Jesse shall stand. [Is. 11:10]

Lyrics and garlands mutate.

BOY SOPRANOS:
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

PART 4 (video, 20:43)

CHOIR ALONE [Antiphon 4]:
O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and Lead the prisoners from the prison house, all those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

BASS SOLO / HARP / VIOLA [stanza 6]:
The garden’s pristine
bliss, berating,
soughs bitterly

[Messiah, instrumental; unspoken: Let us break their bonds asunder] [Psalm 2:3]

over its
shivering gravel.

TENOR SOLO [stanza 7]:
This scattered dust hones
acid-tunes

CHOIR:
O Key of David [from Ant. 4]

TENOR/BASS SOLOS / INSTR. [stanza 7]:
This scattered dust hones
acid-tunes, pricks spore into
its drains and bones.

CHOIR:
Open the blind eyes, bring out the prisoners from the prison,
and them that sit in darkness… [Is. 42:7]

Strains of a murmuring
fungus explode into
garish, babbling moonblooms.

PART 5 (video, 26:33)

CHOIR / PERC. [Antiphon 2]:
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come redeem us with an outstretched arm.

[overlapping:] TENOR/BASS SOLOS / INSTR. [stanza 8]:
A
booming
accolade
of mushrooms
plunders across
the planet’s
arable
brow.....

BOY SOPRANOS:
His delight… Light… shall be… He shall fear the Lord.

TENOR SOLO / PERC. / FLUTE [stanza 9]:
In a crimson country garden,
gashed by a ravishing flashback,

SOPRANO SOLO:
This scattered dust hones [repeated from stanza 7]

arson-blossoms

SOPRANO SOLO:
But who may abide the day of His coming…for He is like a refiner’s fire. [Malachi 3:2 (Messiah)]

rasp and hollow [now with choir:]
the evening’s hallowed aurora.
[now with viola:]
Dust and vespers conflagrate:

TENOR SOLO / VIOLA / FLUTE / DB.BASS
muting, charred, irradiant.

PART 6 (video, 34:45)

CHOIR ALONE [Antiphon 6]:
O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save [us] the human race, which you fashioned from clay.

BASS SOLO / INSTR. [stanza 10]:
Adam has grafted
onto the earth
grief.... and a mushroom.

TENOR SOLO:
Thy rebuke hath broken his heart. [Ps. 69:20 (Messiah)]

[Messiah, instrumental; unspoken text: Behold, and see…

TENOR SOLO, VIOLA, DOUBLE BASS:
Adam has grafted

…if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow. (Messiah) Lamentations 1:12]

onto the earth
grief.... and a mushroom.

PART 7 (video, 39:58)

CHOIR [Antiphon 7]:
O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver

TENOR SOLO:
The mantra [from stanza 1]

CHOIR:
Come to teach [us] the way of prudence. [from Ant. 1]

moulds its singers,

BASS SOLO / FRENCH HORN:
The trumpet shall sound…and we shall be changed. [I Corinthians 15:52 (Messiah)]

CHOIR:
O Emmanuel, the hope of the nations [Ant. 7 cont.]

SOPRANO SOLO:
But the Lord shall arise upon thee... (Messiah)

BASS SOLO:
Lustre infuses his rising [from stanza 2]

CHOIR:
For he is our peace, who hath made Both one [Eph. 2:14]

ALL:
Rapturous singing [from stanza 3]
ravels the roots
of a cloven thorn.

CHOIR ALONE:
O Emmanuel, the hope of the nations and our Savior: [Ant. 7 cont.]. Come to save us, O Lord our God. Come to teach the Way of prudence. [from Ant. 1]

ALL:
Our delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
and we shall be changed.
We shall fear the Lord.

Video

world premiere performance April 30, 2010 by the Toronto Choral Artists, Mark Vuorinen, director
(scroll down for more info)

Performed at the Music Gallery in Toronto

The video was made possible by a scholarship granted to Robin Muir-Miller by MS Australia

Video by Great Northern Productions/Rick Harper; Audio by PaulHodgeAudio.com

Tenor solo: Andrew Haji
Bass solo: Andrew Love

Boy sopranos: Luke Hudson, Ebuka Moneme, and Paul Picotte
(prepared by Caron Daley, St. Michael’s Choir School, Toronto)

Choir and Ensemble members:

Soprano
Stephanie Applin
Erin Bustin (solo, Parts 2 and 7)
Maureen Clarke
Amy Dodington
Tamara Mitchell (solo, Part 5)

Alto
Emma Costante
Elaine Choi
Linda Deshman
Claudia Lemcke (solo, Parts 2 and 7)
Jeanne Yuen

Tenor
Craig Galbraith
Avalon Rusk
Rob Teehan

Bass
Stuart Cruikshank
Alain Delaune
Elisha Denburg
Chris Peterson

Ensemble:
Flute - Roseen Giles
Viola - Alex McLeod
Horn - Caitlin Coppell
Bass - Adrian Rigopulos
Harp - Julia Seager-Scott

Libretto | back to top

Plot overview

Humankind, pursuing our desire for knowledge (egged on by the Serpent), creates an unstoppable, spreading fungus (nuclear energy), and through it we achieve our own destruction. From that is born the most searing grief, manifest as a mushroom. However, in the end that grief leads to a more profound wisdom, born of a loving fear of God that is ultimately redemptive.

The story is narrated by the Tenor and Bass soloists, while the choir interjects reflection and commentary, like the chorus in an ancient Greek drama.

Audio and plot highlights | back to top

Like Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, each character or symbol in this cantata has its own instrument and its own melody; whenever you hear that instrument or that tune, you know that character is present and active:

GARDEN = HARP — the Original Garden of Eden, universal order, the Law of God.

Within the Garden we meet ADAM (all humankind), and Adam's twin, the SERPENT:

ADAM = VIOLA — Humankind, inherently imbued with grief.

In this sample from Part 1, we hear the Garden (the harp) and Adam (the viola). The piece opens in the original Garden of Eden: [tenor:] "a gauzed and shimmering hush... [boy sopranos:] "His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:3)

SERPENT = FLUTE — Adam's twin, but more knowing.

From Part 3. The Serpent arrives: [tenor:] "Hissing its wisdom and sloughing its wiles, [choir interjects...] the malus wood exhales. [choir...then tenor:] A raunchy luring aroma invades... [bass:] ...invades the Arcadian glade [i.e. the Garden] like an alien fungus"

When the Serpent brings wisdom to Adam, together they transgress the Garden's laws, and their energy mutates into:

MUSHROOM = FRENCH HORN — the spreading fungus of nuclear proliferation, and then destruction.

From Part 4 into Part 5: [tenor, bass:] "strains of a murmuring fungus [tenor:] explode [bass:] into garish babbling moonblooms... [choir, drum:] "O Adonai, leader of the house of Israel... (Antiphon 5)]" [horn, tenor, bass:] A booming accolade of mushrooms plunders across the planet's arable brow"

Mushroom's very nature leads inevitably to:

ARSON = DOUBLE BASS / VIOLA plucking their strings (a paltry shadow of the more lustrous strings of the HARP/Garden). After Mushroom siezes control, the HARP is heard no more. The plucked strings of the VIOLA and BASS place us instead...

from Part 5: [flute, percussion, tenor:] "In a crimson country garden, gashed by a ravishing flashback, arson-blossoms..." [duet with soprano solo:] "and who may abide the day of his coming, for he is like a refiner's fire" [tenor:] "...rasp and hollow [with choir:] the evening's hallowed aurora. [with viola's 'ADAM' tune:] Dust and vespers conflagrate: [with horn and flute:] muting, charred, irradiant"

TRUER KNOWLEDGE = CHOIR — After accepting our fate, the "rapturous singing" of the CHOIR transforms us: [bass:] "we shall be changed."

from Part 7: [choir:] "O Emmanuel, the hope of the nations..." [soprano solo:] "but the Lord shall arise..." [bass solo:] "lustre infuses his rising" ... [all:] "Rapturous singing ravels the roots of a cloven thorn" (acceptance and reconciliation).

In the end, the refrain sung earlier by the boy sopranos, "His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord", becomes more universal, sung and played by everyone together: "Our delight shall be in the fear of the Lord; we shall fear the Lord" — that is, we will fear in a good way (to hear this moment, return to the video and complete lyrics above).

(this piece and its combination of texts are intended as an object of contemplation, open to anyone to interpret as they wish; the interpretations of the poem offered here are the composer's and do not necessarily reflect the original intentions of the poet outside the context of this piece)