Guest
“Earth Symphony“ (excerpts). Jake Runestad, composer. Todd Boss, librettist. Performed by True Concord Voices & Orchestra. Eric Holtan, conductor. Video/audio by Arizona PBS. More info: Winner of a 2022 EMMY® Award for Musical Composition. Excerpts: 00:00 -- I. Evolution 03:33 -- II. Ambition 05:02 -- III. Destruction 07:01 -- IV. Lament 09:01 -- V. Recovery EARTH SYMPHONY Libretto by Todd Boss I. Evolution Forever alone — four billion years of empty space and dormant stone. Then you were born: Humankind! and soon upon your face there dawned a trace of mind! You scorned the odds to be reborn as gods of reason, authors of wonder, inventors of alchemy, chemistry, astronomy. You alone unwound the helix of my chi. You mirrored me to me. Mirabilia! You were my light. Never shall I dare to dream another dream so bright. II. Ambition And how are you fallen so soon? Do you remember Icarus, whose father gave him wings of wax and feathers for a toy? There he is — in memory’s eye — canary of a boy! [Icarus:] O, joy — so much at hand! — to soar the strand, over sea and shore! Whee! — to taste ambition pure! Two wingbeats more, and I can see the patterns on the ocean floor. O, me! I’m free as albatross! Stronger than ever with a father so clever with beeswax and feather! I flap them together and higher and higher I rise! — I am a dream! I’ll touch the moon! How small she is — the blue- green planet far below… I belong to her no longer. Who am I, without her? The sun. The sun grows. The sun grows ever hotter… [Earth:] Yes I remember Icarus, who flew too near the sun. Waxen wings undone, he tumbled, thrashing, and came crashing into the sea! So fell humanity. So fell I. III. Destruction Timore atmosphaeram, you make your mother torturer! Twist me against my nature, waste me to tinder, roast me under the torches of the sun till I’m undone. You dam my waters, bleach my corals, flood me, strangle me, slaughter each other, set me on fire! I am rage! I am war! Where are your gods now? Mirabilia! What have you done, over-blessed one? Briefest of species, what have you done? IV. Lament Sleep now, my children, now your days are done. Nevermore shall you adore the setting of the sun. Sleep now, forever, lofted in time. No seraphim to rouse thee, no carillons to chime. Mirabilia! Never shall I dare to dream a dream so bright. Sleep now, my children, my wonder, my light. Never shall I dare to dream another dream so bright. Mirabilia! Never shall I dare to dream a dream so bright. Sleep now, my children, though the cradle fall. You rest among the yesterdays, the softest place of all. Mirabilia! V. Recovery Alone forever, the mirror dims. Empty space. Dormant stone. No. I shall not go alone. Ivy shall recover every avenue, seaweed swallow every drain, and forestry sow a sorcery over every human stain. None shall weep, and none shall witness, while my wordless work is done. Slowly, in the shell of a factory, a gray whale, circling aimlessly, writes a disappearing history in the shadows of the deep, and none shall weep. There shall come a day like the first day, so heavenly, so clear. Mirabilia, you would love it here. Instagram: TikTok: @jakerunestad Facebook:
