Work Details
Orchestration: 1·1·1·1 / 1·1·0·0 / 1 Perc / Strings with soprano, baritone soloists and SATB chorus
Duration: approx. 65 minutes · 18 movements
Texts: Julian of Norwich (c. 1342–1416) · Book of Margery Kempe (tr. Christopher M. Brunelle) · Robert Herrick (1591–1674) · Elizabeth Kirschner
Dedication: To the choir of Royal Holloway, University of London, Rupert Gough, director of choral music
Commission: Commissioned for the choir of Royal Holloway, University of London
Performance History
- World Première: 30 May 2009 · Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London & London Mozart Players, cond. Rupert Gough · Cadogan Hall, London
- American Première: 26 June 2009 · Choir of Royal Holloway & Buttrick Sinfonia, cond. Rupert Gough · The Memorial Church, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Albany Records · TROY1143 · 2009
The Revelations of Divine Love
Rebecca Henning (soprano) · Jonathan Mark Roberts (bass-baritone) · Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London · Buttrick Sinfonia · Rupert Gough, conductor
"Cooman's music is elegant and pastoral… The composer excels at this style."
American Record Guide
Albany Records TROY1143 ↗
Programme Notes / Notes de programme
Carson Cooman on The Revelations of Divine Love
The Revelations of Divine Love (Metaphors from Sea and Sky) (2009), an oratorio for soprano, baritone, chorus, and chamber orchestra, was commissioned for and is dedicated to the choir of Royal Holloway, University of London, Rupert Gough, director of choral music.
The texts of the work are adapted primarily from the writings of Julian of Norwich (c. 1342–1416). Julian is best-known for her Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love (c. 1339), believed to be the first English-language book written by a woman. Considered one of the most significant English mystics of all time, Julian lived a reclusive life as an anchoress at the Church of St. Julian in Norwich, England (her true name is unknown). Regarded even during her lifetime as a spiritual authority, her optimistic visions have been very influential in the years that have followed.
Texts are also drawn from three additional sources: an excerpt from the Book of Margery Kempe (translated by Christopher M. Brunelle), two poems by English poet Robert Herrick (1591–1674), and a poem by the American writer Elizabeth Kirschner (b. 1955).
The primary concept underlying this oratorio is the presence of two distinct discourses. One is a sequence taken from Julian's religious visions. The other is a "sonic geography" of Nantucket Island (located 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts). This interconnected concept was inspired by the writings of the great Scottish poet George Mackay Brown (1921–1996). Living his entire life on Scotland's Orkney Islands, Mackay Brown consistently explored the "transposition" of religious imagery and events to his native landscape.
The landscape of Nantucket Island has been the driving force behind a large number of my compositions for many years. In this oratorio, Julian's visions are transposed from Norwich and mapped onto the Nantucket landscape. Each movement of the work thus has two parallel purposes: a setting of the visionary words, and a portrayal of a specific place in Nantucket's geography. Much of the music was planned in the actual locations. Since the soloists and choir must, by necessity, sing the words, a great deal of the landscape is left to the orchestra. Thus, the orchestra's role is substantially greater than simply accompaniment.
Because of these two discourses, the oratorio is not intended as a comprehensive "working out" of all aspects of Julian's visions, nor does it use her own structure and sequence. Rather, it takes her beautiful words, and the fundamentals of her visions, and attempts to create a new narrative and spiritual experience from them.
— Carson P. Cooman, Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 2009
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The Eighteen Movements
An Oratorio in Eighteen Movements
Each movement is set at a specific location on Nantucket Island. The Nantucket paintings on the original page are by Loretta Yoder and are used with permission.
The music begins at Brant Point, one of Nantucket's three lighthouses, appearing at the place of entry into the harbor.
Sets an excerpt from the Book of Margery Kempe (1438). In this section of her autobiography, Kempe visits Julian in Norwich to seek counsel regarding spiritual visions she had recently experienced. This text is sung in Latin, representing a transitional entry point into the modern English of the remainder of the work — much in the manner of entering the harbor.
Julian tells how she asked for three gifts of God, all of which were necessary prerequisites for her visions.
Sets a poem by Robert Herrick describing the soul's longing for flight. The two Herrick poems used in this work represent the "sky" and "sea" respectively.
A dramatic depiction of one of Julian's visions. The imagery which Julian employs throughout her writing is extremely tactile (and often sensual) in its impact; in this case, she experienced the physicality of the blood very directly. This movement is set at Coatue, a spit of uninhabited land that separates the outer harbor from Nantucket Sound — looking out to the dark, rough waters.
We walk back across the dunes to the calm side of Coatue, looking into the upper harbor. The text is one of Julian's most beautiful prayers: a serenely simple reflection of all-encompassing God.
Set at Polpis, within the lower harbor — in particular, the quiet, marshy inlets. The music is devotional in character.
Sets the most violent vision in Julian's writings; while sick unto death, she is visited and tormented by the Devil. This movement is set at Surfside, on Nantucket's South Shore: violent waves and a largely desolate landscape.
Immediately after the Devil leaves her, Julian is shown a beautiful vision of "the city of the soul in the middle of the heart." We move to Madaket — though the violent ocean landscape is still nearby, its character is tempered by the glorious, legendary sunsets: serenely vibrant experiences.
The ebullient summer face of Wauwinet: energetic and dance-like.
Sets some of Julian's most famous words. The winter face of Wauwinet: quiet and serene — an archetype of the seasonal character of Nantucket.
Set at Altar Rock, a post-glacial rock formation located inland at the top of a hill. Whether or not it served (as some legends tell) as a place of meeting for American Indian religious ceremonies, it has come to represent a place of natural spirituality that does not give up all its secrets. Julian tells of God's two kinds of secrets: those revealed to us now, and those hidden until a future time.
"We are often dead, according to the judgment of this world; yet in the sight of God, the soul that shall be saved was never dead" — depicting the sense of Sankaty Bluff, whose continual erosion by the sea presents a significant ongoing problem for the island residents who, despite the death of the land, are committed to the life of that place.
The second poem by Robert Herrick, representing the sea. Because of its height, Sankaty Bluff's view of the ocean is one of the island's most beautiful, showing well the sense of "vast Eternitie" that is the endless sea.
A simple, folk-like duet for the two soloists. Set at Hummock Pond: a place whose waters are still and fresh, largely unconcerned by the vagaries of the nearby ocean surf.
Set at Miacomet Beach, a place whose night landscape imparts a sense of rooted power. Julian hears the voice of God, and the music adopts the character of a French Baroque overture.
Set in the Coskata Wildlife Refuge — an appropriate place, before the finale, to pause for prayerful reflection.
A poem by
Elizabeth Kirschner finally makes the narrative of sea and sky explicit in the sung text — drawing together both the religious and natural visions. We stand at Great Point, the third and final of the island's lighthouses, located at the island's very tip, amidst nothing but the coming of morning: sea, sky, and a final piercing beam into the departing night.
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Published Scores / Partitions publiées
Buy the Scores
Study Score
The Revelations of Divine Love (Metaphors from Sea and Sky)
Full orchestral study score · Duration: ca. 65 minutes
Study score
24,95 €
· Parts on rental
Vocal Score
The Revelations of Divine Love (Metaphors from Sea and Sky)
Vocal score with piano reduction · For rehearsal
Vocal score
19,95 €
· Parts on rental
For Carson Cooman's complete catalogue, visit his composer page or carsoncooman.com ↗
