2014 Program Notes, Book 6 39
Thursday, July 17 and Sunday, July 21, 2014
LEONARDO DREAMS OF HIS
FLYING MACHINE
(2001)
Eric Whitacre (born in 1970)
Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine
was composed in 2001
and features text by poet Charles Anthony Silvestri. Whitacre
wrote: “We started with a simple concept: what would it sound
like if Leonardo DaVinci were dreaming? And more specifically,
what kind of music would fill the mind of such a genius? The
drama would tell the story of Leonardo being tormented by the calling of the air, tortured
to such degree that his only recourse was to solve the riddle and figure out how to fly.
“We approached the piece as if we were writing an
opera brève
. Charles (Tony
to his friends) would supply me with draft after draft of revised ‘libretti,’ and I in turn
would show him the musical fragments I had written. Tony would then begin to mold
the texts into beautiful phrases and gestures as if he were a Renaissance poet, and I
constantly refined my music to match the ancient, elegant style of his words. I think
in the end we achieved a fascinating balance, an exotic hybrid of old and new.”
Leonardo dreams of his flying machine …
Tormented by visions of flight and falling,
More wondrous and terrible each than the last,
Master Leonardo imagines an engine
To carry a man up into the sun …
And as he’s dreaming the heavens call him,
Softly whispering their siren-song:
“
Leonardo. Leonardo, vieni á volare.
[
Leonardo. Leonardo, come fly
.]
L’uomo colle sua congiegniate e grandi ale,
facciendo forza contro alla resistente aria.”
[
A man with wings large enough and duly connected
might learn to overcome the resistance of the air
.]
Leonardo dreams of his flying machine …
As the candles burn low he paces and writes,
Releasing purchased pigeons one by one
Into the golden Tuscan sunrise …
And as he dreams, again the calling,
The very air itself gives voice:
“
Leonardo. Leonardo, vieni á volare
.
[
Leonardo. Leonardo, come fly
.]
Vicina all’elemento del fuoco …
”
[
Close to the sphere of elemental fire …
]
Scratching quill on crumpled paper,
“
Rete, canna, filo, carta.
”
[
Net, cane, thread, paper
.]
Images of wing and frame and fabric fastened tightly.
“
… sulla suprema sottile aria.
”
[…
in the highest and rarest atmosphere
.]
Master Leonardo dreams of his flying machine …
As the midnight watchtower tolls,
Over rooftop, street and dome,
The triumph of a human being ascending
In the dreaming of a mortal man.
Leonardo steels himself,
takes one last breath, and leaps …
“
Leonardo, vieni á volare! Leonardo, sognare!
”
[
Leonardo, come fly! Leonardo, dream!
]
