Hymn to the Sun: from Philip Glass' Akhnaten
Hymn to the Sun
Scenes from Philip Glass’ monumental opera Akhnaten are presented including Funeral, The Window of Appearances and Hymn to the Sun. This concert version of Akhnaten portrays the phenomenal world of Egypt’s most fascinating pharaoh Akhnaten while immersing you in the perfume of the man/god himself. From the visceral sensations of Funeral to the anguish of Epilogue, Glass’ opera tells of not only the events, but the vision, the pathos and ultimately the tragedy of Akhnaten, in music that is as powerful and unique as Akhnaten himself. With David Crowden (Akhnaten), Hester Hannah(Nefertiti) and Anna Fraser (Tye).
7.30PM SATURDAY JULY 27, 2013
THE MUSIC WORKSHOP, SYDNEY CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC, MACQUARIE ST, SYDNEY
‘This expressive biography impressed in the well-selected and rendered scenes we were fortunate to see performed. It left me craving the entire opera – fully staged – and repeat performances of Ondine Productions’ evocative and imaginative version.’
Program Notes
Thou dost appear beautiful on the horizon of heaven
O living Aten,
He who was the first to live.
When thou hast risen on the eastern horizon
Thou hast filled every land with thy beauty……
So begins Akhnaten’s poem Hymn to the Sun, a work of great beauty, describing the abundance of the natural world, and his attribution to its creator, the sun.
The figure of Akhenaten has fascinated a diverse range of people including archeologists, Egyptian scholars (Nicholas Reeves), novelists (Mika Waltari), poets (Dorothy Porter) and of course composer Philip Glass, since the unearthing of his city Akhataton (now el-Armana) in the late 19th century. Akhnaten represented a complete change in thinking – in religion, philosophy and in style – to anything that had come before in the preceding twelve hundred years. His images are monumental and startling, even to the modern eye. He is sensuous, elongated, with physical features that are both masculine and feminine. Inscriptions attributed to him reveal his complex personality. He appears as both family man and something god-like. Touched by the rays of the sun, he is one with the sun, he is godlike.
Akhnaten’s ecstatic poem Hymn to the Sun describes a world of great natural beauty dominated by the concept of the sun as giver of life. Akhnaten eradicated all other gods, worshipping only one, Aten. For this to be most perfect he built an entire city, in a new location, complete with temple, palaces, burial places and infrastructure and homes for thousands of people, all in the space of three years. He took with him his family – his mother Tye (Taia), his wife Nefertiti and their six daughters. His rule was coersive and absolute and ended catastrophically after 17 years with the near collapse of an entire civilisation and the destruction of his city. Thereafter, the rich and varied mythology of the past resumed and to all intents and purposes, it was if a wave had washed away everything that Akhnaten had created.
Philip Glass takes the story of Akhnaten and creates an opera that seeks to reflect not just the events, but the persona and the tragedy of the pharaoh. He sees Akhnaten as one of the figures who have changed the course of history (with Ghandi and Einstein) for he introduced the idea of monotheism. Glass presents his opera in a series of songs with descriptive headings each of which creates a scene (or tableau). Lyrics for the most part are something resembling ancient Egyptian. The story is carried forward by quotations from Akhnaten’s poems and sayings by a narrator (Amenhotep). In our concert version we present eight of these scenes: –
1. Prelude. The tense and portentious nature of the opera is revealed.
2. The Funeral of Amenhotep III: The death of Akhnaten’s father. Akhnaten at this time is known as Amenhotep IV. He later changes it to Akhnaten, taking the name of his adopted god Aten into his own name. The feeling of Funeral is visceral and powerful, representing the procession of the embalmed body of the pharaoh, his ministers and the masses from the city, the crossing of the Nile, and the laying of the body with all the accompanying riches and foodstuffs in the tomb.
3. The Window of Appearances: Images depicting Akhnaten, Nefertiti and several of their daughters distributing gifts to the people are to be found. All is harmony and peace, but with an undertone of unease.
4. The Temple: A most magnificent temple has been erected to the Aten. Priests are present as of old, but Akhnaten has attempted a shift in power away from them by moving the location of the city. His actions have political as well as religious goals. This scene is both manic and threatening.
5. Akhnaten and Nefertiti: The closeness of the union between the pharaoh and his wife is revealed. Many images of the two relaxing and lounging together have been found. It is even possible that Nefertiti was Akhnaten’s successor under a different name. Two beautiful melodic threads weave around each other.
Amenhotep (Akhnaten): I breathe the sweet breath which comes forth from thy mouth. I behold thy beauty every day. It is my desire that I may be rejuvenated with life through love of thee, Give me thy hands, holding thy spirit, that I may receive it and may live by it, Call thou upon my name unto eternity, And it shall never fail.’
6. Dance: A wild and ecstatic piece, with an absence of voices.
7. Hymn. The only song sung in English, by the character of Akhnaten, set to Akhnaten’s poem Hymn to the Sun.
8. Epilogue: follows Attack and Fall and The Ruins. A trio comprising Akhnaten, Nefertiti and Tye soars in unspeakable beauty and anguish over the loss of the world they had created.
Akhnaten’s Scented World
We know from hieroglyphics and other visual sources that royal and wealthy Egyptians had made and highly valued a huge range of luxury products, and not just gold and jewellery. Descriptions of fine linens, foods (roast goose), wines, face paints (cosmetics), ornaments (both for the body and the home) oils and emollients, and perfumes abound. Not only mentioned, but described in detail. Perfumes often contained frankincense and myrrh, along with many floral ingredients, and were used both in places of worship, and on the person.
The ancient Egyptians placed great importance on fragrances for religious ceremonies, to promote health and well-being, and to enhance beauty and attractiveness. In Pharaoh’s court, a beautiful fragrance was considered an art form and perfumers were bestowed with honours. Fragrances were usually reserved for the ‘upper classes’ and given their cost, long lastingness was important. They were used on embalmed bodies in the belief that the souls of the deceased would come in contact with the gods.
Along with music, fragrances were highly value in the royal court. Akhnaten’s wife, Nefertiti, one of the most famous beauties of ancient Egypt is seen in drawings applying perfumed oils to her husband’ s body. Fragrances were valued equally by both sexes.
When discussing the Akhnaten opera and story with my dear friend Alex Moskvin in November 2012 after another of Ondine Productions events, Alex began telling me about a ground-breaking area in the psychology of marketing that he had been working on in the previous decade with the global company International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). He had been researching and identifying scent as a major factor in the connection between place and memory, or place and emotion. Alex went on to explain that perfumers at IFF were able to identify the constituents of natural (and man-made) scents, and that they could create a scent based on a story, a personality, a product or a place.
At this point the light bulb switched on as we both realized that here was an event, a theatrical musical production, that was ideally suited to the adoption of this concept. How exciting to be able to present a concert that not only had mesmerising music but that we could add to, and make more memorable by, a subtle diffusion of a scent WHICH WAS UNIQUE TO THIS OPERA, and which would arise out of the persona of Akhnaten.
The idea was embraced by IFF and Chiaki Nomura, one their distinguished perfumers in IFF’s New York Creative Center, was inspired to create the Akhnaten Scent. Chiaki believes that fragrances enrich our life as well as bring us to the world of dreams by touching our soul or evoking our memories. She believes that sense of smell is the closest link to our deepest emotions, instincts, and intuition. In her creations she attaches the virtues most important to her: being open, curious, inspired, and keeping sensitivity and the senses alive.
In response to the Akhnaten story and opera, Chiaki created a modern, sensual fragrance – a unique signature of freshness, sophistication and strength, composed from rich absolute materials for both feminine and masculine audiences. The Ahknaten Scent composition:
Top-notes: Sparkling LMR* Bergamot, watery apple and kiwi, crisp pear Middle notes: Velvet jasmine, violet leaf, waterlilies, LMR Tagette, muguet Base notes: LMR Patchouli Heart, rich sandalwood, white woods, hint of moss, deep musk * LMR denotes proprietary natural materials from IFF’s Laboratoire Monique Remy.
We are enormously grateful to our sponsors at IFF, and to essential related organizations Sensorama and Odour Control Systems, for making us the perfume Akhnaten, for arranging its diffusion, and for the individual personal mementos of our concert Hymn to the Sun. We will be having a VERY memorable experience.
Diana Weston
