Sorry for the break in my postings.  Presenting the initial concert of Qabbala::Entanglement on June 21, the summer solstice, by the Accidental Orchestra soaked up all my creative energy.

I’d like to present to you one of the results of that surge.  In order to introduce the entire 12 movement suite I have composed a free piece which starts Ain Soph which I call Ain Soph Aur. It should be self-explanatory so I am presenting it to you here.

The next in the series of three concerts of the Accidental Orchestra playing the next four sephirot of the Tree of Life takes place on the autumnal equinox, Friday, Sept 20, 2019, also at Westbeth in the Community Room.  The final concert in the series is on the winter solstice, Saturday, December 21, 2019.

Here is Ain Soph Aur:

AIN SOPH AUR

OPENING THE GATES OF HEAVEN

I SCINTILLAE—non-western instruments

II  BEATS–rest of orchestra enters

III CONSOLIDATION–concert E

 

I SCINTILLAE

The  Kabbalah states that the initial form consists of flashes of light which are unable to find sustaining form.  They flash in and out of existence before fading away.  I hear these scintillae musically as very brief if intense sounds emanating from the primitive nature of the phenomena, played initially by non-western instruments to reflect the prima materia.  They are joined eventually (cued) by western instruments playing in a non-western manner, also in short, intense sounds.  There must be space to allow the softer instruments to be heard.  I have called this pointilistic as a descriptor. There really is no development as the emphasis is on the eternal and not the arrow of time.  Another way to conceptualize it is to use the metaphor of quantum foam in which space is empty until a superimposed particle flashes in and out of existence.  These particles don’t really exist in spacetime and do so only as potentially existing.  Percussion plays throughout and is extremely important.

 

II  BEATS

Strings, then oboe, then flutes, followed by reeds, brass, vibes, guitar, piano, and finally bass enter (no cue–they enter intuitively) playing the highest notes in their range or outside their range but as softly as possible–ppp piano-pianissimo.  After some time they begin to descend from the heights and finally end on the lowest notes in their respective ranges.  It is musical–no screaming–dissonance.  Notes must beat–musicians seek out notes played by others that beat when they play, e.g. minor 9ths, minor seconds, identical but slightly out of tune with each other.  The entire orchestra beats–creates pulsations.

 

III CONSOLIDATION–AIN SOPH AUR

Ain Soph Aur is the reappearance of the light.  Ain Soph, the without end, the unmanifested spiritual principle, is now beginning to enter existence in the form of light, the Ain Soph Aur.  Musically, they appear at the bottom of the range of the beating orchestra on cue with the entrance of the shofar or the multiple shofars (or shofarot).  At their entrance the orchestra opens up the space by remaining silent.

There are three shofar notes.  Teki’ah–one long blast, followed by shevarim–three broken sounds, and finally teru’ah–nine staccato notes. The shofar blasts follow a prescribed pattern:

teki’ah‑shevarim teru’ah‑tekiah;

teki’ah‑shevarim‑teki’ah;

teki’ah‑teru’ah‑teki’ah.

The final tekiah is prolonged (it is called teki’ah gedolah, a “great blast”). Some people have been known to watch the clock during the teki’ah gedolah and time how long it lasts.

The purpose of the blast of the shofar is to awaken spiritual awareness, to heighten consciousness.

Following the teki’ah gedolah,the orchestra plays a concert E long tone (cued).  At this point we begin the written part of Ain Sophat LETTER A.