Alchemy (2022)

Program Notes

Transmutation. To change something once mundane, once common, into something

comparably divine. In the Middle Ages, alchemy was an art, a science, that attempted to

do just this. The goal of alchemy is to synthesise, to transmute, to transfigure the 4 classical

elements into something divine. They believed that by combining Air, clean and pure, Water,

running free, Earth, as strong as the canyon and mountain it fabricates, and Fire, with it's

searing glare, then they could transmute all the elements into the perfect balance. To create

gold, to create the elixer of life.

To these people the four elements had distinct qualities and characters, but came together

to create something beautiful. In my piece, Alchemy, I take inspiration from this long

forgotten art. There are 4 main characters in my piece. Air, consonant and pure. Water, free

flowing, with potential for the calm and the storm. Earth, rigid and strong as the mountain it

forms. Fire, ever hot, ever intense. Finally, at the conclusion of my work these four characters

combine. The soprano plays the melody, developed throughout the piece from the air theme,

the alto plays the harmony of water, the tenor plays a fragment of fire, and the baritone

plays with the strength of the earth beneath. I hope that just like with this ancient art,

my piece can unify four distinct elements to synthesise, to create something divine.

Alchemy