Chapter 2: KYRIE

The main melody of Kyrie is borrowed from an earlier work by the same title, my 70-minute Kyrie (1997), but it is presented here in a completely different light. This latter incarnation of the melody undergoes a series of geographic and chronological displacements in the instrumental part while it maintains its medieval character throughout. These displacements emphasize the universality of the original melody and the renewed relevance of Medieval thought to 21st century thought in general. First there are three separate settings of a long string consisting of twelve statements of the words "Kyrie Eleison" ("Lord Have Mercy Upon Us"), a standard orthodox ritual practice. These vocal utterances are accompanied first by string harmonics and ambient piano chords, followed by piano alone and finally by the violin and the cello creating contrapuntal lines that emphasize the medieval character of the vocal melody. In the last of these repetitions/variations of the main melody, the digital audio introduces a rather sudden pop element into the mix made more dramatic by the low bass punctuated syllables on the speakers and the "blues" vocalizing of the mezzo-soprano. The latter is in a 7/8 meter running constantly against the 7/4 meter of the rest of the ensemble (in other words with off-the-beat downbeats every other measure). As in the following movement, odd meters are used to heighten the tension in the music. Since these odd-numbered structures repeat constantly, however, they are not "odd" for long as far as the listeners are concerned. Soon these meters establish in the listeners' mind a different kind of symmetry than the one most listeners are familiar with and entice them to enter this unusual musical world.