Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Sombras dos Segredos for harpsichord and flute (with a version for tenor recorder and harpsichord) is the first composition in my trilogy, Iluminada: Três Reflexões sobre Fátima, commissioned by Australian harpsichordist, Diana Weston, on 25th February 2022. The title of the composition is Portuguese for "Shadows of Secrets", while the English translation of the title of the entire trilogy is, "Illuminated: Three Reflections on Fatima". The second composition in the trilogy is entitled, Rainha Resplandecente (Portuguese for "Resplendent Queen"), while the title of the third composition is Dança Sagrada (Portuguese for "Sacred Dance").

According to several luminaries, including Antonio Socci, Chrisopher Ferrara, Peter Chojnowski and Jacques Vallée, Vatican authorities prevented the publication of the third secret of Fatima because they feared its full revelation would cause mass hysteria and the loss of faith in the post Vatican II Catholic Church. Jacques Vallée even purports that the third secret remains hidden in the Vatican's secret archives because it contains explosive information pertaining to extra-terrestrial civilisations, UFOs and earthly encounters with aliens--especially since, according Vallée, the Fatima apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary display all the hallmarks of close encounters with aliens and their UFOs.

The inspiration for all three compositions of the trilogy, Iluminada: Três Reflexões sobre Fátima, emanated from my own research into, and my ensuing reflections on, the series of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, to the ten-year-old Lucia dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who were eight and seven years of age respectively. This series of six apparitions took place at the Cova de Iria, in the vicinty of Fatima, Portugal, beginning on May 13 1917 and continuing on the 13th day of each successive month, before finally culminating in the "Miracle of the Sun" on October 13 1917.

Sombras dos Segredos ("Shadows of Secrets"), the first composition in this trilogy, was inspired by the myriad mysteries and, as yet, unrevealed secrets overshadowing the Vatican's official account of the Fatima apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the secrets she transmitted to the three little seers. It was during the July 13 1917 apparition of the Blessed Virgin that Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta were entrusted with three prophetic secrets pertaining to future world events, including the imminent end of World War I, the outbreak of World War II, Russia's role in spreading communism, future famines, the persecution of the Catholic Church and many other global catastrophies. The children were also shown a terrifying vision of hell, along with an image of the Blessed Virgin's "Immaculate Heart", pierced with thorns and bleeding. They were then commanded by the Blessed Virgin to pray the Rosary daily and perform regular acts of penance, in order to save sinners from the wrath of her Divine Son, Jesus Christ.

Although the Vatican states that all three secrets entrusted to the children of Fatima were successively revealed by the late Sister Lucia, over the course of seven decades (Lucia became a nun a few years after Francisco and Jacinta died in the Spanish Flu epidemic--their early demise having been predicted by the Blessed Virgin), there is an abundance of evidence, discussed in many scholarly works, demonstrating that the third secret of Fatima has never been revealed in full to the public and that the so-called "third secret of Fatima" which the Vatican published in the year 2000, comprised but a tiny fraction of the Blessed Virgin of Fatima's original revelation. Furthermore, a number of renowned researchers, including Dr. Peter Chojnowski, attest that it has even been proven, by overwhelming forensic evidence, that the real Sister Lucia disappeared in the late 1950's and was replaced by an imposter "Sister Lucia", the latter being subsequently presented to the public by Pope Paul VI on May 13 1967, the fiftieth anniversary of the first apparition of Fatima.

The melodies I composed for Sombras dos Segredos are entirely based on the Akebono scale, which originated in the southern mountainous regions of Japan.

Work Details

Year: 2022

Instrumentation: Tenor recorder, harpsichord.

Duration: 3 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Dedication note: Dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima

Commission note: Commissioned by Diana Weston.. Commissioned by Diana Weston.

First performance: by Diana Weston, Joanne Arnott — 27 Aug 22. Wesley Music Centre, ACT, Australia

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc in relation to this work:
Japanese music, Renaissance music, Sacred music