Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

My last composition completed in 2014, Sacred Night for violin, bass clarinet and digital delay, is loosely based upon my previous composition, White Night for solo viola, which, in turn, is a transcription of the final piece of my cycle Who is like God?: A Cycle of Four Works For Violoncello. All three compositions comprise originally composed melodies reminiscent of Jewish music of the Eastern European ("Ashkenazi") tradition. These melodies were directly inspired by various transcendent states of ecstasy I experienced during the many "White Nights"(Beliye Nochi) I spent on the rivers and canals of Saint-Petersburg, Russia during my sojourn there in June 2006. (The nature of the "White Nights" can be explained by the geographical location of Saint- Petersburg, which is located at 59 degrees 57' north. Due to such high latitude the sun does not appear to sink below the horizon deep enough for any darkness to occur.) It was while surrendering to one these mystical states-brought on, largely, by the sublime beauty of Saint-Petersburg enshrined, like a precious jewel, in the white summer night-that the melody of White Night came to me. It was at that point that I felt closest to God.

Sacred Night was also inspired by the ancient Mesopotamian "sacred marriage" rite, which involved an act of sacred sexual intercourse between the High Priestess, and the King (representing one of the "gods), which was believed to ensure the continued prosperity and fertility of the land. In this respect, it bears symbolic relation to an earlier composition of mine, Cities of the Gods (iv): Sacred Marriage in T.I.L.M.U.N. for solo cello.