This work for violin and cimbalom was born out of research that I was doing for another piece, Eidolon, a chamber opera based on Hilda Doolittle’s epic poem Helen in Egypt. H.D.’s poem revisits and rewrites the myth of Helen of Troy. I am drawn to her poetry because of its relation to themes that interest me in my own work, namely multiple identity, mysticism, memory, dream states, and Greek drama. In Helen in Egypt, Helen and Achilles find themselves transported to the magical dreamland of Egypt after the events of the Trojan War. Throughout the cerebral, circuitous events of the poem they ask one another a recurring question in an effort to test their new reality, “which was the dream, which was the veil?” The veil in question alludes to many things: the veil between worlds, the veil of Cytheraea, or Aphrodite, and the cloud of spirits of the dead Greek and Trojan warriors that surround the protagonists, among other things.
The piece is laid out in five movements that examine the musical materials therein from various angles, much like Helen and Achilles attempt to discern the nature of their reality in the H.D by posing the recurring question to one another. The first movement, the lotus flower unfurled, meditates on a small collection of contrasting musical ideas. The second movement, taut sinews quiver, is a muscular violin solo that serves as a prelude to the funereal, introspective third movement, a catafalque, a bier. The fourth movement, night wings or vermillion of the day-butterfly, is a music-box-like solo for the cimbalom, which segues directly into the finale, a taper, a candle, a blaze of splendor. Here, the violin and cimbalom engage in an energetic, cathartic dance that channels the energy of one of H.D.’s primary inspirations, the Eleusinian Mysteries. These were the most famous secret religious rites of Ancient Greece, which allegedly featured potent symbols, mystical visions, and revelations to devotees of Demeter and Persephone.which was the dream, which was the veil? was made possible in part with the support of The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus. It is dedicated to Lamnth, Lilit Hartunian and Nick Tolle, who commissioned it.