An Apostle Remembers the Emperor in a Dream (Carson Cooman, organ/Michael Calabris, electronics)

© Michael Calabris Music (ASCAP), 2023. All rights reserved.

Composed/recorded February, 2023.

Despite its picturesque title, this is not a programmatic work. It was only as I reflected on the work after its completion that I gave the piece its title. The origin of the title comes from various mental images I associated with what might be considered this piece’s ‘B section.’ In this part of the score, the previously frenetic tempo slows considerably, and the dynamics become quieter. The mood here is mysterious; the atmosphere cavernous. The organ enters this part of the score (so to speak) rather warily. Gradually, it finds itself in the midst of a mysterious, spiritual place. Eventually, the organ and electronics are heard at virtually the same dynamic, though each retains its particular character. The music brought to mind images of first century C.E. Rome; a time and place when religion permeated every aspect of one's life. I thought of the impressive temples as well as of the mysterious sanctuaries where worshipers were initiated into the ‘mysteries’ of Greece, Egypt, and Western Asia; cults whose origins lie in untold antiquity. I also thought of Rome‘s ancient catacombs, and of the traditions of Christians having met there to worship when the practice of their faith was still deemed treasonous by the Roman authorities. The kaleidoscopic nature of these images resulted in a mental association with the Book of Revelation, and of its author, St. John the Divine. I imagined him as an old man, sleeping on a rocky terrain under the stars, remembering the various things he had witnessed in the course of his ministry—and how these oneiric recollections might have served as a kind of foreshadowing of the revelation for which he is best known.

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