Cantata is written on the texts by Apostle John (The Gospel and Revelation) in language of the original, that is in Ancient Greek. The composition consists of four sections:
1. A choral narration about the beginning of the world, in which the concept of Logos - the God's word is stated.
2. Aria of soprano with choir based on Jesus's maxima about the new commandment of love.
3. The monologue of a baritone with choir, which describes the apocalyptical vision of a vast congestion of the people glorifying the God.
4. Final section goes back to the subject of the word as a truth. In the end the famous question of Pilate sounds:
What is truth?
Music of the cantata incorporates various stylistic elements: diatonic singing with motives typical of ancient church choral, idioms of romantic opera, quasi-dodecaphonic recitation, etc. Despite the significant role of the timbe, the role of the main driving factor is given to flexible melodic line, which is frequently transformed into hyper-polyphonic complexes. The stylistic synthesis
may be regarded as a music equivalent to the profound theological sence of the texts of Apostle John.
Alexander Shchetynsky
© 2003 by Alexander Shchetynsky