My Dove, My Beautiful One
(James Joyce, Chamber Music, 1904)


My dove, my beautiful one,
Arise, arise!
The night-dew lies
Upon my lips and eyes.

The odorous winds are weaving
A music of sighs:
Arise, arise,
My dove, my beautiful one!

I wait by the cedar tree
My sister, my love.
White breast of the dove,
My breast shall be your bed.

The pale dew lies
Like a veil on my head.
My fair one, my fair dove,
Arise, arise!

My Dove, My Beautiful One (Giles Herman, baritone; Mignon Gotzsch, piano - CvA , 9 June '09)

Aleph is the first Hebrew letter. It is the only letter that makes no sound of its own in a word, as it only takes on pronunciation when a consonant or another vowel is attached to it. Jewish mystics have called the Aleph the "breath of God," which existed before sound, itself. In the Kabbalah the Aleph is the outward energy that precedes any act. It is the primal force of Creation that exists before any form can even be visualized. The first letter in the Bible is Beit.  This is meant to indicate, Kabbalists say, that before God created the world, He still existed. If the first moment of physical creation is embodied in the Beit, the eternal and inexpressible realities of God are embodied in the Aleph. The Zohar, or mystical Jewish book of Splendor, teaches us that each person possesses some of this Aleph potential. We must, however, find the silence within ourselves in order to truly listen to the universe and to find higher meaning in our daily activities and rituals. 

Aleph represents the number one, and while the letter's shape resembles an individual ready to act in the world, it also begins the word for Divine Unity, Echad. Furthermore, it begins the first of God's holy names in the Bible, Elohim, as well as the traditional, esoteric name for God - the Ein Sof (the Infinite, whose supernatural vastness and strength lie beyond all comprehension). In the Kabbalah it is written that the human world was created as this infinity was penetrated by a beam of unending light, or illumination. In mathematics the concept of "infinity" has been symbolized by the sign of the Aleph ever since the work of the mathematician and Kabbalist, Georg Cantor, in the 1880's. Infinity, nothingness and continuity are concepts which have intrigued mathematicians, as well as Jewish scholars, throughout history. In many religions and philosophies it is believed that one must reduce one's mind to a state which approaches "nothingness" before one can begin to grasp the infinite knowledge and the divine connection between all things. Even in the description of the first major card of the Tarot, the Fool, we find this reference to the Aleph concept of the eternal and potential wisdom that is present only in the absence of obvious practical knowledge.

This piece, "Illuminating Aleph", and the poem, "The Pond", by Chaim N. Bialik, are both about the concept of "knowing." They focus on simplicity and silent reflection as the means to attaining awareness. The Hebrew phrase, "ani iodea," or in English, "I know," is central to the poem and to the piece (the word "ani" also begins with the Aleph). When we are quiet and at our most silent (like the Aleph), and when we truly listen, we receive the wisdom and light of the Divine and, finally, understand how we fit into the universe. In "The Pond" Bialik describes the act of reflection as he sits in wonder by the side of a pond, a ritual he has done many times since his youth. By repeatedly coming to the woods to listen in silence and to observe nature, he begins to know the entire cosmos, as well as himself. Through this silent connection to the world around him, the things he has so often seen and studied begin to take on layers of deeper meaning. This is, in effect, what Kabbalah is all about: the path to deeper levels of understanding - of awareness of the patterns and connections inherent in all things - through contemplation, devotion and action. The word "Kabbalah" comes from the Hebrew root word "k-b-l" and means "that which is received."  Kabbalah is the received light, wisdom, and tradition of esoteric knowledge believed to have come from God.

Alberto Mizrahi, cantor; Cappella Amsterdam and instrumental ensemble; David Porcelijn, conductor

'Illuminating Aleph' for cantor, choir and instrumental ensemble

Two Ukrainian Folk Sketches
- Vanessa Lann, 1989
Performed by Nancy Braithwaite (clarinet), and Marianne Boer (piano), in the Uilenburger Synagogue in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in May 2009

"Two Ukrainian Folk Sketches" for B-flat clarinet and piano (V. Lann, 1989)

"Night Passage" is a work in passacaglia form for glass organ and string orchestra, commissioned by the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, with support from the Dutch Performing Arts Foundation (FPK). The piece evokes an atmosphere of the night, as if one enters into a dream and then emerges after the dream back again into the real world. It also symbolises a passage to an afterlife. The glass organ (50 individual glasses filled with water) is such a unique instrument, with no real beginning or ending of each sound, and the strings in the orchestra also employ fragile, glassy harmonics and long-held tones to add layers of quietude and reflection, never making it clear who is telling the story. Fragments of Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik can be heard in the high first violins. Other players also play on glass and hum softly in the background. This Dutch NTR radio recording was made during a live performance at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, on November 23, 2024, and was led by violinist Liza Ferschtman, as part of an otherwise all-Mozart programme.

Night Passage, performed by the Nederlands Kamerorkest and Rogier Kappers, glass organ

Orchestral version of Dancing to an Orange Drummer, for large ensemble (1993), written on request by the Boston Pops Orchestra in 2015. The title takes its name from the expression of 19th-century American writer Henry David Thoreau - "moving to the beat of a different drummer" - which describes people who feel like outsiders, or who do not quite think or move in the same manner as those around them. The Netherlands have been described as the country of "orange," and this piece expresses the challenge the composer faced when moving from New York to this new country in the early '90's, and the way that conflicting patterns and rhythms eventually flowed into a new groove, or a new "drummer," combining all the wonderful elements of both cultures. Live performance: May 31, 2015, Symphony Hall, Boston (USA).

Dancing to an Orange Drummer, orchestral version (2015)_Boston Pops (Keith Lockhart, cond.)

Objects of Ritual

5 solo pieces which can be played at the same time as a quintet
(for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano)

- Vanessa Lann (2002)


Objects of Ritual explores the way that a piece of music, as well as an object, can be experienced differently when placed within different contexts. In Objects of Ritual the five performers' individual parts are all playable as separate solo pieces. These solo pieces are named after particular objects and have the following titles:

the flute: The Stone
the clarinet: The Book
the violin: The Mask
the cello: The Bowl
the piano: The Candle 

In a concert program the quintet form of Objects of Ritual can be performed on its own (20’). During the performance, the listener will be able to distinguish the five "solo" pieces which are actually being played simultaneously by the separate performers. The solo pieces can also be performed by themselves on separate programs. 

Ideally, however, several or all of the solo pieces can be performed during the same program with the quintet form of the piece. In this instance, the listener will first hear the music of one player/object as a solo piece and then, later in the program, in a different way as that "object" comes into contact with the rest of the performers during the playing of the quintet. In such a project each solo piece can also be performed multiple times on the same day, in different spaces, with changing amounts of audience participation or movement each time and with alternative forms of multi-media added to the performances. 

The piece illustrates the way we can absorb - or perform - the same material in various contexts and, therefore, experience it completely differently.  

The particular objects of the solo pieces are each used at certain times for religious, ritual purposes and at other times for everyday, practical purposes. This also illustrates how the context of a particular object often defines the way it is perceived. Furthermore, each solo piece in Objects of Ritual musically refers in some way to what is, perhaps, the most famous, or often-played, work for that instrument. This reference to a standard, or classic, in the repertoire is another way of thinking about what, after many years, becomes "ritual" in the life of a performer. In Objects of Ritual the ritualistic nature of objects, performance, listening and music is examined from many angles.

Objects of Ritual_for quintet (2002)_Ensemble Ricochet olv Sergei Pilutnikov_sept 2004_Kyiv, Ukraine

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat

By Edward Lear
I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
   In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
   Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
   And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
    What a beautiful Pussy you are,
         You are,
         You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

II
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
   How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
   But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
   To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
   With a ring at the end of his nose,
             His nose,
             His nose,
   With a ring at the end of his nose.

III
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
   Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
   By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
   Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
   They danced by the light of the moon,
             The moon,
             The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (1983)


The Owl and the Pussycat_Jannie Pranger and Tomoko Mukaiyama_storyteller Phillip Mechanicus_text Edward Lear_CD CV86

Dancing to an Orange Drummer, version for ensemble. Vanessa Lann, composer. Ensemble Present; conductor: Jurjen Hempel. From ATTACCA CD (ATT 2015146).

Dancing to an Orange Drummer, version for ensemble (Ensemble Present, conductor: Jurjen Hempel)

"The bird that was trapped has flown" for female choir, soprano solo, nyckelharpa and kokle (Vanessa Lann, 2016). Text: James Robertson.
Ensemble Putni, Cristi Catt, Anna Gustavsson, Anda Eglite.
23 June 2016. Sofia Church, Stockholm (non-professional recording of live performance). 

Commissioned by Antra Drege (conductor and director, Ensemble Putni) and Cristi Catt (soprano), with support from the Dutch Fund for Performing Arts, for inclusion in the Latvian production "Hildegard and Healing".



The bird that was trapped has flown 

The bird that was trapped has flown 
The sky that was grey is blue 
The bone that was dead has grown 
The dream that was dreamed is true 
The locked door has been swung wide 
The prisoner has been set free 
The lips that were sealed have cried 
The eye that was blind can see 
The tree that was bare is green 
The room that was dull is bright 
The sheet that was soiled is clean 
The dawn that was dark is light 
The road that was blocked has no end 
The unknown journey is known 
The heart that is hurt will mend 
The bird that was trapped has flown.

- James Robertson

Text used with permission of the author.
In memoriam Gavin Wallace (1959 - 2013).

'The Bird That Was Trapped Has Flown' for female choir and two folk/early instruments (Lann, 2016)

"Memory demands so much" for soprano and piano - by Vanessa Lann (2005). Text: Denise Levertov. Seven parts, all based on one poem. Live performance by Irene Maessen and Marcel Worms in the Uilenburger Synagogue, Amsterdam (2008).

Memory demands so much,
it wants every fiber
told and retold.
		It gives and gives
but for a price, making you
risk drudgery, lapse
into document, treacheries
of glaring noon and a slow march.
Leaf never before
seen or envisioned, flying spider
of rose-red autumn, playing
a lone current of undecided wind,
lift me with you, take me
off this ground of memory that clings
to my feet like thick clay,
exacting gratitude for gifts and gifts.
Take me flying before
you vanish, leaf, before
I have time to remember you,
intent instead on being
in the midst of that flight,
of those unforeseeable words. 

Denise Levertov
This Great Unknowing, 1999 (rights to use text received from publisher)

'Memory Demands So Much' for soprano and piano (Lann, 2005)

What would Schubert's 'Unfinished Symphony' have sounded like had it been written in 2018? Performed by the Noord Nederlands Orkest under the baton of Hans Leenders on April 5, 2019, in De Oosterpoort, Groningen (Netherlands). Same instrumentation as Schubert's 'Unfinished Symphony' plus celesta (performed here by Yoram Ish-Hurwitz). Written on commission for the Noord Nederlands Orchestra and the Oranjewoud Festival in 2018 during the Leeuwarden European Cultural Capital celebrations.

Vanessa Lann

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