''Voices of Light'' is a 1994 musical composition by

Richard Einhorn Richard Einhorn (born 1952) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. Einhorn graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University in 1975, and studied composition and electronic music with Jack Beeson, Vladimir ...

. It was inspired by the silent film ''

The Passion of Joan of Arc ''The Passion of Joan of Arc'' (french: link=no, La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) is a 1928 French silent historical film based on the actual record of the trial of Joan of Arc. The film was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and stars Renée Jeanne F ...

'' (1928), directed by

Carl Theodor Dreyer Carl Theodor Dreyer (; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his movies are noted for their emotional aus ...

; live performances of the composition have accompanied screenings of the film. The libretto is based on excerpts from a variety of ancient writings, most of it from medieval female mystics. The text incorporates accusations from Joan of Arc's actual contemporary accusers. The language of this work is a mix of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...

. It is scored for a small orchestra, chorus, and soloists.

Background

In the 1980s, Richard Einhorn was developing a large piece on a religious subject when a friend suggested

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

as the subject. While sifting through the archives of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, he found a still from the movie ''The Passion of Joan of Arc''. After watching the film, he set to work on the entire piece. In preparation, Einhorn visited her hometown of

Domrémy-la-Pucelle Domrémy-la-Pucelle (, ; german: Remshausen) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. The village, originally named Domrémy, is the birthplace of Joan of Arc. It has since been renamed ''Domrémy-la-Pucelle'' a ...

in France. According to a 2017 interview with the Criterion channel, Richard Einhorn visited the church where she prayed which is still standing, located near her home. He took along a recorder and recorded the sound of the church bells. These bells are relevant to her story as Joan said the bells triggered the voices from the angels. The bells that can be heard in the original recording are these very bells from her church the way they would have sounded to her. The piece uses a multi-layered approach intended to resemble the

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

music of Joan's own time. The first layer is the slowed down

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

. A one minute chant now becomes fifteen minutes. There are multiple texts then sung over the slowed down chant. This creates the

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

. The piece premiered in February 1994 as live accompaniment to the Dreyer film at the Academy of Music in Northampton, Massachusetts, performed by the Arcadia Players and the Da Camera Singers under the direction of Margaret Irwin-Brandon.

Release

An album was released in 1995 which featured the

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra The Radio Filharmonisch Orkest (''Radio Philharmonic Orchestra''; Dutch abbreviation RFO) is a Dutch radio orchestra, based in Hilversum. The RFO performs under the aegis of the ''Muziekcentrum van de Omroep'' (Broadcasting Music Centre; NMBC), an ...

and the

Netherlands Radio Choir ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, the former conducted by Steven Mercurio, the vocals of

Anonymous 4 Anonymous 4 was an American female ''a cappella'' quartet, founded in 1986 and based in New York City. Their main performance genre was medieval music, although later they also premiered works by recent composers such as John Tavener and Steve Re ...

Susan Narucki Susan Narucki is an American operatic soprano who specializes in performances of contemporary classical music. Career She has appeared in the world premieres of several operas at the Dutch National Opera including Louis Andriessen and Peter G ...

Corrie Pronk Corrie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * nickname of ''Coronation Street'', a long-running British television soap opera ** '' Corrie!'', a play written to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ''Coronation Street'' in 2010 * The Corries, a Scott ...

Frank Hameleers Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and

Henk van Heijnsbergen Henk is a Dutch male given name, originally a short form of Hendrik. It influenced " Hank" which is used in English-speaking countries (mainly in the US) as a form of " Henry". People named "Henk" include: Academics *Henk Aertsen (born 1943), Du ...

. It totals 14 tracks and contains a 28-page booklet further detailing the background and history of the pieces. When the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

released the film on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, they included as an audio option a specially edited performance - using the 1995 recording - of the oratorio as a

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

accompanying the film.

References

Basil Considine. Interview: Composer Richard Einhorn. ''Twin Cities Arts Reader''. April 7, 2016

External links

''Voices of Light'' section
of Richard Einhorn's website. {{Authority control Oratorios Film scores Works about Joan of Arc 1994 compositions Carl Theodor Dreyer Latin-language albums French-language albums French-language soundtracks