''The Accacha Chronicles'' is an operatic trilogy by

Nicholas Lens Nicholas Lens Noorenbergh (born 1957) is a Belgian composer of contemporary music, particularly known for his operas. His work is published by Schott Music and Mute Song and distributed by Universal Music Group and Sony BMG. In 2020 Nicholas ...

(2005) for soprano, tenor, countertenor, mezzo, baritone, bass male actor, small choir, mixed choir and chamber orchestra.

Reception

Lens' publication of ''The Accacha Chronicles'' (published by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

International,

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) earned him international acclaim. It may be Lens' most important and famous work.

Structure

The Accacha Chronicles consists of three parts: *Part I:

Flamma Flamma ''Flamma Flamma – The Fire Requiem'' is a music drama by Nicholas Lens. It is the first part of the operatic trilogy The Accacha Chronicles. The work was artistically and financially produced by the composer himself and gained international f ...

- The Fire

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

(1994) (

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

Classics 74321 697172 - Sony Classical (SK 66293) *Part II: Terra Terra - The Aquarius

Era An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

(1999) (

Classics 74321 697182) *Part III: Amor Aeternus -

Hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

s of Love (2005), (

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

82876 66238 2) The Chronicles detail a three part tale where some eccentric gods visit Earth, once in each album, to find some entertainment by watching the humans. They become fascinated by their actions and reaction, and begin to imitate them in order to understand them and their emotions. The first part captures the western concept of a

requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

while at the same time abandoning the traditional rich

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord (as ...

and free,

rubato Tempo rubato (, , ; 'free in the presentation', literally ) is a musical term referring to expressive and rhythmic freedom by a slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. Rub ...

meter of a cathedral work. Instead, each of the voices has a soloistic line, accompanied not by

sostenuto Piano pedals are foot-operated levers at the base of a piano that change the instrument's sound in various ways. Modern pianos usually have three pedals, from left to right, the soft pedal (or una corda), the #Sostenuto pedal, sostenuto pedal, a ...

chords, but by a piercing trio from

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares ''Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares'' (translated as "The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices") is a compilation album of modern arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs featuring, among others, the Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir, with s ...

, known in the Chronicles as "The

Fireflies The Lampyridae are a family (biology), family of Elateroidea, elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are bioluminescence, light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, ...

," and an unusual rhythmic accompaniment. The lyrics of the first part "

", all in

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 ...

, were written by

Herman Portocarero Herman J.P. Portocarero (born 6 January 1952, in Antwerp) is a Belgian writer and diplomat of Portuguese and Spanish ancestry. Diplomat After graduating law school at Antwerp University, Portocarero practiced law at the Antwerp bar. He joined t ...

. The lyrics (in

) of the two other parts (" Terra Terra" and " Amor Aeternus") were written by Lens himself.

Studio version

The studio-version (3 hours and 44 minutes released by

82876 66239 2) of this

operatic Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

work features vocalists such as (as credited)

Derek Lee Ragin Derek Lee Ragin (born June 17, 1958) is an American countertenor. _Biography.html" ;"title="Derek Lee Ragin > Biography">Derek Lee Ragin > Biographyallmusic Early life Derek Ragin was born in West Point, New York and grew up in Newark, New Jerse ...

Claron McFadden Claron McFadden (born 1961) is an American soprano. McFadden studied voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, finishing her degree in 1984. She gained international fame when making her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in t ...

, La Verne Williams, Ian Honeyman, Jean-Paul Fauchechourt,

Henk Lauwers Henk Lauwers is a classical baritone singer (lyric baritone), born in Ypres, Belgium in 1956. As a very young boy soprano Lauwers performed under direction of Benjamin Britten his ''War Requiem''. Later he studied classical flute but gained int ...

and Marcello Rosca and the

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

Voices Angelite.

Live operatic version

In 2005 Lens recently rewrote an

acoustic version of ''The Accacha Chronicles'' of about 5 hours and 20 minutes which is very different -more complex in rhythm and tonality (much more a-tonal) than the CD-versions. This version was published in 2006 by

International (

) but did not premiere yet.

Nicholas Lens on The Accacha Chronicles

Lens has said that he intended ''The Accacha Chronicles'' to be a

philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

work, detailing a storyline along with its themes. "Accacha," Lens says in an interview, "is a mythical name, half-invented, half-existing. It stands for a reference book in which gods can find intimate details of all lives of human mortals. I used it because it is in a way reflecting what the main characters in this piece, the gods, are up to. And I like the sound of the word." About the story: "A bunch of eccentric gods decide to visit earth, in total 3 times. Their visit has no special character, except maybe that they’re always in for some funny entertainment or distraction. And apparently the gods seem to be fascinated by the mortals and their behaviour, especially by their reactions on dramatic events like death, birth and love. So they imitate the mortals trying to literally feel what it is like to be confronted with typically human shortcomings or moods, with human sadness or joy, with human loss, death or birth. The natural wheel of life must obviously fascinate the gods, as everything which is limited in time becomes much more intensive, and they’re not used to those limitations. Isn’t it a fact that as death sneaks around every corner, it creates fear and angst, of course, but it feeds as well the necessary strength and the courage mortals need to make something of the time they have." About the studio and the live version: "You could say that the CD –version is the light version of the actual extended work, with only melodic-tonal parts, call it the jeans version if you want, while the live-version is more a theatrical-dramatized concept, the orchestration –purely acoustic- is more complex in rhythm and tonality, there’s another sort of tension which needs more time to develop and to grow, so it is different as it is raising slower in its construction."

Dedication

interviews/portraits WNYC-RTL-Deutsche Rundfunk-ARD-SWR-Viva-Concertzender-Klassik R. De-Schott Music-

Nicholas Lens dedicated the entire trilogy to a certain lady

Simona Noorenbergh Sister Simona Noorenbergh (1907–1990) was a Belgian-born social worker and community organizer. The Australian author Joan Benbow writes in her book A walkabout life () that in Papua New Guinea she was also known under the name Marmee. She was ...

from Fane,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Lady

was a grandaunt of Nicholas Lens, living all her life in

. She was one of the founders of the small mountain village called Fane deep in the Papuan jungle. Lens visited Fane twice. Once totally unexpectedly, the second time to bury her after she crashed with a Norman Islander-plane against the top of a mountain of the Papuan Central Province during a typhoon. Lens was very much shocked by this event. Shortly after this accident he started writing this trilogy.

References

External links

Nicholas Lens' Website

Internet Movie Data Base

Biff, New York

Sony BMG

Fan Page (Facebook)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accacha Chronicles, The Music dramas 2005 operas Compositions by Nicholas Lens Postmodern music Contemporary classical music Contemporary classical compositions