The Fate of His Ashes: A Requiem for Victims of Power for SATB choir and organ.
Source: | https://www.forsyths.co.uk/sheet-music/by-instrument-family/choral/mixed-voices/183094-cuomo-douglas-j-the-fate-of-his-ashes-9790600012503.html |
The text for this piece is derived from the Epistle to the Reader of Sir Thomas Browne’s Hydriotaphia, (1658). Subtitled Urn Burial, the essay is a reflection on the discovery of a Roman urn burial site in Norfolk and the practice of disinterment. I compiled the text by redacting (i.e. eliminating) many of the words of the original, leaving behind a ghostly contemplation on the metaphysical uses of a body after death. Something hidden is revealed by elimination. Death eliminates too, and can reveal. The circumstances of a death can transform a life lived privately, outside the public eye, into something very public. After its final breath, a body can expose much about power, race and America. The act of extinguishing a life can extend and amplify that life, one’s potential and influence can blossom at death and outlive a body’s time spent on earth. The person has vanished and what remains are literally their remains, now a parable of larger forces in the world.Douglas J. Cuomo — New York City, 2016
Source: | https://www.forsyths.co.uk/sheet-music/by-instrument-family/choral/mixed-voices/183094-cuomo-douglas-j-the-fate-of-his-ashes-9790600012503.html |