Author: Eduard de Boer

Commissioned by the Concejalía de Cultura del Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Yecla and the Museo de Réplicas del Greco Regreco 400
Dedicated to Ángel Hernández Azorín and the Banda “Asociación Amigos de la Música” de Yecla

This composition is the result of a joint commission by the Concejalía de Cultura del Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Yecla and the Museo de Réplicas del Greco Regreco 400 to write a piece after El Greco’s wonderful painting El Entierro del Conde de Orgaz (The Burial of the Count of Orgaz), to be performed by the Banda “Asociación Amigos de la Música” de Yecla and their conductor Ángel Hernández Azorín, in the year 2014, the fourth centenary of the painter’s death. I feel very grateful to have been entrusted with a commission with such spiritual significance and I have tried my best to compose a piece worthy of the occasion, the painter and the painting.

The painting itself depicts a miracle that allegedly took place in 1312. In that year, a certain Don Gonzalo Ruíz, native of Toledo, and Señor of the town of Orgaz, passed away. He was a pious man and a philanthropist, who, among other charitable acts, left a sum of money for the enlargement and adornment of the church of Santo Tomé (El Greco’s parish church). According to the legend, at the time of his burial, Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine descended in person from the heavens and buried him by their own hands in front of the dazzled eyes of those present.

A number of Gregorian melodies have been used to represent various personages on the painting, as will be explained in detail below. A number of players are meant to play these melodies offstage, from a more or less high position, in accordance with the level in which they are depicted on the painting. The composition’s structure is as follows:

I. Himno (Hymn)
A jubilant Introduction, marvelling at the miracle depicted in the painting as a whole, based on the Latin words Magna et mirabilia opera tua, Domine Deus omnipotens (Great and marvellous are your works, Lord God Almighty!

II. Cortejo Fúnebre (Funeral Procession)
This movement deals with the painting’s lower part. A mourning crowd is accompanying Don Gonzalo Ruíz to his last resting place. A funeral procession melody, somewhat in the vein of Spanish Renaissance music, is alternated with the Gregorian plainchant Requiem aeternam (Eternal rest).

III. San Esteban y San Agustín (Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine)
The sudden descending of the two saints is illustrated by a abrupt change of atmosphere, heralded by the entrance of soft organ and celesta sounds, followed by Gregorian chants representing both saints, played offstage. First, the bassoon plays Lapidaverunt Stephanum, et ipse invocabat Dominum, dicens: ne statuas illis hoc peccatum (They stoned Stephen, and he called upon the Lord, saying: don’t hold this sin against them). Then the alto saxophone follows with Augustine, lux doctorum, firmamentum Ecclesiae (Augustine, light of the wise, firmament of the Church). Then the procession song is repeated, now transfigured in the major key, alternated with both Gregorian chants in counterpoint.

IV. El Ángel y el Alma (The Angel and the Soul)
Together with the Gregorian chant Beatus vir (Blessed man), played by the tenor saxophone and the oboe, the soft celesta & organ sounds return, and also the Magna et mirabilia opera tua theme from the Introduction is repeated, now softly. Ascending celesta & organ sounds then depict how the Count’s soul, helped by an angel, rises up to Heaven; as can be seen in the painting’s central section.

V. En el Cielo (In Heaven)
This movement deals with the painting’s upper part. Sounds of harp, celesta, glockenspiel and vibraphone invoke a celestial atmosphere. From diverse offstage positions, we now hear the following Gregorian melodies:

• the trumpet, representing Jesus: Jesus Christus heri et hodie, ipse et in saecula (Jesus Christ, yesterday and today,
and in all eternity);
• the flute, representing Maria: Ave Regina caelorum, ave Domina Angelorum (Hail, Queen of the heavens, hail,
Mistress of the angels);
• the flugelhorn, representing Saint John the Baptist: Joannes vocabitur nomen ejus et in nativitate ejus multi gaudebunt
(John he was called, and many rejoiced in his birth).

Then the atmosphere intensifies with broken chords in flutes and oboes. To the abovementioned melodies (Mary now being represented by the E flat Trumpet) are now added:

• the trombone, representing the apostles Peter and Paul: Petrus Apostolum, et Paulus Doctor gentium, ipsi nos
docuerunt legem tuam Domine (Peter the apostle, and Paul, teacher of the people, have taught us your law, oh Lord);
• the euphonium, representing the apostle Thomas: Dedit in Thoma abyssus vocem et altitudo manus suas levavit
(The sea roared loudly to Thomas, and its waves rose high).

Next, the procession song is heard one last time, now in triple metre, in an atmosphere of the ‘heavenly turbulence’ that characterizes the painting’s upper part. This time, it is alternated with the Gregorian plainchant In Paradisum: In Paradisum deducant te Angeli. Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem (May angels lead you into paradise. May the ranks of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a poor man, may you have eternal rest).

Finally, the Gregorian melodies representing Mary, St. John, Peter and Paul and St. Thomas reappear, followed by those representing St. Stephen and St. Augustine, after which a gradual build-up follows, combining the beginning of the Jesus motive with the In Paradisum melody; a build-up leading to:

VI. Himno (Hymn)
The jubilant Magna et mirabilia opera tua theme from the Introduction returns with full force, now reinforced with glockenspiel, vibraphone and chimes. When the music finally starts to relax, the motives belonging to the saints Stephen and Augustine and to Jesus are heard one last time. After a final reminiscence to the transfigured Procession melody, the music comes to a quiet and peaceful ending.

Youtube:

This documentary, El Sonido del Lienzo (The Sound of Canvas), by Álex González y Adrián Ortín, is about the history of the Asociación Amigos de la Música de Yecla, its Banda Sinfónica and their conductor Ángel Hernández Azorín, about the coming into being of my composition and about the wonderful collaboration with the Banda and the eventual premiere.

Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Defense
Composed for and dedicated to the Koninklijke Militaire Kapel ‘Johan Willem Friso’ (Royal Military Band ‘Johan Willem Friso’) and their conductor Tijmen Botma

In 2000, I composed a piece for choir, fanfare orchestra and large percussion ensemble, called Walpurgisnacht, to words from Goethe’s Faust. The composition was premiered in July 2001. A few months later , the New York Twin Towers were destroyed. In the years to come, my view of the world would change drastically.

As many people are now aware of, the official story about 9/11 has far too many inconsistencies and leaves far too many questions unanswered to be credible. I will limit myself here to mentioning that not just the Twin Towers collapsed, but also the so-called ‘Building 7’, even though it wasn’t hit by anything at all. A comparison comes to mind with the so-called ‘false flag’ ‘Operation Northwoods’ (you can google it if you don’t know about this). Once considered a ‘conspiracy theory’, Operation Northwoods is now factual history, since its gradual declassification in the years between 1997 and 2001.

It leaves one wondering what more schemes people in elite positions are able to concoct. Personally, I believe 9/11 to be Operation Northwoods 2.0. To cut a long story short, reaching this conclusion gradually opened my mind, step by step, to the possibility that there are Satanists in circles of power worldwide, who have been performing a great many atrocities over the years, among which large-scale sexual abuse of children. This suspicion only grew when I heard of the atrocities that BBC presenter Jimmy Savile had been able to get away with during his whole life, up to his death in 2011; this in relation to the many connections he had to high-profile people.

Here are just a few examples of the many stories I have come across up till now, always pointing to the same: the existence of a large global network of powerful people who indulge in satanic rituals whereby children are sexually abused and killed:
Satanic elite and ritual abuse (German documentary, Dutch subtitles):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H0cm7T1PY0 (One of the victims, Noemi, recalls several meetings of her abusive father with Marc Dutroux. Both are clearly part of a network.)
An excerpt from this documentary, with English subtitles: Extreme “Satanic” Paedophilia Testimony: Deborah & the elite German and French ring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NCqWz9Rq70
Satanic human sacrifice FBI raid 1998:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9CtZDsoOfE (Halfway this video there is an excerpt from a ‘snuff movie’. Warning: extremely graphic!)
Institutional child abuse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69TtyKith_M (Many similar testimonies, each of which may be difficult to believe. The cumulative effect of all of these stories, however, is compelling.)

When in the spring of 2013 conductor Tijmen Botma requested me to compose a truly virtuoso piece for him and his Royal Military Band ‘Johan Willem Friso’ wind orchestra, I felt very honoured by this offer, which I accepted with gratitude. I felt the need to ‘do something’ with the knowledge I had recently gained, so I decided to musically depict a satanic ritual that is being put an end to by a ‘new dawn’. I wanted to use my earlier composition Walpurgisnacht as a starting point, since Walpurgis night or Beltane, the night from April the 30th to May the 1st, is said to be one of the most important nights on the satanic calendar; a night during which blood rituals and human sacrifice take place.

The structure of the composition:
The first movement is called Satanic Ritual. It starts with a slow and dark introduction, gradually leading to a diabolical march. The music comes to a temporary halt, followed by a frenzied bacchanalian dance. After a while, this dance reaches a climax and is then suddenly interrupted by a return of music from the slow introduction, now even softer and more sinister. After this, the music gradually becomes lively again, building up towards a new climax. But then, rather unexpectedly, the dance dies down, as the first signs of the coming daylight emerge. In the words from Goethe’s Faust:

Wolkenzug und Nebelflor
Erhellen sich von oben.
Bleich noch, kommt das Morgenlicht hervor…
Und alles ist zerstoben.

Cloud-drift and hazy gauze
Brighten from above.
Still bleak, the morning light comes forth …
And everything is scattered.

After some music of ‘reviewing and pondering’, based on the slow introduction, there is a new buildup, but now a tender and a positive one, leading to the second part: A New Dawn. The theme of the grotesque march is now transformed into a depiction of a new daybreak, with light getting brighter and brighter, eventually reaching the darkest corners of the planet.

Youtube:

There is also a version for brass band, Op. 68 bis.

There is also an abridged version for brassband, called Coming to Light Shortly. An impression of this version, in the form of a performance of the version for wind band with cut, can be heard here:

Youtube:

Commissioned by the Landesmusikrat NRW and the Verein zur Förderung von Landesjugendmusikensembles NRW
Written for and dedicated to the Junge Bläserphilharmonie NRW and their conductor Harry Vorselen

Youtube:

electronic sounds