Summum Bonum
John Fitz Rogers
About this work:
In the mid-seventeenth century, Robert Burton--writing under the pseudonym Democritus--penned a work that has attained near cult status in university English departments. "The Anatomy of Melancholy" ostensibly catalogues every substance, condition, and affliction that causes melancholy. As such, it is one of the first psychiatric treatises written in English. Like other scholars of the time, Burton embraced all that he knew and read on the subject, and his work includes liberal quotations in Latin from a wide variety of sources. However, "The Anatomy of Melancholy" is also a rambling discourse on politics, religion, philosophy--in short, anything on which Burton had an opinion. Unfortunately, there is nothing, in Burton's opinion, that cannot cause intense, crippling melancholy, a fact that surely contributed to the suicide of one prominent Burton scholar. "Summum Bonum" adapts text primarily from the section titled "The Melancholy of Poverty." I have ordered the excerpts in a way that creates a progression or linking of the text. Musically, this is reflected in a linking of tempo relationships, something that also underscores the idea of "commodity" or exchange. Throughout the piece, the words "Dea moneta" (Queen Money) recur in almost prayer-like fashion, at once fervent and ironic. I've also made use of word play and juxtaposition of text as a way to heighten the irony present in Burton's original. In a time when we have commodified everything, from mental illness to sacred music, the bite of Burton's distant words seems all the sharper. "Summum Bonum" was commissioned by the Music At The Anthology concert series for the ensemble Lionheart, with funds provided by the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust.
Year composed: 1998
Duration: 00:08:45
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus, Unaccompanied
Instrumentation: 1 Countertenor, 2 Tenor, 2 Baritone, 1 Bass
Instrumentation notes: For six solo male voices (or multiples on each part): 1 countertenor, 2 tenors, 2 baritones, 1 bass