The Hymn to the Aten (Symphony no. 1), opus 10 (2004-12, rev. 2017-20)
INSTRUMENTATION: SATB choir; baritone and mezzo soprano soloists; orchestra: 2 flutes (picc.), 2 oboes (eng. hn.), 3 clarinets (E-flat, A, b.cl.), 2 bassoons (cbsn.), 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in C, 3 trombones (2 ten. & bass), euphonium, tuba, timp., 3 percussionists, keyboard (piano, harpsichord, & celeste), harp, strings (12-10-8-6-4 or similar)
TEXT: Pharaoh Akhenaten
The Horizon of the Aten: Rise; Midday; Waning Light
Evening
Morning
A choral symphony, which sets an ancient religious text written by the Pharaoh Akhenaten, often considered to be the first monotheist in written history, and the father of Tutankhamun (King Tut).
Neferkheperure-Waenre, known by his chosen name Akhenaten, was Pharaoh (King) of Egypt from approximately 1353 BCE to 1336 BCE. The son of Amenhotep III and his powerful queen, Tiye, Akhenaten assumed the role of Crown Prince after the premature and unexpected death of his older brother Thutmose. He married the legendary beauty Nefertiti, who became his Queen, and was also married to a mysterious woman named Kiya. After his father's death, Akhenaten ended the worship of Egypt's pantheon of gods and goddesses and replaced it with the worship of just one – the Aten. The Aten was depicted in stone as the disk of the sun, with long rays extending towards the earth, ending in hands. These hands bestowed life, health, and prosperity to the royal family alone, and it was only through the worship of Akhenaten and Nefertiti that the people could hope to be blessed.
To celebrate his new religion, Akhenaten moved his royal court to a new site along the Nile River in the middle of Egypt, a virgin site in the desert where no settlers had ever lived before. In inscriptions recorded along the boundary of this site, the pharaoh declared that the Aten alone had revealed to the pharaoh where to build this city: As it moved through the sky, the Aten appeared to settle between two mountains, in imitation of the hieroglyph for “horizon.” The horizon represented the beginning and the end. Therefore, he named the site Akhet-Aten, “The Horizon of the Aten.” This city was the Pharaoh's seat of power until his mysterious death, which marked the turbulent end of a troubled seventeen year reign.
It is fascinating to compare the Abrahamic religions to the worship of Aten as described in the Great Hymn to the Aten, a poem likely written by Akhenaten himself. All of these religions extol “God” as the sole creator of the universe – a universe where “God” is omnipresent in a myriad of forms, a universe governed only by His laws. Indeed, Psalm 104, composed two hundred years after Akhenaten's death, contains much praise and adoration for God as the creator and sustainer of life, a prominent theme in Akhenaten's hymn, and uses nearly identical imagery. But whereas Akhenaten warns of the dangers that come forth when the sun sets, David's Psalm celebrates both the night and the day.
Through this work, I endeavor to pay homage Akhenaten’s deep religious piety, and explore the revolutionary ideas that forever changed the course of history long before people were ready to embrace them. It is both tribute to nature, and tribute to a man who deeply understood the miracle of nature. It is an earnest attempt at bridging the three thousand year gap between Akhenaten’s lips and our ears.
MIDI rendering taken from Finale music notation software (no vocals)
Artwork by Joshua Kevin Cousin