Acknowledgments

Recording Engineer and Editor: Paul Griffith Producers: Dale Underwood, Hana Sleeper Liner notes: Andy Skaggs Cover Art “The Eye of Time,” Sherri Tan (sherritan.com)

Bruno Philharmonia Flute: C.J. Young; Oboe: Erin Gittlesohn Clarinet: Anabelle Hwang Bassoon: Carlos Felipe Viña Horn: Chris Jackson Timpani & Percussion: Maria Chlebus Piano: Asiya Korepanova Harp: Deborah Fleisher Violin: Tomás Cotik, Adam Diderrich, Melissa Lesniak, Arianne Urban Viola: Rafael Ramirez, Amanda Diaz Cello: Ernesto Cabezas, Ashley Garritson Bass: Jeffery Kipperman Conductor: Thomas Sleeper Thomas Sleeper Special thanks to: Sherri Tan, Pasquale Falcone, Zoe Zeniodi, Joanie Chalakani, Einstein’s Nilda Pradera, Morgan, Angela, Hana and Leyla Sleeper, Jack and Tess Sleeper

Recorded in Maurice Gusman Concert Hall August/September, 2014 Inconsistency All works published by Uroboros Music. … a series of operas WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1551 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 Bruno Philharmonia || Thomas Sleeper, conductor ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD Tony Boutté + John Duykers + Caitlin McKechney TEL: 01539 824008 © 2015 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD Kimberly Sobe + Jeffrey Williams WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. The Music being himself, facing judgment of his own. What these characters have in common is that they are all at the brink of discovering what it means to exist, and more importantly, how to perceive that existence for The early decades of the 21st century are remarkable times in which to be alive. Technological advances themselves. Like the so-called “singularity” that sci-fi authors and futurist philosophers often predict with happen so rapidly that one sometimes has the heady sensation of living in the future, and the distance respect to artificial intelligence, the characters in these vignettes are waking up to their own self aware- between fantasy and reality gradually narrows to a point just barely out of sight. Each day brings news of ness, and the results are as varied as one would expect. The king (“The King’s Portrait”) feels that he can something so highly improbable as to defy belief. Two magnificent rovers on Mars, a probe landing on a change the memory of his life through sheer will power. The artists of “The Original Voice” see their lives as comet, the discovery of the Higgs Boson, or quantum computing through particle entanglement for a few meaningful only through the validation of spurious (and often vapid) critique. The clerk (“Rubric’s Cubicle”) dizzying examples. Human beings now inhabit a world where nearly every part of our waking lives is domi- seems to exist solely to maintain and enforce arbitrary regulations. And so on. The music is as diverse nated by devices about which we have not the slightest understanding, and the suddenness of this societal as the stories, and herein lies Sleeper’s achievement. Each piece is fresh, perfectly suited to the arcane transformation has sparked speculation that we may be on the cusp of a new species, eclipsing Homo material, at times breathtakingly gorgeous, as in “The Monarch,” and at times playful and witty (“Rubric’s Sapiens altogether. At the root of all this (call it what you will; chaos, progress?) lies the natural curiosity Cubicle,” “The Original Voice”). When taken as a whole, the listener is swept up into a chimeric whirlwind, and capacity for wonder that has been the impetus for every discovery since fire and the knapping of spear but this is no mere thrill ride, to be enjoyed and forgotten. Einstein’s Inconsistency takes the listener into points. a sort of sonic funhouse, where the deepest and most primal of human anxieties is displayed in dazzling Human imagination, that ceaseless engine of construction, imbues all fields of endeavor, and each variety, and one cannot experience this work and remain unaltered by it. In a fittingly ambiguous and yet in turn fuels the other. It is a relatively modern idea that disparate fields such as physics, astronomy, wholly satisfying conclusion, Job answers the Supreme Being in the universe by not answering him, and in mathematics, philosophy and art exist in clearly defined boxes, studiously unaware of each other and con- a sense redeems every other character in the cycle. tent to carve their own paths individually. Presumably Thomas Sleeper would find the notion ludicrous, and Einstein’s Inconsistency is clearly a deeply personal piece for Thomas Sleeper, and contains some here is a paradox: Thomas Sleeper is a thoroughly modern, forward-looking composer who would probably of his most inventive and powerful music to date. Sleeper’s music is as expansive and mysterious as an have flourished quite well in the Age of Enlightenment. One can easily imagine Sleeper filling the shoes of a ocean, and just as tempting. Those listeners who choose may venture out as far as they like, but a word of man like William Herschel, composing symphonies by day and charting the heavens by night. Sleeper, 21st caution: Here be monsters. century Renaissance man, works at the margins of art where lines blur between science and philosophy, —andy skaggs spiritual revelation and paranoid delusion, between the observed and the felt. In Einstein’s Inconsistency, Mr. Sleeper applies his considerable skill and creativity to a set of eight short operas, the longest being about 20 minutes with the shortest clocking in at under a minute, and a mere 20 measures of music. On the surface the operas seem unrelated, but each acts as a sort of mosaic tile to create nothing less than a treatise on the very nature of existence itself. There is, as contemporary parlance would have it, a lot to unpack in Giordano Bruno’s mind-bending libretto. A king, anxious over his legacy; a community of artists held in thrall by a flighty and dubious critic; a (possibly) grieving man lost in a sensual dream state; a heretic facing his fears inside the belly of a whale; a bureaucrat obsessed with rule-following; a priest fretting about theft from his parish; a paranoid woman; and finally the supreme Synopsis The Monarch A man tells a mysterious tale about his desire for a woman — we hear other voices from inside his head — Einstein’s Inconsistency intermingling personal story with mythical and religious archetypes — by the end we discover he has wrapped Einstein’s Inconsistency, with text that sets-up a discourse on love, death, values and relative truths is, in his lost “lover” in silk in the belief that her resurrection will bring forth the Monarch — (multiple entendres). fact, a series of progressively shorter operas that work together to make a larger whole. Characters overlap in the various mini-operas and minor characters in one appear as major in another. Each can be produced Leviathan separately, in conjunction with others partially or as a complete unit lasting just under one hour. The longest A heretic (named Job not Jonah) is thrust into the sea and swallowed by a whale. Shocked that he is alive, opera is 21 minutes and the works get progressively shorter until the one minute point is reached with Last and anticipating death, he calls upon God and hears a voice (perhaps his own?) echoing deep within the Minute and Job’s Answer. The eight mini-operas can also be grouped in a pattern following Giordano Bruno’s creature. A dialog ensues — much of it echo based (self reflective) and fear mounts as the voice grows idea of an eternally cyclic history progressing from ||:Theocracy to Aristocracy to Democracy to Anarchy:|| closer and closer to him – no longer the possibility of a simple echo — until finally revealed to be the Approximate durations in minutes: 21, 13, 5, 8, 3, 2, 1, 1. voice, not of god, but of a marionette also swallowed by the whale.

The King’s Portrait Rubric’s Cubicle An artist is commissioned to make portrait of the King. The artist makes metaphorical portraits using found A worker enters the office of an administrator in order to “tell him something” but the “clerk” insists they objects like sculptural “still life.” The King is unimpressed until he moves something from the art work and must complete the rubric before any further discussion. The worker has already resigned. discovers a supernatural connection between the art and real life. Inspired, he in tries to dominate the artist and manipulate her work to alter history but is rebuffed. In desperation, he tries to kill her and “wakes up” Saint Anthony’s Loss to discover he is in fact dying on a gurney and the “artist” is his hospice nurse. A priest investigates what he believes to be theft at the alter of St. Anthony (Patron Saint of lost and stolen objects) After observing various people’s requests and contributions, he is shocked to find out who is, in The Original Voice fact, taking St. Anthony’s funds. At an art opening, the critic Pietra Macabeus, is hailed as the “great validator” — various artists are trying to impress her for this validation. She is questioned repeatedly by one artist, Magdelana, about “high” art, Last Minute the idea of providing a primary mystical experience equal to the visions of the prophets and as a public In a seedy bus station, an agitated woman approaches a man with a tabloid declaring that “a comet will soon substitute for climactic experience are proposed. A quote from the writer Mishima that “Suicide is the destroy the earth…” A quick discourse ensues in which the two strangers decide to experience love before greatest form of [self-pleasure]” is taken out of context and Magdelana reappears in the penultimate opera they die — in close and intense embrace, the woman suddenly pulls out a knife and slits the man’s throat, “Last Minute” trying to achieve this through others. The opera concludes with a video “The Eye of God” — as he falls to the floor, she moves towards another with the tabloid asking if he has read the news yet… rap/pop but not… the actors dancing to this over the live chorale layer. Job’s Answer to God Seven singers portray the voice of god in the famous quote “Gird up Thy loins like a man” — Job, (who now sees god — incapable of seeing himself), responds to this horror by saying, “I place my hand over my mouth” and silence ensues. NOTES: Libretti

The King’s Portrait Inspired in part by the sculptural works of Sherri Tan. See the artist website www.sherritan.com for more detail.

Job’s Answer In this famous confrontation, the ultimate confrontation between the all-powerful and the completely powerless, Job recognizes that “god,” being the creator of all and omnipotent, cannot actually see himself except through the worship of others. “God” must have this to prove his own existence. The line, “If I cease to exist, so will you” is intended as stated. Job acknowledges at this point that “god” is seeking release, peace, silence. “So will you” becomes not only “God’s will” but also the death of “god,” By placing his hand over his mouth, god ceases The King’s Portrait discover he is in fact dying on a gurney and the to exist and Job assures this by taking his An artist is commissioned to make portrait of “artist” is his hospice nurse. own life. As the potentially final “opera” in the King. The artist makes metaphorical portraits Queen: I like the way she places my rose atop your the series, it is the end in the truest sense using found objects like sculptural “still life.” The old hunting knife. of the word. Job’s answer takes its concept King is unimpressed until he moves something King: Why? from many sources, both religious and from the artwork and discovers a supernatural Queen: It shows my position in your life — with scientific. Carl Jung’s “Job’s Answer to God” connection between the art and real life. Inspired, the exception of your bloodline — you would be was highly influential. he in tries to dominate the artist and manipulate nowhere without me. You are a dull witted man. her work to alter history but is rebuffed. In des- King: And you are a Cold Dog on very thin ice peration, he tries to kill her and “wakes up” to indeed. It’s about time to get rid of you. Queen: You cannot get rid of me. My secret will not Artist enters the room: in total control but King: Now leave me. All of you! Go! in the Tableaux (that once contained letters from die with me — or have you forgotten this as well? respectfully. (all turn to leave — the artist being led away by his late mistress)– only a brief hesitation and the Bilbot will destroy you. Artist: “Your highness…” the Queen) he slams the box shut. King: This Portrait, This.. still life, you talked me King: Maybe I know things you don’t, Dog! King: (to the Queen but looking at the Artist) ~interlude~ (the sound of a post pounding twice announces into… was supposed to reflect the glories of my Not her. You stay. a visitor) life — not irrelevant moments like… the Clan! (all leave and the artist comes forward and bows The King is asleep on his bed when suddenly Ürlicht (the King’s attendant) : (entering) Your (tense silence ensues) before the king) awaked by a scream from another room. Highness, the still-life portrait is ready. Well… speak! Artist: Yes, your Highness? Servants Voices: (from outside the room) It is the King: I’m coming…(they proceed to the next Artist: Your Highness, The work is honest. The still King: Tell me what just happened? Queen! My Lady, what is wrong?! You are having a chamber and the king observes for a moment the life is true and real. All of the objects are yours and Artist: There was a tragedy with the people’s of the bad dream My lady… Tableaux) they are interwoven... Clan your Highness? Queen: God no!! I cannot see! I cannot see! Light Queen: Marvelous! King: (interrupting) No longer! You will bring it up King: (angrily, grabbing her by the throat) Tell me some candles immediately!!! King: — not what I was expecting… to date… as needed — but not with ... negative … What Just Happened? Servants Voices: (more anxious now) My Lady! Ürlicht: Your Highness, shall I summon the artist? events.Understood?! Artist: your Highness? The room is lit — I am holding a torch… King: It’s just… this reference to Bilbot and the Artist:… yes… your Highness. King: Your Still life… What Just Happened? This Queen: God nooooo!! I’m blind! Oh God… Clan. It is not something I wish to recall — I don’t Soldier: (enters suddenly with controlled agitation) portrait… this “still life” you talked me into… nooooo…collapses into sobbing want it on there! Your Highness!!! I crushed the Clan’s token and tossed it into the The King scurries out of bed — he runs to the Ürlicht: As you wish Your Highness. (The King King: Yes? What is it? fire…are you a witch?! Tableaux and starts to open the box — hesitates removes the small token in reference to the Clan Soldier: The Clan your Highness. They… Bilbot… Artist: God!… a coincidence your Highness… and stops. His attendant pounds twice and enters. from the Tableaux and hands it to the attendant he claims we have attacked them, set fire to their unrelated, please! Ürlicht: Your Highness — The Queen is not well who leaves) lands. He has declared war on us Your Highness. King: Leave! (to himself) If it’s true then I can use King: I can hear Ürlicht… Just like everyone else! King: A major defeat — and how could that King: (staring at artist in disbelief — mouth this just like pieces in a chess game… If she doesn’t get quiet immediately, take her to the have been considered a part of my life worth agape then back to the Soldier) Leave me! tower — I need my sleep. remembering?!(He calls after the attendant) Did we? How did it happen without my consent? (He tosses her to the ground — she regains her Ürlicht: Your Highness… Ürlicht! Bring that thing back. And call that woman Soldier: No, your Highness. We have done nothing. composure and exits quickly — head bowed) King: Are you questioning me?!... here.(to himself) I suspect the Rebels trying to cause a breach in He walks over to the Tableaux. Lifts the Queen’s Ürlicht: Is there anything else, Your Highness? … just not right…. the peace… dried rose and examines it — turning it around in King: Yes. Ürlicht (appears with token) “Your Highness… King: Enough! Send over the ambassador. Right his hand — starts to toss it into the fire and hesi- Send two dependable men over to the Clan… — the king grabs it, crushing it under his foot — now — with men and aid to assist the Clan! We tates at the last moment… reconsiders. He takes under cover of darkness. They are to steal gold tosses it onto the fire. cannot afford another direct confrontation with them. the rose and carefully places it into an ebony box from Bilbot’s cache and bring it back to you. Then kill them yourself. King: Not there!! Ürlicht: Is there?… is there anything else?… your Artist: Your Highness, I feel it — it must… Highness. King: (pushing her) Not there! King: Yes. Bring the… Artist to me… as soon as Artist: As you wish, …Your Highness. you… quiet the Queen and attend to this other affair. She turns and begins to violently disassemble the Ürlicht: As you wish, your Highness. Tableaux throwing it into the fire piece by piece… attendant leaves immediately and begins shouting King: Do you dare disobey me?! (reaching for his orders — soon all is quiet sword but there is nothing in the sheath — his Attendants: (in the distance) You there!… Get a mouth agape — confused) Ürlight! Come quickly gurney, I’ll need… yes… — Guards!! King: Finally, the barking of that Dog has ceased. Artist: (now dressed as a nurse) Just lie down qui- “… a dull man?!” — Dog!! etly… it will all be over soon. (now projected onto a screen over the stage, we see the burning light ~interlude~ of a modern hospital lamp as if in surgery) King lies down again to sleep. We see a video over King: The room, the fire — it is too much — stop! the stage of the special forces Ürlicht has sent to (attendants guide him to a gurney where he is steal the gold, the ensuing struggle and their strapped down) All is… white.. I cannot see! deaths at his hand. Artist: … it will all be over soon. Ürlicht: (announces return with the Artist) King: You’ll be tortured, months before you die… Your Highness — The Artist as you requested. Nurse/Artist: Yes, yes Mr. Bilbot — don’t fight it. King: Very good, Ürlicht. King: Ürlight! … Ürlight… The Original Voice All: (murmuring; no, no, no, no…) Leave us alone. (walks slowly around her, studying) Artist: It will all be over soon. scene opens on a party — an art opening with Pietra Macabeus: My only virtue is my honesty. King: I want you to add something to the Tableaux. Nurse/Artist: Think beautiful thoughts. Go to sleep artists and gallery owners each vying for the I write what I see. (he holds out a bloodstained leather sack of gold) now… go… to… sleep attention of the great critic Pietra Macabeus. Man 1: Then it’s your eyes… and it’s your mind Artist: But your Highness, this is not.. King/Mr. Bilbot: Ürlight… ürlight… ürlight… Man 1 (to Pietra — the critic): But you are brilliant!! we worship! King: THIS is not a request. (Hand on sword — Woman 1: Your insights! Mystical — how do you Woman 2: darling, If I may… your review of my other hand places the bag in her hands and — end — do this? opening… exquisite!! closes them over it) Take it! Find a place on my Julian: a Toast!! — To the Einstein of Critics!! Everything sold!! I owe you my life! Thank you — “Still-Life Portrait!” All: To the Einstein of Critics!!! Thank you!!! (She moves around the work, studying… then Pietra Macabeus: You are too kind, too… kind Pietra Macabeus : (dismissively) I write what I carefully taking the ebony box…) see. My only virtue is my honesty. Pietra Macabeus: (Takes money, smiles knowingly) All: To The MAINSTREAM!!!! to grasp ergo oblivion Julian/Woman 2: Such humility! A toast!! To Magdalena: Excuse me, but, speaking of moving Magdalena: Thomas Mann: Do you know what Always to expose the sword, unsheathed and Honesty — to Art!!! ourselves, didn’t you once compare Mishima’s Lies? Do you know what lies at the bottom of the poised above the burning bed — grasping it and All: To Art!!! To art…(dissolves into conversations) quote about Harakari as the greatest form of… mainstream? Mediocrity!!! turning it in on itself — Spitting the bloodied ends Magdelana to PM: How dearest Pietra, would YOU well.. you know… compared it to true art? All: We will only look at that which follows money. of unspoken words through clenched teeth — define art? Pietra Macabeus: No. I did not. True art entertains. We know what we like and we like what we know. wo ist mine schwache? Pietra Macabeus : Art must simply please the Magdalena: Yes. Like the original meaning of Magdalena: Mediocrity!!! There are no words for such an atrocity of abuse viewer. “entertainment!” “entre tenir” — to hold between. All: But you are brilliant!! Your insights! Mystical — it is the pain of atonement — the tolling bell of All: mumbled approvals Entertain. The experience, just like two lovers. — how do you do this? A toast to the middle of the retribution – unearthly stretching of time (“the Magdalena: But with great art — like Pietra Macabeus: Whatever… entertains you my Mainstream destroyer”) unnatural retribution for aberrance Michelangelo: the face of one in greatest agony is dear (turning away) Magdalena: so… the edge — the ragged edge is “this is your inheritance” — the hollow echo of her indistinguishable from one in greatest Ecstasis. Magdalena: (intensely challenging now) But you what I’m looking for… if lost words the dust of the final words glitters Great Art fills the modern spiritual void… it moves knew him… Mishima? Mishima was correct — I need to approach this through smokefall… us… it… Pietra Macabeus : (violently and defensively moment, this intimate, ultimate moment, this inti- [Closed, crisscrossed, close cropped revolution of Pietra Macabeus: (interrupting) No. No, it does turning on her) No! I did not! The idea that art mate movement of one’s self… According to her, revelations] not — we move ourselves. could be anything but a momentary diversion is it doesn’t exist — true art becomes an illness — now we see this thread Others: (laughing, making light) elitist! Now leave please… an aberration of shamen and mystics… Exstasis! now we put it off no more Julian: (Handing Pietra a thick envelope cash turning to others: (now smiling) That Art is anything Great Art fills the spiritual void. It moves us. We only possess each other by giving over com- sized) Dearest — I hope to see you at my latest but… a moment of diversion is Elitist… and Pietra Macabeus: (devoid of passion) no, it does not. pletely to each... opening… next week. also… not very profitable!(scattered approval/ Others and Pietra: (devoid of passion) We move Is this not the teaching of Christ or the Buddha? Pietra Macabeus: I wouldn’t miss it my dear… laughter)Art should beautify our daily drudgery — ourselves In fact, we possess god only by giving ourselves my dear…….(no clue who he is) not unlike elevator music. Magdalena: instead we should dance, dance while over to god Julian: Ju… Others: Yes! yes, yes.. yes! Absolutely what I said! Rome burns…Baile, Baile, Baile con el Diablo!! We possess ourselves only by Pietra Macabeus: (interrupting) Judas! I thought so, even said so (video starts on screen over the crowd as they Only by… bai… baile con el Diablo. Julian: Julian! Pietra Macabeus: The days of artist as mystic or mingle and dance) Pietra Macabeus: Yes, of course! “Julian” — I’ll shaman — are forgotten and over. We have Video The Eye of God: Forcing the mouth closed — end — be there my dear — notebook in hand… but no destroyed the bastions of artistic bigotry …with so there is no release removing word from mouth a promises! the truth and populist view! slow deep incision (incisor) a bite into the soul — Man 2: (reaching into coat for another envelope) Others: Brava! Brava! Brava! “if thine eye offend thee, pluck It out…” “did you None expected. Julian: To the Mainstream!! have only one collar?” the examination — inability fertile bowels of the earth, the labour of the worm, and feet obscured by a mound of white silk — and the mould of her breath… subsume me to (it is a body but not immediately discernible until your dirgedark lips…unfold the veined petalpolyp the end). If film, focus from close and out: face, to my lipsedgebreath that I might return the primal hands (wringing, making shapes, half gestures, gift….yes… yes.. i.. want silk for you…(i)want pulling on face… etc) interspersed images of the silk for your virgin opal thighs… silk … silk to moon and the sea clouds etc… the shadow of a wrap…wrap your moonmoist thighs…yes… woman entering or leaving a dark room, the sea, yes..i…yes…wrapped in silk…so dark… there is staring up at the moon, sitting in Buddha-like no shadow it is so darke of the moon.. night wraps repose… If acted, these can be overhead on herself about me… grasps breath on lipsedge… screen or omitted. The actor’s monologue as if in insisting…ever gently on its release…….… it’s conversation with himself and silent voices only so darke of the moon…I should wrap your moon he hears… stuttering thoughts begun and abandoned moist thighs in silk…spun from inheld …re-approached from different angles. A dark breath………… spot on the silk begins to expand — eventually i learned to hold my breath…when you would this becomes large and widespread.. it is blood leave me in the darkness…when you arrived with seeping to the surface.. we only realize it is a the shadows… your hair and thighs moist with dead body wrapped in silk at the end. Overall, and oil… i…yes… blinded…search the winterladen much more than a murder / suicide. It is a false clouds…and feel your breath across my open attempt at transformation — wrapping the dead The Monarch wonder of spring...i arrived on the echoes of winter mouth and feel the burning of the passion behind body in silk like a chrysalis, intending a monarch MAN: yes…yes…oh, i want silk for you…(i) with hoar frost on my brow and scarlet thorns blind eyes… my teeth hold(caress) your lower butterfly to come forth — the obvious god made want…silk for your thighs…silk to wrap…wrap about my tender bruised heart … wounded… the lip…drink your ruebied passion…“…this is the man and fall from grace and Karmic transformations your thighs…yes…yes i …yes…. i…yes… moon… moist and swollen, would expose me to body...which is broken…” wrapped in silk that the aside it becomes a poem of the individual as well wrapped in silk – for you…it’s so dark…darke of the winter’s eye…des(i)…(s)ire… her…. virgin Monarch might come forth... in silk the Monarch as the collective misunderstanding… a child’s the moon…night wraps herself about me…in(s).. opal thighs were kept in oil…Eloi… my god … wrapped that might come forth… that wrapped in misunderstanding and wishful thinking…. alien- an(d)…yes…yes no…i…yes, yes… monarch… yes… yes i… yes… no.. I don’t.. yes…no… silk the Monarch will come forth…. ation, abandonment and denial. (or in the case of yes… I don’t … yes…yes…yes… my god… my might…come forth… yes… yes… i…yes … Peter, the reverse order) god… you’re as irresistible as fatal…des(i).. yes…remember… the canto…c(ae)… “come Monarch Notes: Looking into a dark space, a single desire …..there is no shadow… you seem to have my” whores of Babylon… press your dirgedark figure in a chair. Hunched over, head bowed, face — end — forgotten… I did not come here in the swollen swollen lips against my brow and I will become the in his hands, elbows on knees, his lower calves Job: My god, please, why? Why would you leave Job: Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our me? I who am your faithful servant? Why would you death — leave me? Echo: (now, now, now, now) Crew Members: God help us…We’re all gonna Job: My God! Help… no…forgive me… die! He’s not with God! Echo: (Help me , help me, help me…no forgive…) Captain: No we’re not — we’re not gonna die — Job: What now? Who…? Impossible…I’ve lost my (turns to Job) It’s you!… You’re the one — the mind…Am I alive or dead! How much farther? one he wants… Cursed Sinner!! Echo: (Father… father… father…) Crew: Toss him over, Evil one! Jonah: What!? Who! God, take me now! Do not Jonah: No!! torture me! What do you want from me?! Job: God nooooo!!(man tossed into the raging sea Echo: (Help me , help me, help me…no forgive…) and into the mouth of a huge sea creature —the Job: No, no it is only my own voice — the echoes boat sails off into calming seas as the creature of my voice in the beast… descends…) Echo: (beast…beast…beast…) Captain: To God we offer this gift…. Job: yes…yes…My God, how we manipulated you Crew: May he find it pleasing. throughout the ages… Echo: (god…man…god… man…) ~interlude~ Job: My God, your voice never heard, only ours… (The ship recedes into the distance and we see Echo: (your voice… your voice...Ours…Ours…) Job inside the belly of the beast) Job: My God, you who could only see yourself Job: God! through us… Echo: (odd, odd, odd) Echo: (yourself…us…yourself…) Job: Am I alive? Jonah: My God, this your insatiable need to be Echo: (a lie, a lie, a lie, a lie) worshiped blindly. Job: Inside the belly of this beast or dead — in Leviathan Crew Members: God help us…We’re all gonna Echo: (blind worship…blind worship….blind… Hell… waiting for wormwood… (A small fishing boat on the sea…a great sea die! Father in heaven… blind…blindly) Echo: (wood, wood, wood) beast and huge waves threaten it.) Sailor 2: (nodding to Job) Captain, I think there’s Job: My God, is this why you created? To prove Job: Why hast though forsaken me? Sailor 1: There’s nothing more we can do! someone who might be a problem your own existence? Echo: (Why me… why me... why…) Captain: Tie yourselves to the masts! Captain: I see what you mean… Echo: (god… you… god… you) Job: My God, we are all broken and distorted Job: Oh my god… what have I done?? Where can I mirrors…mirrors…pray for us sinners now and at go!!!!? the hour of our… Echo: (Father, Father) Echo: (now…now…now…help me…) Job: But my voice is yours! God… Job: Who!? Whose there!!!? Echo: (Father, Father) Echo: (Help me) Job: Ahhh!! — Pray for us sinners now and at the Job: Stay away from me! My god! It’s getting hour of our death… pray for us sinners closer!…. deliver me Oh Lord!… Echo: (now… now.. father …father… )(creature Echo: (Father? Father…) appears from the belly of the beast walking Job: Ahh!! Who is there!!!! (Father, Father…) towards him-- a marionette - like Pinocchio) Job: God the Father? Can it be?! NO, no, your son Echo: (Now Father!) then? The chosen one come to help me? Echo: (Help me.. help me) — end — Job: Yes…Yes! Come — follow the light… Can you see it? Adam himself, seeking deliverance — yes, of course! Adam from me, me from Jesus and he from you Lord, I see it clearly follow the light …yes! Follow the… Echo: (Father, Father…is that you?) Job: Well no… now, you’d be my father so to Rubric’s Cubicle This rubric tells me what to do. speak — right? Father of us all? Clerkish looking man with glasses sitting at a desk Of course, I know for this to work, Echo: (Father, Father) (the “echo” getting closer looking down at a piece of paper, pencil in hand. I must present myself a Jerk, and closer) Employee walks in, obviously upset — Clerk And tell you what you need to do. motions him to sit in front of desk… (shakes head side to side smiling with closed Man: I have something I must tell you… mouth- face focused on the paper) Clerk: (gesturing more strongly for him to sit) For Those who make these sacred laws It must wait another day… Man: The ones who took away our claws… (head down to paper with pencil at the ready) Clerk: Must seem to understand your work. I’ve called you here to talk to you. Man: Although they’re only high-paid clerks Clerk: SO you can never seem the best — Man: But I have something I must say… Progressions always east to west Clerk: And it must wait another day… Just like the sun in Nature’s way Man: I’ve. Something. I. Must. Say! Progression that dictates your pay Clerk: (looking up at him for the first time) Fine. Man: But I have something I must say… What? Clerk: It must wait another day… Man: I. Resigned. Yesterday. This rubric must go out on time. Clerk: (Looks down, nodding vigorously making To not do this would be… marks on the paper in front of him Man: Sublime… while the man turns and leaves the office — Clerk: Would be a crime! touching the pencil to the paper at another check- Our government makes this quite clear box he reads: ) With funding that’s contingent here. Your reason for leaving… Now. Incapacitated On a scale of one to ten Death How would you rate your work with them? Other? Man: I guess, I’d say it was an eight Other? Clerk: This will not work, too high a rate. (looks up expectantly — surprised to be alone) Man: And why? If they are doing Great? Clerk: Because consistent rises smell… — end — Your progress to the top must pace. You’ve many years to win this race. Saint Anthony’s Loss Papa: Ok, my son. In fact you might think down a notch. At a table with old man, “Papa” who looks like (Priest departs and makes his way to the alter of Man: I’d like to kick you in the… God from the Michelangelo’s Creation: St. Anthony where he hides to watch the scene.) Clerk: yes, down a bit is best Priest: Saint Anthony… Patron Saint of Lost and Priest: Here at the end of the day, I’ll soon discover “Humility….is endless.” Stolen Objects. I will discover who is stealing from the one who dares steal from God. We must not brag… you… from… me! Papa, I must go soon. Chorus For this would send a warning flag. Papa: Ok, my son. Woman 1: St. Anthony, I’ve grown old, I’ve lost Yes, six will do for this and then… Priest: I must remain in prayer tonight, a… vigil. my youth, please take this token and help to bring Papa: Ok, my son. it back. Priest: I’ll see you tomorrow Papa. Woman 2: St. Anthony, my husband, he was stolen by that wench! He was an awful man — please Last Minute Man #3: Together we will love before we die. accept this with my thanks. Location: a seedy bus or train station Passionate embrace — her leg wraps around his, Woman 3: St. Anthony, my heart was stolen by her Two men down stage right — one on the floor, one LH holds back of his head — as his RH advances husband. I’ve never been so happy in all my life — slumped over a chair — they could be derelicts up her skirt... she pulls his head back and slits his please take this money to appease his wife. or drunks — there is no motion at all though throat...lowers body gently to stage floor — picks Man 2: St. Anthony, I’ve lost my tools, so I can’t as they are dead. Man 3 center to stage left — up Tabloid and walks over to the next man… work so I must drink so take this money as my standing waiting with suitcase in hand. Man 4 Woman: Have you seen it? Have you read it?… thanks and please don’t tell my wife. and 5 curving stage left reading and otherwise Black out (chorus backs out leaving priest alone as an old engaged (TV or screens) all forming a semi-circle OSSIA: from start to blackout: man enters the church — it is the Priest’s Papa with Man 3 central and front. Screen 1 with aged film showing shepherd hold- walking with a cane toward the statue of St. Anthony. She near one of the dead men — walks over ing lambs head, Chicken’s head, human head all The priest is speechless — mouth agape) to he with Tabloid opened up as if pointing out before slaughter...interjected into common scenes Papa: (Looking up at St. Anthony, holding his something to him... or static and test patterns [nothing graphic… hands out and slapping one into the other) Woman: Have you seen it? Have you read it? A rotating images] Un, due, tre…Cinque! comet will destroy the planet very soon. Screen 2 with flashing patterns of pure math- (holding out 5 fingers on each hand in similar Have you seen it? Have you read it? We’ve only ematics — imaginary numbers and differential stance to the statue with it’s two fingers extended) minutes to live. I want to choose when I die, when equations rolling constants You loose again St. Anthony! and how I die. (Smiling and shaking his head, he bends over and Man #3: Comet? “Will destroy the planet very — end — takes the money and leaves) soon?! but… love… I have never known love! I want to love and be loved before I die! — end — Woman: Then share my breath and I’ll take yours. Embrace me as we choose our destiny. (Pulling him into her) Together we will choose just when we die. The Composer

Thomas Sleeper enjoys an active dual career as composer and conductor. His oeuvre to date includes five symphonies, thirteen operas, fourteen concerti, four orchestral song cycles, works for chorus with orchestra, band, wind ensembles, three string quartets, numerous other vocal and instrumental chamber works and music for film. Sleeper’s compositions are performed regularly throughout the US, and in Europe, Asia and South America. Sleeper began his professional career at age 19 as a member of Fermata, an Austin based group of avant garde composer/performers who presented interdisciplinary concerts throughout the state of Texas. In this context, he developed close associations with composers such as Jerry Willingham, Jerry Hunt and Robert Xavier Rodriguez. A strong advocate of new music, Sleeper has conducted the premieres of numerous works by composers such as Henry Brant, Carlos Surinach and Roberto Sierra. He has recorded works by these composers and others on the Albany, Centaur, Cane, Irida and Naxos labels. Sleeper resides in Miami, Florida, where he is Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and Music Director of the Florida Youth Orchestra. www.sleepermusic.com

The Performers Job’s Answer God (Chorus): Gird up thy Loins like a man!!! Tenor Tony Boutté made his professional operatic debut as Orfeo in the groundbreaking Monteverdi Cycle Job: Well played. with Skylight Opera of Milwaukee. Since then he has appeared in a wide range of roles, including Ottavio in We are both tired. Don Giovanni, Acis in Handel’s Acis & Galatea with soprano Elizabeth Futral, and Gandhi in the Philip You in your omnipotence cannot see yourself. Glass opera Satyagraha. As an oratorio and concert singer, Tony has performed with some of the world’s You need my worship to prove your existence. leading ensembles, including Les Arts Florissants, Tafelmusik, Les Talens Lyriques, Opera Lafayette, If I cease to exist, so will you. Washington Bach Consort, New York Collegium, Violons du Roy, Boston Baroque, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, I place my hand over my mouth. and Musica Angelica. Tony has performed numerous premiers, including John Eaton’s Benjamin Button Simultaneously raises left hand to cover mouth, (Symphony Space,) Arjuna’s Dilemma by Douglas Cuomo (BAM), Michael Gordon’s Chaos, Betsy Jolas’ right hand to throat with knife Motet III, Bang on a Can’s Carbon Copy Building and In the Penal Colony by Philip Glass. Tony has recorded Blackout a wide range of material, from Bach’s St. John Passion (Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra) and operas by Lully (Armide) and Sacchini (Oedipe à Colone) to world premier recordings of Carbon Copy Building and — end — Arjuna’s Dilemma. His festival appearances include Salzburg, Aspen, Bard, Schleswig-Holstien, Settembre, New Year’s celebration, First Night. She also performed the role of Bastienna in Bastien and Bastienna in Aldeburgh, Versailles Autumn Festival and Tage Alte Muzik Regensburg. Tony made his Carnegie Hall debut Opera Boston’s farewell performance. Additionally, Ms. Soby created the role of Flavia Taste in Boston-based in 2006 singing Handel’s Messiah with Masterwork Chorus. He is currently on the voice faculty of University Guerilla Opera’s World Premiere production of Bovinus Rex by Rudolf Rojahn, and covered the role of Jenifer of Miami’s Frost School of Music and co-directs ARCANUM, a baroque ensemble based in Miami, Florida. in Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s New England premiere of Tippett’s A Midsummer Marriage. An active ensemble singer, she has held permanent and substitute positions with many organizations throughout the John Duykers made his operatic debut with Seattle Opera in 1966. Since then he has appeared with many country. Past and present ensemble affiliations include: Handel and Haydn Society, Lorelei Ensemble, of the leading opera companies around the world. Marsh Chapel Choir at Boston University, First Church Boston, A Joyful Noyse, Cappella Clausura (Boston); He is particularly well known for his performances of new work, having performed in 174 contem- Vox Humana (Dallas); Tucson Chamber Artists (Tucson); Trinity Cathedral (Miami); and Santa Fe Desert porary operas including 90 world premieres. He created the role of Chairman Mao in the premiere John Chorale (Santa Fe.) She holds dual Masters degrees in Vocal Performance and Opera Studies from New Adams’ Nixon in China. Philip Glass has written three roles for Duykers including The Visitor (In The England Conservatory and a B.M. from the University of Connecticut. Penal Colony) and the role of the Older Galileo in Galileo/Galilei. Paul Dresher has written several roles for Duykers including The Tyrant, which premiered in 2003 and has appeared in various venues around Jeffrey Williams has been hailed by Baltimore Sun, as “very likable, a winning performance sung with much the US. Duykers and Missy Weaver founded First Look Sonoma, dedicated to generating new and unusual confidence, phrasing everything stylishly,” and Miami Herald as possessing a “commanding, sizeable, vocal performance arts to Sonoma County, California. They have produced several new works by emerging effortless, manly baritone.” He has portrayed a wide range of characters including Tchaikovsky’s Eugene composers that have been presented in venues across the United States. Onegin, Marschner’s Lord Ruthven in Der Vampyr, Lionel in the Philadelphia premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans, Mozart’s Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Tchaikovsky’s Prince Yeletsky in Pique Dame, Caitlin McKechney has been hailed for her “staggering performance” (The Chicago Classical Review) and Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, Mozart’s Figaro, and others. Williams has been a Nashville Opera Mary Ragland for her “dark dusky voice with its vibrant top notes and powerful lower register” (The Edge Miami) in Andy Young Artist and a Seagle Music Colony Young Artist. Williams is a frequent soloist in the oratorio and concert Vorez’s No Exit with both Florida Grand Opera and Chicago Opera Vanguard. With Florida Grand Opera, works of Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns, Fauré, Duruflé, and others. He has taken Caitlin has also been seen as Suzuki in Madame Butterfly and Myrtale in Thaïs. Other operatic credits part in multiple programs including the Russian Opera Workshop at the Academy of Vocal Arts and Middlebury include Tisbe in La Cenerentola and Third Lady in The Magic Flute with Nashville Opera, Maddalena in College’s Deutsch für Sänger Programm. Williams took on additional studies at the Sachrang Akademie in Rigoletto with Opera Memphis, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Amore Opera, and the Wife/Mother in Sachrang, Germany, the Académie Musicale de Villecroze in Villecroze, France, and the Salzburg Mozarteum Mark Anthony Turnage’s Greek with Chicago Opera Vanguard. Caitlin is a member of the New York City Sommerakademie in Salzburg, Austria. He has also been associated with the John Duffy Composers Institute based new music ensemble Hotel Elefant and is a founding member of the “opera band” The Opera and Virginia Arts Festival in Norfolk, Virginia for many years premiering operatic works of living operatic Cowgirls (www.caitlinmckechney.com). composers. Williams has been recognized with multiple awards including an Arleen Auger Memorial Fund Study Grant, the Cynthia Vernardakis Award at the Orpheus National Voice Competition, as well as being Praised for her sincere musicianship and heartfelt performances, soprano Kimberly Soby brings an exquisite a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Mid-South Regional Finalist. He is currently on the voice balance of beauty and intelligence to her vast repertoire. With Opera Boston, notable appearances include faculty at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. For more information, please visit the role of Cardillac’s Daughter (cover) in the New England premiere of Hindemith’s Cardillac and Tonina in www.jeffreywilliamsbaritone.com. a new English translation of Salieri’s First the Music, Then the Words commissioned by Boston’s municipal Thomas Sleeper

1 The King’s Portrait [19:21] 4 Leviathan [5:09] Caitlin McKechney, Queen Kimberly Soby, Echo “Voice” Kimberly Soby, Artist/Queen’s Attendant John Duykers, Job Tony Boutté, Ürlicht/Male Servant Tony Boutté, Sailor 1 Jeffrey Williams, King Jeffrey Williams, Captain/Sailor 2

G. Bruno, Soldier Einstein’s inconsistency 5 Rubric’s Cubicle [2:54] 2 The Original Voice [11:27] Tony Boutté, Clerk Kimberly Soby, Pietra Macabeus/Woman Jeffrey Williams, Man Caitlin McKechney, Magdelana/Woman 6 [2:05] Tony Boutté, Julian/Man St. Anthony’s Loss Kimberly Soby, Woman 1 Jeffrey Williams, Man 2/3 Caitlin McKechney, Woman 2/3 3 The Monarch [8:08] Tony Boutté, Priest

TROY1551 Caitlin McKechney, Anima John Duykers, Man Jeffrey Williams, Man/Animus Jeffrey Williams, Papa

7 Last Minute [1:02] Caitlin McKechney, Woman Einstein’s Jeffrey Williams, Man TROY1551 8 Job’s Answer [1:22] Inconsistency Celestial Chorus, Voice of God … a series of operas John Duykers, Job Total Time = 51:43 Music by Thomas Sleeper + Libretto by Giordano Bruno Bruno Philharmonia || Thomas Sleeper, conductor Einstein’s inconsistency

WWW.ALBANYRECORDS.COM TROY1551 ALBANY RECORDS U.S. 915 BROADWAY, ALBANY, NY 12207 TEL: 518.436.8814 FAX: 518.436.0643 ALBANY RECORDS U.K. BOX 137, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA8 0XD TEL: 01539 824008 © 2015 ALBANY RECORDS MADE IN THE USA DDD WARNING: COPYRIGHT SUBSISTS IN ALL RECORDINGS ISSUED UNDER THIS LABEL. Thomas Sleeper