I am currently spending most of my time (partly as occupational therapy) composing my first opera. The libretto is largely an English translation of Plato's Timaeus and Critias dialogues, which were among his last works. In addition to a long metaphysical and cosmological explanation, this text also contains the world-famous description of Atlantis, to which this text is the only surviving source from antiquity. Since a literal interpretation of the story does not correspond to modern archaeological insights, many academics write it off as a fiction of Plato. However, this interpretation is also problematic, since Plato emphasizes about 20 times in the text that the story is true and not fictional, and that he is the story of a lost Epic by the Athenian statesman and poet Solon, who lived 300 years earlier. , had been handed down. He is said to have gotten the story into its place from Egypt, when he visited a historic, but now lost temple in Sais in the Nile Delta and was taught by the priests there in their understanding of the ancient past. The text contains a long list of concrete physical descriptions, dimensions, geographical landmarks, (distorted) references to historical events and many other details, which make it difficult to defend the idea that the entire story is merely an allegory, since all these detailed descriptions then apparently serve no purpose. Long story short: I have been writing a very extensive literary research about this for a year now, and I have come to an extensive and nuanced conclusion in which the story is partly based on real historical places and situations (hence all the details), but has also been distorted over time, placed in incorrect context, and combined (both in Egypt and by Solon and Plato), which has resulted in a kind of Frankenstein story that we now know of Atlantis. As a result, Plato sincerely believed in the legitimacy of the story in his time, but at that time this story was already highly distorted and infected with various misconceptions of that time. However, I do offer new and concrete archaeological evidence that matches Plato's descriptions, including the annular geological formation on which the legendary city was built (the Richat Structure in Mauritania), topped by some 30 large ruins of Bronze Age fortresses, when rivers ran through this area and local oases existed. A large number of artefacts have also been found, such as spear heads, grinding stones, pots, axes, beads and oil lamps.

In the course of this project I realized that there are in fact 2 versions of Atlantis: on the one hand, the concrete, historical, yet somewhat simpler original location and origin of the story, and on the other hand, a legendary, almost mythical city that has remained in the minds of generations afterwards (Egyptians, Greeks and then the whole world) came into being. The book I am writing focuses entirely on this first, historical Atlantis, but this opera is about the idealized (and mythologized) story, in the form of a large-scale Epic, partly informed by the underlying historical reality, and partly through the narrative for which this famous story is such fertile ground. The opera therefore follows Plato's text, but sometimes with some adjustments to fit better within the opera format or to be slightly more historically accurate. The opera, just like the tradition of the story, is a frame story that goes further and further back in time: Plato - Solon - Egyptian priests - Atlantis itself. The work is divided into 4 acts, with the first act explaining the frame story and tradition, the second act describing the origin mythology of Atlantis from tradition, the third the flourishing of the commercial empire of Atlantis, and the fourth the decline, war and natural disasters (climate change and drying of the Western Sahara).

Instrumentation:

SMATRB chorus, boy choir, SSMAATTRRRRBBO soloists, 2222 + spt, 2223, str. (+octobas)), timp., snr, bdr, hrp, clst, org.

Octobass: This is an absolutely fantastic instrument with a range one octave below the lowest C of a double bass (i.e. C0, inaudible to most people). I use it occasionally to evoke a sense of grandeur given the large scale of the story and project, which also makes this work one of the rare compositions with an original octobas part. Ben Faes is an Antwerp double bassist and octobassist who owns and plays one of the only 5 copies in the world (and built it himself with his father and grandfather). He sometimes plays in concerts and I have approached him to ask if he can be hired, but am still waiting for a response. If this proves impossible, he can also be left out as he often octaves the double basses.

Basso profundo: to portray the voice of the supreme god Zeus who pronounces judgment on Atlantis, I felt that I had to use the most legendary singing voice on earth, the octavist or basso profundo, known from Eastern Orthodox choral music, together with an ethereal women-angel chorus, as this immediately creates a kind of divine atmosphere. I have only been able to find one in the Netherlands, Hans Pootjes, but I don't know if he can be hired.

Organ: Actually written for an organ with pedals, but in a hall where that is not possible, our block organ will also suffice.

Dramatis personae:

Plato - Baritone, tells the story in recitatives together with a harp as lyre, string continuo and sporadic orchestration

Greek boys' choir - boys' choir

Solon - Baritone

Egyptian priest - Tenor

Athene - Soprano

Cleito - Soprano

Leucippe - A

Meryey - Baritone

Ramesses III - Baritone

Poseidon - Bass

Atlas - Bas

Zeus - Basso profundo

Oracle- Alt

Chorus of Atlantean kings - BRTx3

Quite a lot of characters, but many are also supporting roles and can therefore also be played well by Uskites.

Duration:

I now have about 31 minutes of finished music, but still have a lot of editing and new composing to do, with the aim of eventually having a reasonable running time of between 70-90 minutes, like an average feature film.

Music:

My composing style is very eclectic, with a strong influence of all kinds of works from Bach's oeuvre, but also with all kinds of romantic and worldly influences. The music is fairly easy to play, and the harmonies are often wrenching and mournful, fitting within the tragedy of Atlantis. Because of Plato's recitatives it is a kind of mixture between an oratorio, an opera, and sometimes only orchestral or a cappella music. I recognize various influences of J.S. throughout the work. Bach, J.C. Bach, Schubert, Monteverdi, Brahms, Glass, Wagner, Wieniawski, Mozart, Chopin, Glinka, Balakirev, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Holst & Mahler. I also make heavy use of musical imagery and hidden meaningful quotations of other music. It contains fragments that I composed between the ages of 14 and 21.

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