VISIONARY LIGHT
THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI by JOCELYN HAGEN | INTO THE LIGHT by JAKE RUNESTAD | May 20, 2023 | 8:00 PM
ORLANDO SINGS SYMPHONIC CHORUS
ORLANDO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
First United Methodist Church of Orlando
The final program of the Orlando Sings Choral Festival includes three works inspired by historically significant figures of the Renaissance. Ottorino Respighi’s colorful Botticelli Triptych was inspired by three Botticelli paintings: La Primavera (Spring), L’Adorazione dei Magi (The Adoration of the Magi), and La nascita di Venere (The Birth of Venus).
INTO THE LIGHT
Into the Light is inspired by the The Reformation led by Martin Luther, a contemporary of Botticelli and da Vinci. It was a pivotal event in the history of Western culture and created waves of change across Europe that spread to the rest of the world — the impact of which is still being felt (and studied) today.
Rather than create a museum piece for the Reformation, Runestad asked himself what reforming means in our world today: What are the major issues plaguing our world and what is their cause? Who has addressed these issues through their work and their words (in the vein of Martin Luther)? How can we address these issues through a musical work for chorus and orchestra in a meaningful way?
Into the Light allows us to be immersed in the wisdom of some of the most important and influential reformers in history, and challenges us to consider how we can move beyond fear and onto a path of love, compassion, and kindness.
THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI
Utilizing the latest in video syncing technology, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are brought to life through his words and drawings in an unforgettable multimedia concert experience created for choir, orchestra, and video projections. As the composer who is the creative force behind both the music and visual component, Jocelyn Hagen designed the work so that the music serves as the foundation for the film instead of it functioning as purely a supporting musical soundtrack.
Hagen includes Da Vinci’s intricate handwriting and stunningly beautiful sketches as a visual component to this piece. As a writer, da Vinci wrote from right to left, backwards, as if in a mirror. These beautifully scribed words scroll above the musicians and add a wonderful texture to the performance. Many sketches in the notebooks are of the human form, corresponding perfectly to his observations on the proportions of the body. Filmmaker Isaac Gale took these images and breathed life into them with a living Vitruvian Man in the fifth movement.
Ion Concert Media created MUSÈIK (pronounced mew-ZAY-ik), the world’s most advanced digital sync software, just a few years ago. The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci is the first large concert work to be created that utilizes it to its fullest potential.