The Accacha Chronicles

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The Accacha Chronicles
The Accacha Chronicles cover
Compilation album by Nicholas Lens
Released 2005
Genre Contemporary classical
Length 224:20
Label Sony BMG
Producer Nicholas Lens

The Accacha Chronicles is an operatic trilogy by Nicholas Lens (2005) for Soprano, Tenor, Counter-tenor, Mezzo-soprano, Baritone, Bass, male actor, small choir, mixed choir and chamber orchestra.

Lens' publication of The Accacha Chronicles (published by Schott Music International, Mainz/New York) earned him international acclaim. It might be Lens' most important and famous work and consists of three parts:

The Chronicles detail a three part tale where some eccentric gods visit Earth--once in each album--to find some entertainment by watching the humans. They become fascinated by their actions and reaction, and begin to imitate them in order to understand them and their emotions.
The first part captures the western concept of a requiem while at the same time abandoning the traditional rich chords and free, rubato meter of a cathedral work. Instead, each of the voices has a soloistic line, accompanied not by sostenuto chords, but by a piercing trio from Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, known in the Chronicles as "The Fireflies," and an unusual rhythmic accompaniment.
The lyrics of the first part "Flamma Flamma", all in Latin were written by the author (and Belgian ambassador to Jamaica) Herman Portocarero. The lyrics (in Latin) of the two other parts ("Terra Terra" and "Amor Aeternus") were written by Lens himself.

Contents

[edit] Studio version

The studio-version (3 hours and 44 min. released by Sony BMG 82876 66239 2) of this operatic work features vocalists such as (as credited) Derek Lee Ragin, Claron McFadden, La Verne Williams, Ian Honeyman, Jean-Paul Fauchechourt, Henk Lauwers and Marcello Rosca and the Bulgarian Voices Angelite.

[edit] Live operatic version

In 2005 Lens recently rewrote an operatic acoustic version of The Accacha Chronicles of about 5 hours and 20 minutes which is very different -more complex in rhythm and tonality (much more a-tonal) than the CD-versions. This version was published in 2006 by Schott Music International (Mainz/New York) but did not premiere yet.

[edit] Nicholas Lens on The Accacha Chronicles

Lens has said that he intended The Accacha Chronicles to be a philosophical work, detailing a storyline along with its themes.

  • "Accacha," Lens says in an interview [1], "is a mythical name, half-invented, half-existing. It stands for a reference book in which gods can find intimate details of all lives of human mortals. I used it because it is in a way reflecting what the main characters in this piece, the gods, are up to. And I like the sound of the word."
  • About the story:
    "A bunch of eccentric gods decide to visit earth, in totally 3 times. Their visit has no special character, except maybe that they’re always in for some funny entertainment or distraction. And apparently the gods seem to be fascinated by the mortals and their behaviour, especially by their reactions on dramatic events like death, birth and love. So they imitate the mortals trying to literally feel what it is like to be confronted with typically human shortcomings or moods, with human sadness or joy, with human loss, death or birth. The natural wheel of life must obviously fascinate the gods, as everything which is limited in time becomes much more intensive, and they’re not used to those limitations. Isn’t it a fact that as death sneaks around every corner, it creates fear and angst, of course, but it feeds as well the necessary strength and the courage mortals need to make something of the time they have."
  • About the studio and the live version:
    "You could say that the CD –version is the light version of the actual extended work, with only melodic-tonal parts, call it the jeans version if you want, while the live-version is more a theatrical-dramatized concept, the orchestration –purely acoustic- is more complex in rhythm and tonality, there’s another sort of tension which needs more time to develop and to grow, so it is different as it is raising slower in it’s construction."

[edit] Dedication

(ref. interviews/portraits WNYC-RTL-Deutsche Rundfunk-ARD-SWR-Viva-Concertzender-Klassik R. De-Schott Music-Sony BMG)
Nicholas Lens dedicated the entire trilogy to a certain lady Simona Noorenbergh from Fane, Papua New Guinea. Lady Simona Noorenbergh was a grand-aunt of Nicholas Lens, living all her life in Papua New Guinea. She was one of the founders of the small mountain village called Fane deep in the Papuan jungle. Lens visited Fane twice. Once totally unexpectedly, the second time to bury her after she crashed with a Norman Islander-plane against the top of a mountain of the Papuan Central Province during a typhoon.
Lens was very much shocked by this event. Shortly after this accident he started writing this trilogy.

[edit] The Characters

(ref.Schott Music-Sony BMG)

[edit] Flammarius/Aquarius

The fire-and watergod Flammarius/Aquarius looks like the king of hearts from an antique card game, but he is not. His hair and beard are long, whitish and curled. Aquarius has a double personality: when he turns his back, he becomes the firegod Flammarius. When he speaks or sings he uses pompous language and says things like: "Olympus quakes under Iupiter without opposition," and also "Do we hear a hymn of triumph by blaring posaunes?" His brightly colored clothing tempers the pathos of his words.
His dress, long and stately, is as porous as a flower-pot.
Out of the numerous holes water spouts like mini-fountains.
His robes, unique and stunning, are specially designed for him by his wife. Since the dawn of history Flammarius/Aquarius has been known and respected as a fire and water-carrier, the best in the cosmic fields.
He only does his job -carrying fire and water- when it's really necessary.
His territory is the universe.

Aquarius has a voice,
strong as a Siberian wind,
impressive as a Mongolian gong,
vibrating like a massive bass bell in the temple of Borobodur.

[edit] Maramnan

Maramnan looks like the queen of hearts from an antique card game.
Whatever she does, she radiates warmth.
Wherever she walks, she shows maternal kindness.
Maramnan is a water nymph, famous for her grace and dignity.
She's the wife of the mighty watergod Aquarius and firegod Flammarius.
She designs his robes, an almost full time job.
Maramnan met Flammarius/Aquarius centuries ago at the Cosmic Sea, a popular holiday resort for gods.

Maramnan has a voice,
warm as the Caribbean air,
impressive as an Egyptian posaune,
vibrating like the didgeridoo of a loner in Adelaide.

[edit] Lecka & Pecka

It must have been a thousand light-years ago that the two divine orphans, Lecka & Pecka, were adopted by the fire-/watergod and his consort.
They are twins.
They are dragonflies.
They are two bright, flitting creatures who constantly twirl and flutter around the heads of Flammarius/Aquarius and Maramnan.
From the break of dawn till late at night they chatter and clatter and drive everyone crazy.

Lecka & Pecka have a voice,
cleaving as a Scottish gale,
impressive as a Chinese er-hu,
vibrating like the nasal shenai from a mosque in Punjab.

[edit] Stoycé

Stoycé looks like an androgyne, and maybe he is one. Heís dressed like a medieval court jester.
His body language reveals a nervous nature.
He is easily bored but is happy as a sandboy when something happens.

Stoycé has a voice,
capricious as a Provençal mistral,
impressive as a French horn,
vibrating like a barrel organ from the grande place in Uzès.

[edit] Ismail

Ismail looks like an African teddy bear, but he is not.
Heís of uncertain age and has this boyish smile, like a prince who knows the secret gardens outside the palace.
Ismail is a dreamer, born to be loved, cuddled and snuggled.
Maybe he is also hermaphroditic, like Stoycé.

Ismail has a voice,
smooth as a Canarian breeze,
impressive as a Japanese koto,
vibrating like a gamelan at the port of Surabaya.

[edit] Cypher

Let’s not talk too much about Cypher. Maybe just this:

Cypher has a voice, dry as a volcanic cloud,
seductive as an Italian viola da gamba,
vibrating like a cobra flute at the thieves' market in Bombay.

[edit] Luna-Serena

Luna-Serena has a face, fragile as a crystal mermaid.
She has eyes, velvety as a fairy, but rapid as a water flea.
She has the nimble legs of an octopus and her entire body, shining and golden brown, moves as unpredictably as the Black Sea.
Luna-Serena looks like she has been created by the makers of nature themselves.
Her dazzling beauty is a spontaneous merge of subtleness, perfection and impudence.
It is said that she is an epicene of divine origin, like Stoycé and Ismail.

Luna-Serena has a voice,
charming as a Venetian spring breeze,
impressive as a lotus moon,
vibrating like the singing bowl from a monastery in Lhassa.

[edit] The Whisper Kid

The Whisper Kids' favourite thing to do is to whisper all kinds of stuff in one's ear, and to tease the dragonflies.
The Whisper Kid is as well enchanting as funny, and is the walking proof that true love is around.

The Whisper Kid has a voice,
soft like a sorbet of flashy coloured cherries,
smooth like a horn of milky melted Belgian chocolates,
vibrating like an endless spinning top.

[edit] External links