Marti Epstein - Mary Magdalen for soprano and cimbalom (2016) 

Jennifer Ashe - soprano
Nicholas Tolle - cimbalom
www.ludovicoensemble.org
Videography by SALT Arts Documentation
Performed January 24, 2019
1. Three Marys 00:01
2. Mary and the Disciples 02:45
3. The Nature of a Vision 06:09
4. The Soul and the Powers 09:15
5. Mary and the Disciples 13:20
6. Thunder, Perfect Mind 17:43
The traditional view of Mary Magdalen -- a fallen woman who was a peripheral part of Jesus’ circle -- is very different from the portrayal of her in the Gnostic Gospels. The Gnostic Gospels are a collection of more than 50 poems and myths discovered in Egypt in the 1940s. They contain unconventional examples of the teachings of Jesus -- teachings that reflect an elevation of the status of women as well as evidence of a more human, earthly view of Jesus than is found in the New Testament.
I love tales about characters from familiar stories in which new, unimagined aspects of those characters are shown. This particular story about Mary Magdalen is a mix of the very ancient with modern resonances; Mary is portrayed as Jesus’ most trusted and beloved disciple, and she is treated with great suspicion and disdain by some of her fellow disciples who can’t accept that Jesus may have elevated a woman to a higher status than the men in his circle. I felt that this story, with its blend of the old and new, was perfect for a piece involving the cimbalom, an instrument that I hear as embodying both an ancient sound and a very modern sensibility. - Marti Epstein
Text adapted from the Gospel of Mary and the Gnostic Gospels by Marti Epstein
1. Three Marys
There were three who always walked with Him.
Mary, his Mother;
Mary, her sister;
And Mary of Magdala,
Who was called his companion;
For Mary is his sister, his mother, and his companion.
2. Mary and the Disciples
He said to us:
Peace be with you.
Receive my peace.
The child exists in you.
Follow the child,
become fully human.
Go out and preach the message of good news.
He left us and my brothers wept:
How can we preach his message?
How can we find the child within?
If they killed him, we will not be spared!
My brothers, do not remain in sorrow and doubt!
His grace will go with you.
His grace will protect you.
Let’s praise his greatness.
He has prepared us, made us fully human.
I say this to turn your hearts to good.
The Peter cried:
We know he loved you more than anyone.
Tell what he told you that he may not have told us!
3. The Nature of a Vision
What he has hidden from you,
I will reveal.
I saw him in a vision, and told him:
Today I saw you in a vision.
He told me that I am blessed since I did not tremble when I saw him.
I asked him how one contemplates a vision-
with soul or spirit?
He answered that one sees with neither soul nor with spirit.
The eye of the heart, which is between the two, beholds a vision.
4. The Soul and the Powers
In my vision
I was the soul, rising to heaven.
I met evil along the way, trying to stop my ascent:
Darkness
Desire
Ignorance
Fleshly Wisdom
Fleshly Kingdom
Wrath
[To All I said:]
We have come from the place where light came into being.
What binds me is slain.
What surrounds me is destroyed.
I have been oppressed, but I do not oppress.
In a world, I am freed through another world.
In an image, I was freed through heavenly image.
I rise towards repose,
where time rests in the eternity of time.
From now on, I’ll rest through the time of this age in silence.
5. Mary and the Disciples
After telling these things, I grew silent.
For it was in silence that he spoke to me.
Then Andrew said to our brothers:
Do you believe these things she has said?
As for me, I still don’t believe he would speak like this.
These strange ideas are too different from what we know.
Then Peter spoke:
Did he really speak with a woman in private?
Without our knowledge?
Should we all now turn and listen to her?
Did he prefer her to us?
I wept and cried to Peter:
My brother, what can you be thinking?
Do you believe that I imagined this?
Do you believe that I would invent tales about him?
Then Levi said:
Peter, you are always angry.
Now I see you arguing against Mary like an enemy.
If he made her worthy, who are you to turn her away?
Surely he knew her well,
for he loved her most.
We should be ashamed, and become fully human so we can embody him.
As he asked of us, let us preach the good news.
My brothers listened to me.
We began to go out into the world to teach and preach.
6. Thunder, Perfect Mind
I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am the mother and the daughter.
I am she whose wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband.
I am knowledge and ignorance.
I am shameless and I am ashamed,
I am strength and I am fear.
I am foolish and I am wise.
I am godless and I am one whose god is great.
I am the knowledge of my name.
I am the first and the last.