Choral / 2017

The Foundation of Heaven

Composer

This piece was inspired by the text, one of the most ironic pieces of poetry I’ve ever happened across. It’s from a pre-Columbian Aztec lyric poem that extols the many virtues of Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital that stood where Mexico city is today.

The climax of the excerpt is the words: “Who could conquer Tenochtitlan? Who could shake the foundation of heaven?” This, for a city that’s most famous in the United States today for being conquered, swiftly and absolutely by Hernán Cortés.

The piece starts on a wistful note, looking back post-conquest on the glories of the past. The middle section takes us back in time—you can hear the proud voices of chanting warriors. Tenochtitlan is at the height of its power, with arrows and shields a city impenetrable. At the end, we come back to the present, with a final rueful look back on the arrogance and hubris of empire, left in ruins.

The Foundation of Heaven was written in the spring of 2017 for the University of Maryland's student-run chamber music group for low voices, at the time called Männermusik.