{"id":95914,"date":"2023-04-24T15:28:36","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T19:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=95914"},"modified":"2023-04-24T17:32:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T21:32:53","slug":"preview-unraveling-enigmatic-life-tycho-brahe-toronto-consort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/04\/24\/preview-unraveling-enigmatic-life-tycho-brahe-toronto-consort\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Unraveling The Enigmatic Life of Tycho Brahe With Toronto Consort"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Composer Alex Eddington (Photo: Dahlia Katz); Tycho Brahe (Public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In partnership with The Toronto Consort<\/h3>\n

Toronto Consort\u2019s upcoming production, Celestial Revolutions \u2014 The Life and Times of Tycho Brahe, is a fully staged new work that will be performed on May 3 and 4, 2023. The production had originally been planned for early 2022, but COVID-era restrictions and uncertainty pushed the performance forward to 2023.<\/p>\n

The show brings to life the story of Tycho Brahe, a 16th century astronomer who helped to revolutionize the way we think about the stars and other celestial bodies.<\/p>\n

The piece was commissioned from Toronto-based composer Alex Eddington, and will be receiving its world premiere with cymbalom master Richard Moore, actor and baritone Olivier Laquerre, and direction by Tyler Seguin.<\/p>\n

\"Graphic
Graphic courtesy of Toronto Consort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tycho Brahe: an unconventional life<\/h3>\n

Born on December 14, 1546, in Knudstrup, Scania, Denmark, Tycho Brahe was a true Renaissance man. He\u2019s remembered as much for the unusual aspects of his life as for his contributions to science.<\/p>\n

His childhood was marked by upheaval. He was born into a wealthy and influential family, with his father an important functionary of the castle of Helsingborg. His uncle was both wealthy and childless, and he abducted Tycho at a very young age, taking him to his own castle in Tostrup.<\/p>\n

The family was undoubtedly shocked, but readjusted. The uncle paid for his education as a lawyer, but when he witnessed the total eclipse of the sun of August 21, 1560, Tycho’s path was set in a different direction. While studying law to please his uncle, he simultaneously began his mathematical and astronomical observations. He was determined to correct the inaccuracies he found in the meagre documentation of his time.<\/p>\n

The Danish astronomer lives on in history because of his measurements, which represented the most accurate method possible prior to the telescope to produce an accurate survey of the solar system. His measurements included the positions of 777 stars.<\/p>\n

He’s also well known for the fact that he lost his nose to a duel during his travels in Europe. He duelled his own third cousin, Mandrup Parsberg. The two were both living as students in Rostock, on the north coast of Germany. For the rest of his life, Brahe wore a prosthetic nose which was rumoured to be made of silver. An exhumation and autopsy in 2010, however, showed it to be made of brass. In any case, he made up with Parsberg and the two actually became friends.<\/p>\n

When he inherited the estates of both his father and uncle in the 1570s, Brahe was able to build a small observatory of his own. On November 11, 1572, he observed a new star, which we now know was a supernova. The phenomenon was visible to the naked eye until 1574, and it perplexed the scholars of the time, who believed the universe and the stars in it to be fixed and unchanging.<\/p>\n

The discovery, which he described in a book, established his reputation in Europe. He was granted the title to an island, along with financial support to build a larger observatory and lab by the King of Denmark.<\/p>\n

Along with his scientific pursuits, Tycho was an artist and often wrote poetry for his friends. His books and manuscripts were beautifully set and printed with care. He also invented a form of sanitary toilet facilities.<\/p>\n

After King Frederick II died in 1588, Brahe fell out of favour with new king Christian IV. He went to Prague and the patronage of Emperor Rudolph II in 1599. He died there on October 24, 1601.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Toronto Consort (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Composer Alex Eddington<\/h3>\n

Composer, theatre artist and arts educator Alex Eddington was commissioned to write the work, which has been in the works for even longer than the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI brought the idea to David Fallis when he was still AD of Toronto Consort,\u201d Eddington recalls. That puts its origins back to 2018 or so. He\u2019d approached Fallis with another idea revolving around astronomy. As a result, the two researched the notion of a historical figure who was relevant to both the science and the era of music they were focused on.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusically, he lived in the late renaissance and died just at the beginning of the baroque,\u201d Alex explains. \u201cHe was very much a scientist \u2014 one of the last great naked eye astronomers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Brahe\u2019s time, science and pseudoscience went hand in hand, perhaps not so differently than the present day. Many served as both astronomer and astrologer. \u201cI think one of the reasons I wanted to write this is […] I\u2019m a big believer in using art to increase science literacy,\u201d Alex says, \u201cbecause that\u2019s as important as it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eddington\u2019s music places the emphasis on the beauty of the vocal contrapuntal harmonies, with the instrumentation woven into the mix as supporting players. The music punctuates the theatrical sections which portray parts of his life story, and give Brahe a voice to explain his theories and understanding of the universe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more I looked into him, the less I was interested in his eccentric side,\u201d Alex says. However, the human drama of his story can\u2019t be denied. \u201cIt’s much more about legacy,\u201d he says of the story \u2014 that, and deathbed regrets. \u201cHe carried a lot of grudges,\u201d he notes. \u201cI became very interested in him as a character, a very flawed human being who died very tragically and very stupidly.\u201d Brahe died after simply holding his bladder in check for too long, being too polite to leave the table during a banquet. His bladder burst, and he died shortly after.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to take away the sense that he was a flawed but very sympathetic person,\u201d he says. Brahe saw himself as a kind of brother to other scientists. \u201cHe saw himself as part of this continuum of human knowledge. That became the theme of this entire show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the eternal cosmos and its beauty, the production explores themes of the struggle over legacy, and ends with an expression of what he calls magic realism. \u201cIt’s not a straightforward biographical show.\u201d<\/p>\n

His legacy is one of precision. \u201c[It\u2019s about] being driven to get the most precise measurements possible, and also about the conflicts of his life.\u201d Like most scientists of his day, he clashed with the politics of religion vs science. \u201cHe lived between worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The piece includes both original composition and existing repertoire. \u201cI wrote six pieces that frame it,\u201d Alex explains, \u201cwith historical music in between.\u201d The music flows from an opening monologue by baritone Olivier Laquerre in the character of Brahe. \u201cMost of the music I wrote is Tycho’s words of various kinds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The music is evocative. \u201cIt’s meant to sound like orbiting planets,\u201d he says of the opening. He was also inspired by Keppler\u2019s ideas about the music of the planets. (Keppler was a student of Brahe’s.) \u201cI tried to create a kind of chorus from that in this grand counterpoint with all the performers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four middle pieces deal with aspects of Brahe\u2019s output. One revolves around a star map, for example, and the other is his account of the first observed supernova. Another piece features his sister Sophie, who was a prot\u00e9g\u00e9e of his, widowed with a lover who was also an alchemist. Tycho wrote a poem about Sophie that cast her in a heroic light. \u201cI took a small portion of it, and set that as a very intimate song,\u201d Alex explains.<\/p>\n

The Dance of Impotent Rage is what he calls an angry hurdy gurdy part. It expresses one of Tycho\u2019s long-lasting grudges over someone who\u2019d allegedly tried to take credit for his work. He cursed him even on his deathbed. \u201cIt’s pure rage music without any text,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In the last piece, Olivier sings as Tycho. \u201cThese are legitimately Tycho’s last words, according to Keppler,\u201d Alex says. \u201cLet me not seem to have lived in vain.\u201d Eddington made an aria out of it with a spare arrangement of vocals, cymbalom and bass recorder. \u201cIt’s just as Tycho is dying in the story. The instrumentation was really interesting to work with for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hurdy gurdy and cymbalom serve a special purpose in the piece. \u201cI wanted to capture the sound of the streets of Prague.\u201d As a whole, Celestial Revolution also includes the organ, and a series of recorders. To chart the downward spiral of his last years, they begin with a soprano recorder, dropping lower in register over the course of the six pieces to become darker as well as lower in tone, reflecting the mood.<\/p>\n

Other instruments are more creative. Toronto Consort Artistic Associate Ben Grossman, a musician and composer, is also acting as co-Artistic Director with Alison Melville. \u201cBen made his own instrument out of bells,\u201d Eddington mentions.<\/p>\n

The new instrument comes as a result of a long term plan to augment the Consort\u2019s usual collection of medieval instrumentation. Medieval manuscripts illustrate tuned bells, but authentic copies are enormously expensive to come by. The bespoke instrument uses handheld bells that come from Korea, with some tweaking to create the tuned instrument. It will be their first use in concert with the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all worked together to very deliberately to create a sound that wasn’t typical,\u201d Alex says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that Alex has engaged with the ensemble in such a deep way,\u201d Ben says, \u201cand got such an intimate understanding of the players and voices,\u201d he adds. \u201cHe created a really incredible sound world.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a composer, Alex appreciated the opportunity for innovation. \u201cIt’s very neat for me at this point in my career to feel this kind of risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets to Celestial Revolutions are on sale now [HERE<\/a>]<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Toronto Consort\u2019s upcoming production, Celestial Revolutions \u2014 The Life and Times of Tycho Brahe (May 3 & 4), is a new work by composer Alex Eddington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":95915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40430,74,18,19,29,38,4557,63],"tags":[40593,6479,40594,4492],"yst_prominent_words":[7597,6973,9963,10167,6616,6741,11617],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/04\/Toronto-Consort-Preview.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-oX0","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95914"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95921,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95914\/revisions\/95921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95914"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=95914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}