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Polygraphiae is a concert
length work for soprano, cello, synthesizers, and computer manipulated
sounds. The work received its premiere at Christ Church Cathedral
in St. Louis with Kathryn Stieler, soprano, and Michael Masters,
cello.
This work is based on secret
codes found in the late medieval book written by mathematician
Johannes Trithemius (1462- 1516). In his six volume set, Trithemius
presents several methods of encrypting messages. In one case,
it is possible to take words standing for the letters of a secret
message from consecutive columns. The result is a message encoded
into passages that make sense as innocent prayers. In 1609, one
volume was placed on the official list of prohibited books because
it was believed that it explained how to employ spirts to send
secret messages.
During the development of
this piece, I discovered that three very early editions of this book were
among the holdings of the Washington University library and the
texts for this piece were drawn directly from the pages of these
400 year old books.
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