• Date - 2007
• Dur -18.5'
• Inst - large orchestra (4444, 4431, 6 perc, pno, strings)

In 1799, Francisco Goya etched a series of eighty plates called Los Caprichos, advertised as a “criticism of human errors and vices.”  The most famous of these plates, number 43, gives this piece its title: “El sueño de la razon produce monstruos,” or “The Sleep of Reason Breeds Monsters.” The plate depicts the artist, asleep at his desk, beset by a swarm of owls and bats, as a plaintive lynx looks on. The title of the plate is self-explanatory. It was a revelation of the Age of Enlightenment that the ills of the world- its monsters, as it were- are caused not by the sentient malignancies of myth, but rather by the ignorance and willful stupidities of man. This succinct verity resonates today, perhaps with greater significance than ever.

While not programmatic, this tone poem for large orchestra is inspired by and reflective of Goya’s important art and idea. The poetry of Wallace Stevens, the art of Pablo Picasso, and birdcalls I recorded in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia served as additional inspiration. It is scored in a single continuous movement, divided into seven sections, described below.

I. The Sleep Owls (p. 1)

When the artist slips into slumber the monsters slide out. A teeming phalanx of beasts and rogues, denizens of the night. The owls, their screeches and howls like the wails of madmen railing against the light. Darkness befits its friend.

II. Bats (p.14)

Bats and wings and superstitious things, flutter and twit a bit, bite through the night air. Blind as a __, they echo locution.

III. A Shrug at the Massacre (p. 24)

Bombs are made in dark, hollow rooms. A village awakes. The roué, on the fence, slaking his thirst for revenge, shrugs and stares. Complaints will be heard if you submit the proper documentation. Cleanup begins at the crack of dawn.

IV. Lynx (p.48)

The eyes of the lynx, like light, those tiny knives, pierce the darkness and glimpse what’s behind.

V. Laughter in the Dark (p.52)

A cackle occurs to the artist who sleeps. Rancor demurs to wan nonchalance.

VI. Dance of the Macabre Mice (p.55)

They built a statue to it, spilled marble for it, signed writs for it, dripped paint for it. Only the mice know the truth. Mice are the only sincere creatures.

VII. Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (p.72)

Eve, you Prometheus of Eden. The beasts he named were his to bear, were they not, my coquette, my sweet? Let us slip through the back door and chew fruit at will.

sample library rendering MP3s:

“El sueño de la razon produce monstruos,” by Francisco Goya