.../...
“I am all that man's mind can create;
I am all that he can desire;
all which frightens him;
all that he can conceive”.
He then evokes Padre Pio's poor childhood, the predictions which were made about him during his birth and wonders about his own nature: "am I the emissary of God, God himself? The emissary of the Devil, the Devil himself?" Finally, he answers the (unconscious) call of the monk: he disappears and reappears immediately in front of Padre Pio, then reaches out in his direction with an object which emits a blinding light. Padre Pio slumps back in his chair. The Man in Black has disappeared.
Scene 3 (12 min 15 sec)
Padre Pio asks all the parishioners to leave the church. Notified, his confessor quickly arrives and is told all about what took place; Padre Pio is terrorized and suffers as a martyr. The confessor tries to reassure him. Padre Pio has just lived a first stage, the "transverberation" (see definition in my column from March 2008). Staying by himself, he falls asleep peacefully. The musical comment prepares for the dream that he is going to have of the Holy Virgin.
Scenes 4 and 5 (in the course of writing. See “chronicle of writing” above and previous page)
All in all, 34 minutes have been finished.
3 Musical excerpts (orchestral)
Press one othe the buttons. It turns to green. Press it again, the music stops.
Prelude: 5 successive themes are expressed one after the other:
- The “prayer” followed by the miracle (a very short subject, played by a solo trumpet)
- "The Man in Black" associated with "the wound". We shall find several times afterward and under diverse forms, the subject announcing the appearance from "the Man to Black" associated with the wound which he imposes on Padre Pio. The wound is symbolized by a continuation of sextolets on the same note, played here with cellos and bassoons (with trumpets in the third excerpt).
- “The blood”: short violent theme.
- “divine mercy”
- Padre Pio (general theme of the work)
Scene 2 debut “The Man in Black” appears for the first time
Scene 2: “The Man in Black” disappears to appear abruptly in front of Padre Pio. He reaches out in his direction with an object from which emanates a bright light, and disappears again leaving the priest collapsed.
Note: In a letter, Padre Pio describes this event: “he held in his hand a sort of instrument similar to a long iron blade from which it seemed light was coming out of it". The priest lived this experience (the transverberation) in a paroxystic mode of pain and internal agony. Saint Thérèse d'Avilla who knew the same experience speaks of the "wound of love".
Hope you enjoyed theses excerpts. See you soon
