Pamela Dellal, mezzo soprano
uncommon intelligence, imagination and textual
awareness... |
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This work was commissioned by The Crossing, Donald Nally conductor, and was made possible with support from the Knight Foundation.
The title of my piece is that of the Levertov cycle. St. Thomas Didymus is the apostle Thomas, with the designation “Didymus” meaning “the twin”. Thomas is informally known as “doubting Thomas” because of his insistence on seeing and touching Jesus before he would believe in the Resurrection. Upon subsequently seeing Christ, he acknowledged him as “My Lord and my God”. A Mass honoring St. Thomas is a Mass that honors the juxtaposition of doubt and belief that is the basis of life in pursuit of the divine. The simple pair of twin statements in Levertov’s reflection on the Credo is the pivot of the work:
I believe and
interrupt my belief with
doubt. I doubt and
interrupt my doubt with belief.
© James Primosch