Composer’s note:

This piece took shape slowly and developed gradually. There were a handful of texts I had wanted to set for a long time—the canticle Nunc Dimittis, my own translation of a poem by Cesare Pavese "Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi" (My Death will come and it will have your eyes), and Macbeth's famous monologue "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow."

I started with these; at some point I realized that I needed a few companion texts, and eventually I settled on a "death poem" by the Korean statesman Seong Sam-mun, Holy Sonnet X by John Donne, "Perhaps If Death Is Kind" by American poet Sara Teasdale, "Death Stands Above Me" by Englishman Walter Savage Landor, and "Poet's Death" by Russian Vassily Zhukovsky, which I translated.

I struggled for a while with both the title and the definition of the genre of the piece. Among other things, "Ars Moriendi" is an homage to the great Russian composer Dmitry Shostakovich, and it is, to a degree, modeled after his Fourteenth Symphony, being scored for the same performing forces, so I did consider calling my piece a symphony, but ultimately decided to call it a cantata. "Memento Mori" was a working title for a long time, but it never felt exactly right, and once I came across the concept of "Ars Moriendi"--"Art of Dying," I knew I had my title.

The original medieval treatise bearing this title advises the reader on ways to achieve a good and honorable death. This is not quite what I attempted to do with my piece; rather, I endeavored to portray people confronting mortality from the point of view of individuals from widely different cultures, spiritual traditions, and historical periods. Every setting is like an operatic scene; these scenes are connected by instrumental interludes, so the piece, approximately half an hour in length, is performed without breaks. Some of the characters within the piece view the subject of death with fear, despair, or consternation, while others are at peace with it and even look forward to it. My hope is that the composer's point of view is made clear by the music.

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After an instrumental introduction, the first setting is that of a death poem by Seoung Sam-mun, a Korean statesman who lived in XV century; he is known as one of “six martyred ministers” who chose to be executed rather than submit to the authority of the king they believed illegitimate. Seong Sam-mun recited this poem as he was about to be led to execution. Despite the gravity of his situation, there’s no hint of despair in this text, only serenity with a touch of curiosity:

As the sound of the drum calls for my life,

I turn my head to where the sun is about to set.

There’s no inn on the way to the underworld.

In whose house will I sleep tonight?

The second poem of the set is “Death Be Not Proud”, one of the best-known Holy Sonnets by John Donne. What I hear in this poem is an articulate and intelligent man who struggles with his faith while attempting to master his fear of death. In this poem, Donne’s lyrical hero calls upon his strength of reasoning in his efforts to combat this crippling fear, with partial success at best. Following an instrumental interlude, the third setting of the cycle is “Nunc Dimittis”, a canticle that is a part of the Catholic liturgy. The perspective on mortality here is very different; death is seen as a welcome release from the vicissitudes of mortal existence.  

If the lyrical hero of John Donne is fighting the despair, his counterpart in the poem by Italian writer Cesare Pavese “My Death will come and it will have your eyes” has long given up the fight. This deeply expressive, though mildly obscure, poem conjures images of deep depression, which perhaps foreshadowed the poet's own suicide. A setting of Macbeth’s famous monologue “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” follows—stoic and fatalistic, it does next to nothing to dispel the gloom established by the previous poem. Relief comes in the next setting of “Perhaps if death is kind” by twentieth-century American poet Sara Teasdale, which conjures images of love that survives death.

“Poet’s Death” by Vassily Zhukovsky is the author’s reaction to the death in a duel of a close friend, Alexander Pushkin, one of the giants of Russian literature. While deep sorrow is evident, the author's response is one of mystical contemplation. The final setting returns to the serenity of the orchestral opening. It combines Walter Savage Landor's "Death Stands Above Me" with the Lotus Mantra, bringing the cycle to a contemplative close.