Affirmation triangulates a reading, sung setting, and visualisation of the Nicene Creed. The Creed was formulated by First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. In 381 CE, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. This version informs the suite of compositions.
Like other Christian confessions, the Nicene Creed represents a historical response to the threat of perceived heresy. It was drawn-up to confute Arianism: a branch of the Church which held that Christ was not truly divine. In counter-response, the Creed emphasised that he is ‘of one substance with the Father’. Creeds are not only prayerful affirmations of faith but also doctrinal statements that define and unify the Church’s profession regarding the nature of God, the church, salvation, and the afterlife. The Nicene Creed is either spoken in unison by the congregation or sung chorally within the liturgical services of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches.
Like other Christian confessions, the Nicene Creed represents a historical response to the threat of perceived heresy. It was drawn-up to confute Arianism: a branch of the Church which held that Christ was not truly divine. In counter-response, the Creed emphasised that he is ‘of one substance with the Father’. Creeds are not only prayerful affirmations of faith but also doctrinal statements that define and unify the Church’s profession regarding the nature of God, the church, salvation, and the afterlife. The Nicene Creed is either spoken in unison by the congregation or sung chorally within the liturgical services of Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches.
Visual representations of the Creed -- in the tradition of Greek and Russian icons -- typically depict themes referred to in the text, such as the: Creation; Godhead; angelic beings; saints; Church; and incidents from the life of Christ. Some either are, or also include, a typographic rendering of the text.
The version of the text used in this project is taken from The Book of Common Prayer (1662):
‘I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen’.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen’.
The choral elements are derived from open-access recordings of the Creed, chanted using traditional plain-song melodies in Russian and English by small and large, mixed and male, choirs.
The visual element is based upon a domestic Russian Orthodox icon from c.1880. It comprises sixteen panels, arranged in a four-by-four grid, illustrative of the Creed’s text and history; extra-creedal concepts such as Christ’s deposition and descent into hell; and religious festivals. (These can be seen next to the individual track locations.) Texts taken from the Creed frame the images. The relationship of the icon’s panels to the Creed’s text and extra-creedal themes is as follows:
Panel 1: The first line of the prayer
Panel 2: The First Ecumenical Council
Panel 3: The Expulsion from Paradise
Panel 4: The Annunciation
Panel 5: The Nativity of Christ
Panel 6: The Crucifixion
Panel 7: The Deposition and Entombment
Panel 8: The Resurrection and Descent Christ into Hades
Panel 9: The Ascension
Panels 10-11: Scenes from The Last Judgement
Panel 12: The eighth line of the prayer
Panels 13-16: The last four lines of the prayer and religious festivals.
Panel 2: The First Ecumenical Council
Panel 3: The Expulsion from Paradise
Panel 4: The Annunciation
Panel 5: The Nativity of Christ
Panel 6: The Crucifixion
Panel 7: The Deposition and Entombment
Panel 8: The Resurrection and Descent Christ into Hades
Panel 9: The Ascension
Panels 10-11: Scenes from The Last Judgement
Panel 12: The eighth line of the prayer
Panels 13-16: The last four lines of the prayer and religious festivals.
Affirmation follows the bipartite -- image and text – structure of the icon. The suite is divided into eight ‘panels’ and corresponding ‘statements’. Their themes are those referred to in the Creed’s text. (The only exception is the reference to Christ’s deposition, in ‘Panel IV’.) Each ‘Statement’ introduces one of the affirmations, and the words and lines associated with it.
The text comprises 104 different words. Each is spoken, by me, and recorded twelve times. The recordings are superimposed to produce a sonic ‘image’ that approximates to congregational utterance. Each word is used only once in the process of composition. For example, the definite article occurs in ‘Statement I’, and in no other ‘statement’ or ‘panel’ composition thereafter.
The structure of the suite in relation to the Creed’s text is as follows:
The text comprises 104 different words. Each is spoken, by me, and recorded twelve times. The recordings are superimposed to produce a sonic ‘image’ that approximates to congregational utterance. Each word is used only once in the process of composition. For example, the definite article occurs in ‘Statement I’, and in no other ‘statement’ or ‘panel’ composition thereafter.
The structure of the suite in relation to the Creed’s text is as follows:
The structure of the suite in relation to the Creed’s text is as follows:
Statement I [Line 1]
Panel I: The Father (Creation)
Statement II [Lines 2, 3]
Panel II: The Son (Creation)
Statement III [Line 4]
Panel III: The Son (Annunciation and Nativity)
Statement IV [Line 5]
Panel IV: The Son (Crucifixion and Deposition)
Statement V [Line 6]
Panel V: The Son (Resurrection and Ascension)
Statement VI [Line 7]
Panel VI: The Son (Return and Judgement)
Statement VII [Lines 8, 9]
Panel VII: The Holy Spirit
Statement VIII [Lines 10, 11, 12]
Panel VIII: The Church.
Panel I: The Father (Creation)
Statement II [Lines 2, 3]
Panel II: The Son (Creation)
Statement III [Line 4]
Panel III: The Son (Annunciation and Nativity)
Statement IV [Line 5]
Panel IV: The Son (Crucifixion and Deposition)
Statement V [Line 6]
Panel V: The Son (Resurrection and Ascension)
Statement VI [Line 7]
Panel VI: The Son (Return and Judgement)
Statement VII [Lines 8, 9]
Panel VII: The Holy Spirit
Statement VIII [Lines 10, 11, 12]
Panel VIII: The Church.
The ‘statements’ emphasise the propositional content of the texts. The ‘panels’, for their part, are a ‘pictorial’, a dramatic, and an emotional evocation of religious concepts and scenes. They are informed by imagery and narrative developments derived from biblical texts on which the Creed’s doctrines are based.
The words of the Creed are the sole material for composition. No other sound source has been deployed. Each pair of ‘statements’ and ‘panels’ is composed using only those words available in the corresponding line of the text.
They are variously modulated and radically reconfigured to, in many instances, produce sounds that bare no relation to their source. The choral sections are constructed by slowing down, reversing, pitch shifting, overlaying, dividing, splicing, and reordering small sections of the original material to create entirely different melodies, tonalities, harmonies, and progressions.
They are variously modulated and radically reconfigured to, in many instances, produce sounds that bare no relation to their source. The choral sections are constructed by slowing down, reversing, pitch shifting, overlaying, dividing, splicing, and reordering small sections of the original material to create entirely different melodies, tonalities, harmonies, and progressions.
Throughout the process of composition, the icon was at my elbow. It served as a framework for organising the suite’s ‘panels’, a mood setter, and a visual ‘text’ that provided a halfway house between word and sound. In this latter respect, the suite is as much an interpretation of the Creed’s image as its text.
‘Affirmation’ is the eighth release in The Aural Bible series. The series deals with the Judaeo-Christian scriptures as the written, spoken, and heard word. It explores the cultural articulations and adaptations of the Bible within Judeo-Christian and supernaturalist traditions. The works on the album embark upon a critical, responsive, and interpretive intervention with aspects of their sound culture.
John Harvey
2024
Throughout the site, text in yellow indicates a link.
2024
Throughout the site, text in yellow indicates a link.