Dark Hymnal is a series of meditations derived from my opera Black Lodge. Played without pause, the fifteen sections of Dark Hymnal circle back on themselves, as if lost in a spiritual maze. As you listen, your ears might deceive you, at times making you think you hear things that aren’t actually there. It might at other times feel as if the music–and the audio–is attempting to crack out of the frames which contain it: sounds throb and push against speaker cones; chords melt, or vanish after merely a hint, their harmonies showing one path, then pivoting toward another, more dangerous, more enticing. In this, Dark Hymnal may feel simultaneously lulling and disconcerting, comforting and perplexing, and even at times, frightening; truly a work with its spiritual roots in the world of Black Lodge.

Originally created as the score for Sandra Powers’ immersive theater performance BARDO–itself a pre-show event for the west coast premiere of Black Lodge–it received its world premiere in this capacity on October 19, 2024 at the United Theater on Broadway in Los Angeles, co-presented by CAP UCLA and Beth Morrison Projects.

Lasting ninety minutes, Dark Hymnal is best experienced in full, possibly in the dark, and with a sense of openness to where it might take you. As in Black Lodge, this will lead to an experience that will be different for everyone. I encourage you to embrace that sense of the unknown, and go with it where it leads.

David T. Little

October 12, 2024