The Garden of Gethsemane

Highly regarded philosopher and psychoanalyst, Massimo Recalcati has penned a gripping, erudite meditation on suffering, doubt, betrayal, and the potential for renewal that dwells in our most painful moments. For Recalcati, Jesus's reckoning in the Garden of Gethsemane is at once an instance of human weakness and an encounter with the Divine. It is the story where the Divine and the Human meet most forcefully, first in company, then in solitude, and where agony and doubt mingle with potential rebirth and revitalization.

In the summer of 2020 I had a solo piano concert tour in several mid-century temples. The atmosphere of these sacral spaces was unique. I felt inspired by the environment: by the acoustic sounding, the magnificent architecture, the congregations. A lot of new melodies came into my mind and I decided that like so many composers in the past I’m going to tell the story of Jesus with my own musical expressions, highlighting the segments that mean the most to me. I chose 12 parts of Jesus’s life and melodised them for solo piano. The duodenary number refers to the Twelve Tribes of Israel and Jesus’s 12 disciples who symbolise the importance of spreading his philosophy and teachings.