< World Premiere >
KAIKHOSRU SHAPURJI SORABJI : Fantasia Ispanica, KSS55 (1933)
Friday 26 October, 2001
Great Hall, King’s College, London University, England
Jonathan Powell, Piano
A letter from mental health professionals on Trump’s dangerous psychopathology
—
As mental health professionals, we have an ethical duty to warn the public that Donald Trump is an existential threat to democracy. His symptoms of severe, untreatable personality disorder—malignant narcissism—makes him deceitful, destructive, deluded, and dangerous. He is grossly unfit for leadership.
Trump exhibits behavior that tracks with the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’s (DSM V) diagnostic criteria for “narcissistic personality disorder,” “antisocial personality disorder,” and “paranoid personality disorder,” all made worse by his intense sadism, which is a symptom of malignant narcissism. This psychological type was first identified by German psychologist Erich Fromm to explain the psychology of history’s most “evil” dictators.
Detractors object that we mental health professionals cannot render such a diagnosis without first examining the patient, citing the “Goldwater Rule.” We believe that we have an overriding ethical duty to warn the public of the danger this individual poses. History has taught us that in such circumstances, saying nothing is never the more ethical choice.
Since the Goldwater Rule was adopted, the field has modernized the DSM diagnostic system, which relies exclusively on “observable behavioral criteria.” For many years, we’ve all observed thousands of hours of Trump’s behavior, reinforced by the observations of dozens of individuals who have interacted with him personally. Using the DSM V, it is easy to see that Trump meets the behavioral criteria for antisocial personality disorder. Even a non-clinician can see that Trump shows a lifetime pattern of “failure to conform to social norms and laws,” “repeated lying,” “reckless disregard for the safety of others,” “irritability,” “impulsivity,” “irresponsibility,” and “lack of remorse.”
Because of their sadism, malignant narcissists often derive joy from inflicting suffering on others because they disregard the emotions and wellbeing of other people—especially their perceived enemies. For example, according to first-hand accounts, Trump watched the violence he unleashed on January 6 for three hours on TV with “glee,” watching his favorite parts “over and over” on “rewind.”
To make matters worse, Trump appears to be showing signs of cognitive decline that urgently cry out for a full neurological work-up, including an MRI and neuropsychological testing. These symptoms include: a dramatic decrease in verbal fluency, tangential thinking, diminished vocabulary, overuse of superlatives and filler words, perseveration, confabulation, phonemic paraphasia, semantic paraphasia, confusing people (not just names), as well as exhibiting deteriorating judgment, impulse control, and motor functioning (including a wide-based gait). We suspect the results of such an evaluation would be disqualifying. If, as we suspect, Trump does have organically based cognitive decline, it will only get worse over time, grossly degrading his already impaired judgment, impulse control, memory, attention, reality testing, and capacity to process information, while dramatically exacerbating the symptoms of his toxic personality disorder.
People suffering with mental illness are no more likely to be dangerous than the general population. Malignant narcissism is the very rare exception. Without question, malignant narcissists have been history’s most grandiose, paranoid, and murderous leaders. Inevitably, they escalate until they are completely out of control, ultimately destroying themselves and the nations they lead.
As mental health professionals we feel a desperate duty to warn our fellow citizens of this imminent catastrophic public danger before it’s too late.
< World Premiere >
JAN CARLSTEDT : Missa in Honorem Papae Ioannis Pauli II
(for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir)
Thursday 21 October, 1993
Uppsala Academy Chamber Choir, dir. Stefan Parkman
Musikaliska Konstföreningen, Stockholm, 1995
< World Premiere >
LENNOX BERKELEY : The Hill of the Graces, Op. 91, No. 2
(for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir)
Monday 20 October, 1975
BBC Singers, cond. John Poole
J & W Chester, 1977 (JWC 55062)
Text: Edmund Spenser – 'The Fairie Queene', Book VI, Canto X
< World Premiere >
PHILIPPE HERSANT :
Le Plasir Originel (Mystère Hystérique)
(for unaccompanied S Mz A Ct T Bar B soli)
Saturday 19 October, 2002
La Chapelle Largeau, France (Festival Eclats de Voix)
Les Jeunes Solistes, dir. Rachid Safir
Gérard Billaudot Éditeur Paris, 2008 (GB8381)
Text: Edmond Haraucourt “L'Eden” (from 'La Légende des Sexes Poëmes Hystériques', 1882)
ALEC ROTH : I Will Move Thee
Sunday 18 October, 2015 – St. Alban Cathedral, England
St. Alban Cathedral Choir, dir. Andrew Lucas
Edition Peters Ltd. London, 2015 (EP 72743)
Text : George Herbert (1593–1633)
< World Premiere >
TORSTEN RASCH : ... in der Hülse von Schnee
(for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir)
Thursday 16 October, 2014
Kammermusiksalle, Berlin Philharmonie, Germany
RIAS Kammerchor
Texts: Friedrich Hölderlin
Faber Music Ltd., 2014
KENNETH LEIGHTON : Laudate Pueri (Psalm 112)
(for 3 unaccompanied SATB choirs)
Saturday 13 October, 1973 – Norwich Cathedral, England
Choirs of Ely, Norwich, & Peterborough Cathedrals,
cond. Michael Nicholas
Novello & Company Limited, 1973
< World Premiere >
ANDERS ELIASSON : Breathing Room: July
(for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir)
Wednesday 10 October, 1984
Main Hall, Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Stockholm
Swedish Radio Choir, dir. Eric Ericson
Edition Reimers AB, 1990 (ED 101106)
May Swenson's English version of Thomas Tranströmer's poem 'Andrum Juli', included in the collection entitled Mörkerseende (1970), provides the starting point for Anders Eliasson's composition for unaccompanied mixed choir, 'Breathing Room : July'. Not that Tranströmer's poetry demands musical interpretation; Eliasson's music does not purport to add anything to the original text. Nor is 'Breathing Room : July' a choral composition in the traditional sense. Tranströmer's poem serves, in Eliasson's own words, "as a key to that big room".
In 'Breathing Room : July', Eliasson penetrates behind the words and tries to capture what is beyond and between them. The words are illuminated from many different angles at once. If anything one is entitled here to speak of holistic music, of states and processes at work in different strata of time and space which are superimposed on each other. The text is treated contrapuntally and freely, certain important words are highlighted, sticking in the mind and moving with the music in any direction whatsoever. Words and music move in a living water, in its swell, ripples and currents. Internal and external reality are mingled.
Tranströmer's poem consists of three four line verses. Eliasson's choral composition, of considerable length in relation to the text material, also has three clearly distinguishable, interconnected parts - movements, one is tempted to say. The vigorous middle section is surrounded by external episodes in a quieter tempo. In this way the work describes an arc. Anders Eliasson points out that the fact of voices conveying the music is really of little interest - it "just happens" to have become a vocal composition. In fact 'Breathing Room : July' is instrumentally, symphonically conceived.
< World Premiere >
ERNST PEPPING : Ein jegliches hat seine Zeit
(for unaccompanied SATB choir)
Saturday 9 October, 1937 – Berlin, Germany
Chor der Spandauer Kirchenmusikschule, dir. Gottfried Grote
Schott Music GbmH & Co., 1938 (C35359)
Text : Ecclesiastes 3, 9 and 12
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CAROL BARNETT : The Last Invocation
(for unaccompanied SATB div. choir)
Sunday 2 October, 1988 – Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis
Choir of Westminster Abbey, dir. Martin Neary
Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., 1992 (OCTB6654)
Text: Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
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GERALD FINZI : Lo, the Full, Final Sacrifice Op. 26
(for SATB div. choir & Organ)
Saturday 21 September, 1946
St. Matthew's Church, Northampton, UK
Text: from Richard Crashaw's "Adoro Te" and "Lauda Sion Salvatorem
Boosey & Hawkes Ltd. (BH-03036)
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ELLIOTT CARTER : String Quartet No. 5
Tuesday 19 September, 1995 – De Singel, Antwerp, Belgium
The Arditti Quartet
“One of the fascinations of attending rehearsals of chamber music, when excellent players try out fragments of what they later will play in the ensemble, then play it, and then stop abruptly to discuss how to improve, is that this pattern is so similar to our inner experience of forming, ordering, focussing, and bringing to fruition — and then dismissing — our feelings and ideas. These patterns of human behavior form the basis of the 5th String Quartet. Its introduction presents the players, one by one, trying out fragments of later passages from one of the six short, contrasting ensemble movements, at the same time maintaining a dialogue with each other. Between each of the movements the players discuss in different ways what has been played and what will be played.
In this score the matter of human cooperation with its many aspects of feeling and thought was a very important consideration.”
– Elliott Carter
Scientific American Magazine's Endorsement of Kamala Harris
~
Scientific American
Monday 16 September, 2024
In the November election, the U.S. faces two futures. In one, the new president offers the country better prospects, relying on science, solid evidence and the willingness to learn from experience. She pushes policies that boost good jobs nationwide by embracing technology and clean energy. She supports education, public health and reproductive rights. She treats the climate crisis as the emergency it is and seeks to mitigate its catastrophic storms, fires and droughts.
In the other future, the new president endangers public health and safety and rejects evidence, preferring instead nonsensical conspiracy fantasies. He ignores the climate crisis in favor of more pollution. He requires that federal officials show personal loyalty to him rather than upholding U.S. laws. He fills positions in federal science and other agencies with unqualified ideologues. He goads people into hate and division, and he inspires extremists at state and local levels to pass laws that disrupt education and make it harder to earn a living.
Only one of these futures will improve the fate of this country and the world. That is why, for only the second time in our magazine’s 179-year history, the editors of Scientific American are endorsing a candidate for president. That person is Kamala Harris.
Before making this endorsement, we evaluated Harris’s record as a U.S. senator and as vice president under Joe Biden, as well as policy proposals she’s made as a presidential candidate. Her opponent, Donald Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, also has a record—a disastrous one. Let’s compare.
Health Care
The Biden-Harris administration shored up the popular Affordable Care Act (ACA), giving more people access to health insurance through subsidies. During Harris’s September 10 debate with Trump, she said one of her goals as president would be to expand it. Scores of studies have shown that people with insurance stay healthier and live longer because they can afford to see doctors for preventive and acute care. Harris supports expansion of Medicaid, the U.S. health-care program for low-income people. States that have expanded this program have seen health gains in their populations, whereas states that continue to restrict eligibility have not. To pay for Medicare, the health insurance program primarily for older Americans, Harris supports a tax increase on people who earn $400,000 or more a year. And the Biden-Harris administration succeeded in passing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which caps the costs of several expensive drugs, including insulin, for Medicare enrollees. Harris’s vice presidential pick, Tim Walz, signed into law a prohibition against excessive price hikes on generic drugs as governor of Minnesota.
When in office, Trump proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid (Congress, to its credit, refused to enact them.) He also pushed for a work requirement as a condition for Medicaid eligibility, making it harder for people to qualify for the program. As a candidate, both in 2016 and this year, he pledged to repeal the ACA, but it’s not clear what he would replace it with. When prodded during the September debate, he said, “I have concepts of a plan” but didn’t elaborate. Like Harris, however, he has voiced concern about drug prices, and in 2020 he signed an executive order designed to lower prices of drugs covered by Medicare.
The COVID pandemic has been the greatest test of the American health-care system in modern history. Harris was vice president of an administration that boosted widespread distribution of COVID vaccines and created a program for free mail-order COVID tests. Wastewater surveillance for viruses has improved, allowing public health officials to respond more quickly when levels are high. Bird flu now poses a new threat, highlighting the importance of the Biden-Harris administration’s Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.
Trump touted his pandemic efforts during his first debate with Harris, but in 2020 he encouraged resistance to basic public health measures, spread misinformation about treatments and suggested injections of bleach could cure the disease. By the end of that year about 350,000 people in the U.S. had died of COVID; the current national total is well over a million. Trump and his staff had one great success: Operation Warp Speed, which developed effective COVID vaccines extremely quickly. Remarkably, however, Trump plans billion-dollar budget cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, which started the COVID-vaccine research program. These steps are in line with the guidance of Project 2025, an extreme conservative blueprint for the next presidency drawn up by many former Trump staffers. He’s also talked about ending the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, calling it a pork project.
Reproductive Rights
Harris is a staunch supporter of reproductive rights. During the September debate, she spoke plainly about her desire to reinstate “the protections of Roe v. Wade” and added, “I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body, should not be made by the government.” She has vowed to improve access to abortion. She has defended the right to order the abortion pill mifepristone through the mail under authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, even as MAGA Republican state officials have tried—so far unsuccessfully—to revoke those rights. As a U.S. senator, she co-sponsored a package of bills to reduce rising rates of maternal mortality. In August, Trump said he would vote against a ballot measure expanding access to abortions in Florida, where he lives. The current Florida “heartbeat” law makes most abortions illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people even know they are pregnant.
Trump appointed the conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, removing the constitutional right to a basic health-care procedure. He spreads misinformation about abortion—during the September debate, he said some states support abortion into the ninth month and beyond, calling it “execution after birth.” No state allows this. He also refused to answer the question of whether he would veto a federal abortion ban, saying Congress would never approve such a ban in the first place. He made no mention of an executive order and praised the Supreme Court, three justices of which he placed, for sending abortion back to states to decide. This ruling led to a patchwork of laws and entire sections of the country where abortion is dangerously limited.
Gun Safety
The Biden-Harris administration closed the gun-show loophole, which had allowed people to buy guns without a license. The evidence is clear that easy access to guns in the U.S. has increased the risk of suicides, murder and firearm accidents. Harris supports a program that temporarily removes guns from people deemed dangerous by a court.
Trump promised the National Rifle Association that he would get rid of all Biden-Harris gun measures. Even after Trump was injured and a supporter was killed in an attempted assassination, the former president remained silent on gun safety. His running mate, J. D. Vance, said the increased number of school shootings was an unhappy “fact of life” and the solution was stronger school security.
Environment and Climate
Harris said pointedly during the September debate that climate change was real. She would continue the responsible leadership shown by Biden, who has undertaken the most substantial climate action of any president. The Biden-Harris administration restored U.S. membership in the Paris Agreement on coping with climate change. Harris’s election would continue IRA tax credits for clean energy, as well as regulations to reduce power-plant emissions and coal use. This approach puts the country on course to spend the authorized billions of dollars for renewable energy that should cut U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030. The IRA also includes a commitment to broadening electric vehicle technology.
Trump has said climate change is a hoax, and he dodged the question “What would you do to fight climate change?” during the September debate. He pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. Under his direction the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies abandoned more than 100 environmental policies and rules, many designed to ensure clean air and water, restrict the dangers of toxic chemicals and protect wildlife. He has also tried to revoke funding for satellite-based climate-research projects.
Technology
The Biden-Harris administration’s 2023 Executive Order on Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence requires that AI-based products be safe for consumers and national security. The CHIPS and Science Act invigorates the chipmaking industry and semiconductor research while growing the workforce. A new Trump administration would undo all of this work and quickly. Under the devious and divisive Project 2025 framework, technology safeguards on AI would be overturned. AI influences our criminal justice, labor and health-care systems. As is the rightful complaint now, there would be no knowing how these programs are developed, how they are tested or whether they even work.
The 2024 U.S. ballots are also about Congress and local officials—people who make decisions that affect our communities and families. Extremist state legislators in Ohio, for instance, have given politicians the right to revoke any rule from the state health department designed to limit the spread of contagious disease. Other states have passed similar measures. In education, many states now forbid lessons about racial bias. But research has shown such lessons reduce stereotypes and do not prompt schoolchildren to view one another negatively, regardless of their race. This is the kind of science MAGA politicians ignore, and such people do not deserve our votes.
At the top of the ballot, Harris does deserve our vote. She offers us a way forward lit by rationality and respect for all. Economically, the renewable-energy projects she supports will create new jobs in rural America. Her platform also increases tax deductions for new small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000, making it easier for them to turn a profit. Trump, a convicted felon who was also found liable of sexual abuse in a civil trial, offers a return to his dark fantasies and demagoguery, whether it’s denying the reality of climate change or the election results of 2020 that were confirmed by more than 60 court cases, including some that were overseen by judges whom he appointed.
One of two futures will materialize according to our choices in this election. Only one is a vote for reality and integrity. We urge you to vote for Kamala Harris.
~
< World Premiere >
LENNOX BERKELEY : Judica me, Op. 96
(for unaccompanied SSATBB choir)
Saturday 2 September, 1978 – Worcester, England
Festival Chorus, cond. Donald Hunt
J. & W. Chester, 1978 ( CH55166)
< World Premiere >
WOLFGANG STEFFEN : Tagnachtlied, Op. 50
(for unaccompanied SSAATTBB choir)
Saturday 1 September, 1979 – Berlin
RIAS Kammerchor, dir. Uwe Gronostay
Text: Lothar Klünner
B. Scott's Söhne, Mainz, 1980 (ED44818)
“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
Wednesday 28 August, 1963
https://www.AmericanRhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
NICHOLAS MAW : The Ruin
(for SSAATTBB choir & Horn solo)
Wednesday 27 August, 1980 – Edinburg Festival, Scotland
The BBC Northern Singers, cond. Stephen Wilkinson
Jonathan Goodall, French Horn
Boosey & Hawkes, Ltd., 1980 (BH3724)
Text: 8th Century Anglo-Saxon
John Pavlovitz
Monday 25 August, 2025
Dear Mainstream Media,
We seriously don't give a damn that Kamala Harris isn't courting you to the degree you'd like. In fact, given your shamefully biased coverage since she entered the race, we see no reason you deserve her time.
This is a grassroots movement of a disparate coalition of the people, and The Vice President and Governor Walz are doing exactly everything we'd hoped for since they began a few short weeks ago.
We know you desperately want a tight race, which is why you're working incredibly hard to redirect the Trump campaign's death spiral, even if it means distorting the facts, offering unequal time, and neglecting your responsibility to write and speak objectively.
Maybe if you started reporting on Trump's clear cognitive decline, fact-checking his endless stream of lies, and calling him out as the existential threat to our Democracy that he is, the Vice President and the rest of us would take you more seriously.
Until you actually embrace the work of responsible journalism that you are charged with as members of the Press, stop complaining. We'd like to save this nation alongside you, but we will do it without you if we have to.
Sincerely,
We The People.
HarrisWalz2024
JAMES MacMILLAN : The Confession of Isobel Gowdie
Wednesday 22 August, 1990 – Royal Albert Hall, London
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, cond. Jerzy Maksymiuk
Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd., 1992