This symphonic poem derives from an early study (1978) which I had entitled Fantasia on a Motif of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The motif in question is the descending three-note one -- a semitone followed by a minor third -- which dominates the dramatic opening of Vaughan Williams' 6th Symphony and in fact crops up in many of his works. It is also a motif that belongs in some of my music (witness my 4th Symphony) because of the similarity of some of the modes I employ.
Golgotha was the site of the crucifixion of Jesus the Nazarene (not 'of Nazareth' as he is incorrectly known), and Rozabal is the name of the building that today houses what according to many people now is the historical Jesus' tomb in Srinagar (Kashmir). According to their line of research, Jesus was known as Yusu (Yuz) Asaph in the Far East during his long life after recovery from the crucifixion.
Any programmatic features in the music are only of a very general nature, and the work portrays not just the original Jesus the mystic but something of every person who is a genuine thinker and spiritual seeker after truth. Such people are all too often perceived as a threat and either rejected or treated with hostility by many around them. Of those who take up the truth-seeker's ideas, most of them immediately, unknowingly, invert the meaning of their teacher's words to reinforce their own established, non-mystical ways.
In this music the exotic melismatic melodies suggestive of transcendent wisdom quickly become wreathed in fear and menace, and eventually all hell breaks out, yet in this context the simple uprightness of the seeker after truth stands out with an agonizing poignancy. After a passage that could well depict Jesus's recovery from the crucifixion injuries, we hear the exotic melodies that opened the work, but some of them, now at double speed, are more like colourful birdsong, suggestive of the later part of his life in the Far East. Finally in an ethereal other-worldly fugato section a four-part choir sings briefly of the death of Jesus - that is, his natural death at an old age in Kashmir. It draws to a climax on the words: Stretched he then his legs t'wards the west and his head t'wards the east and passed away. This leads on to a receding processional coda with the final birdsong melismas and sections of the choir floating in the texture, repeating the phrases 'Yuzu passed away', 'his legs t'wards the west' and of course 'his head t'wards the east'. I regard this work as an important stepping stone to a possible major choral work on the same subject.
In fact it was apparently pure coincidence that the 'baying' motif in the faster sections of the work, and certain rhythmic figures, correspond with 'Crucify him!'. The truth is that I had composed all that on a purely musical basis before I ever thought to drag poor old Jesus into it! ...But then again, the wise person would comment "But what is 'coincidence' anyway?" (see here). Also, in 2005 I learnt something of the guidance I've been receiving in my composition work from a high-level non-physical source, and this has been pretty pervasive - so I no longer think in terms of mere coincidence when things work out and fit together beautifully during the composition process.
Text used in the choral section
(Adapted from Shaikh-us-Sadiq, in Kamal-ud-Din, Sayyid-us-Sanad Press, Iran, 1881,quoted in A Search for the Historical Jesus by Fida Hassnain)
At the approach of death, sent he for his disciple Babaad, and made he his last will.
Gave he also directions about carrying on his mission of peace.
Gave he directions about the sepulchre where he would breathe his last.
Stretched he then his legs towards the west and laid he his head towards the east, and breathed his last breath.
Stretched he his legs towards the west and his head towards the east.
He passed away.
Yuzu, he passed away,
His legs towards the west,
His head towards the east...