Duenos

Performed by the San Diego State Chamber Choir directed by Nick Newman. The performance took place in the parking garage of San Diego State University to follow social distancing guidelines in place in May of 2020.

Duenos inscription
Author: unknown
Translation: unkown
IOVESATDEIVOSQOIMEDMITATNEITEDENDOCOSMISVIRCOSIED ASTEDNOISIOPETOITESIAIPAKARIVOIS DUENOSMEDFECEDENMANOMEINOMDUENOINEMEDMALOSTATOD

The Duenos Inscription, one of the oldest surviving examples of Old Latin (the language that pre-dates the Latin we are generally familiar with today) has provided a mysterious puzzle for historians and translators since its discovery in 1880. The inscription is written on a kernos, a ceramic vessel made of three connected pots, and dates as far back as the 7th century BCE. The text, from an unknown author, is all unicase, circles around the vessel, and has no spaces to delineate words. Therein lies the primary difficulty for modern understanding of its meaning, as the letters can be separated in different ways to form entirely different sets of words. This is combined with references to things that have been lost due to the age of the text and the death of Old Latin. To further complicate matters, some of the letters are simply illegible. Though academics have many times attempted to unearth the meaning of this elusive inscription, their efforts have reached a disparity of conclusions, and no one definitive translation can be agreed upon. In setting this text, I aim to capture the drama caused by this enigmatic artifact. The music begins with cutout sections of the text, as if the dirt is being swept away and the words are being seen for the first time. Throughout the rest of the piece, the text is chanted in incessant rhythm with no breaks, reflecting the continuity of this text without spaces. With each repetition, the music becomes more and more complex with the addition of more parts, dissonant harmonies, and adventurous fluctuation of key centers, representing the many possible translations that have emerged throughout the years. Instead of solving this ancient riddle, each translation provides more questions and unknowns than the last, serving only to augment its ambiguity.