Death For Five Voices

 Glorious music echoes around the cathedral

A sacred tune rises up to the roof

Such beautiful music fills my ears

This is the perfect way to end a life

Sense the exhilaration

And the feeling of relief

Time to put my troubles behind me

I am high up in the bell tower

Dressed in a black suit and black overcoat

Listening to the choir sing

A beautiful madrigal composed by Gesualdo

An Italian who knew what grief felt like

He killed his wife and her lover

And ended up in an asylum

Grief and torment on a colossal scale

And yet despite these restraints

This man wrote great music

Through rage and insanity

He achieved greatness

He was touched by the hand of God

And was inspired to compose wonderful music

I feel dizzy with excitement

I sense the fever of a possessed mind

The music lifts my spirit

As I soar into the air

My arms stretched out wide

My black overcoat floats on the breeze

And then I come crashing to the ground

By body convulses as I breathe my last breath

My dead body lies on the cathedral tiles

The music plays on and then suddenly ends

There are shouts and screams as the shock of death hits home

The blood oozes out into a red pool of death

I died with a spirit intoxicated with joy

Such a mixture of emotions - anger and rage

Mixed with a sense of wonder and excitement

Death can be a glorious affair

Some die in battle

Some die cold, fearful and alone

I chose my method and moment of death

A moment of exquisite pain mixed with pleasure

Such sweet, blissful music

The perfect spiritual backdrop to the passing of life

I hope my soul reaches heaven

And experiences such bliss once more

I hope my endeavours don't condemn me to hell

To be denied the pleasures of such music for evermore

Would be a sin so great as to torment my soul forever

(Title taken from TV documentary about Gesualdo by Werner Herzog)