Azureth - A vintage Progressive
Rock Band
Hear
us on these fine stations
The Promethean Syndrome -
Narrations, story info,
concept notes...
The Promethean Syndrome* is a conceptual Prog-Rock Opera that deals with the isolation of a man who confronts a World where intellect is discouraged in favor of uniformity to help create an egalitarian society, but at what cost ? The story & concept were partly inspired by George Orwell's novel "1984", by Kurt Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron", and by a paper written in 1979 by Bettina Knapp titled "The Prometheus Syndrome"
Narration audio can be downloaded here:
The Promethean Syndrome
A Prog Opera by Azureth
Synopsis:
TPS Starts with the Cosmic Egg opening, segues into prehistoric man,
ascent of intellect, Illuminati makes plans for the cattle handling
of the mass of humanity, placed into motion in the 1700’s, by 1940’s
TV is invented to maximize propaganda, available in every home, the
McDonald-ization of USA, then eventually the World is their goal,
only the "elite" get real education, freedom, true health care,
food, etc…. Alberti Huxwell falters in logic because he becomes an
intellectual elitist himself, perpetuating the same apathy that lead
to the mental fascism we currently are living in… How does our hero
solve the dilemma of what to do with the "Swarm of Humanity ?
Colonization of Moon/Mars ?? Everyone is elite ? What is the answer
? "A New Brotherhood Of Man" - yes.
The dark shepherds view the mass of humanity as cattle, and in that same
manner, any independent animal who strays from the flock movement is
not of benefit and destroyed, in order to keep peace for the rest
and to make sure others are discouraged.
*Original Story and narrations written by Stephen Rivera
==========================================
Main Character:
Alberti Huxwell
- Name extrapolated from ALBERT Einstein, AL-dus HUX-ley, George
Or-WELL
Friends:
Cassandra Bromme
- Like the Greek Prophetess of Doom,
- Bromme - Scandinavians who had the cave spacesuit paintings
Others:
- The dark shepherds
==========================================
Influencing Quotes:
"The Price of liberty is Eternal Vigilance" - Thomas Jefferson
"Not dreams of what life might be... but nightmares of what it is
becoming."
-- Aldus Huxley
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty or safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin 1759.
"The nearer the dawn the darker the night."
-- Longfellow.
"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we
must do."
--Johann von Goethe
"At the pinnacle of Wisdom, there is only Love"
-- SGR
"One is all, all is one, that
is all, we need to know"
--SGR
"The pain of wisdom beckons us
all, the price of ignorance, lurks in it's call"
-- SGR (also part of :Being Alive")
==========================================
Topics & Keywords:
Telescreens - from George Orwell's "1984"
Big Brother - from George Orwell's "1984"
Dystopia - Opposite of "Utopia"
Noetic - "created or originating in the intellect."
Different Physics theories were used in TPS, read lyrics to "Beyond
The Boundaries".....
"Protocols of Zion" - some ideas from that document too.
(Orr World, All Done) (Orwell, Aldo)
The entire TPS prog-rock opera is presented in Sonata form, 3 parts
consisting of 3 acts each = 9 total acts.
Each narration should be about 179 words
(1:15 minutes, natural speech
speed)
narration music should reflect the emotion of the text.
==========================================
NARRATION I - Introduction
History will judge this twilight set upon us, that is, if there is a history left to record. To begin this story, we must start at the end, for it is at this time, that we can clearly see the effects of this scourge, this mental malady they inflicted on us, we called it: "The Promethean Syndrome".
The characters may change but the story is always the same: one group trying to establish dominance over the other by applying some subtle, imperceptible, mechanism to assist in their subduction. The plan was simple: "If we cant outwit them, we shall dimwit them, while we allow them to enjoy the illusion of freedom" A masterpiece of deception was conceived. This Machiavellian plot unfolded as the innocent lambs carried on untroubled. An invisible veil was cast upon the world while we slept.
Today the air is pregnant with urgency, heralding Mankind to awaken from their prescribed complacency. Our coming of age is here and we are now ready to lift the veil. This is our story, and so began; The Promethean Syndrome.
==========================================
NARRATION II - Albert Huxwell
Albert Huxwell awoke from his deep dream to at once realize he could see far, so far in fact, that he could look up to the heavens and witness the stars and galaxies, shattering in one glimpse all earthly boundaries. On that day he understood vision to be limitless, for it is bound only by the tools used to express it. That was to be his gift, and that was to be his curse.
His Visions contained the past, present, and future, all living outside temporal time. And a grim vision indeed is what manifested before him, this was a world with no Mozarts, no Einsteins, no Ghandis, just a dull, slow moving mass of humanity reduced to cattle and led by dark, soulless shepherds.
As he sought to unravel the enigma that afflicted those surrounding him, he became enlightened by a terrible truth; HE was now the stranger in this "grave new world", his brilliance was an aberration, and it was to THEIR world he had arrived, uninvited, and unwelcome.
=============================================
NARRATION III
The First Flower
In the beginning there was an incomprehensible void, a darkness beyond all darkness, and there arose a mysterious spark, which ignited a primordial force held captive by the vacuous nothingness. From that force emerged a spot, from the spot a crack, this is the crack between the nothing ; and from the crack came the unborn soul. Out of the unborn soul, an infinite variety of matter developed.
In the epicenter of the multitude of circles lies a mystic vision, an Aristotelian geometry that represents Absolute Truth. Each circle is rotated by evercaring Angels who control the epicycles of this Universe. The lunar landscape, the music of the spheres, even the infinity of space, all move according to their gentle nudges. It is the center that encompasses all and holds us under it's wings, whose mystical contour shapes the Universe, and the great space that surrounds it. Diaphanous air, wind, and fire all belong to, and are within it. Like an Ocean, all flows to the center and from the center, the cauldron of abundance, is where all begins.
==========================================
NARRATION IV
There are more Universes than are grains of sands, how many wondrous worlds exist then, within our own hands. There are many more purposes for the existence of Man, through us our Universe is made aware, and we dare not turn away from Destiny's fare.
Floating, a disembodied vessel taunts the unknown, straddling somewhere between nothingness and Eternity, between insignificance and Absolute Truth. Existence is but a flame between two mirrors, and all we see and experience are but the infinite reflections.....
==========================================
"The Prometheus Syndrome"
-- Bettina L. Knapp. New York, 1979.
Myth is to be understood as the narration of a primordial
experience, not necessarily personal but rather, transcendental; not
something invented for the sake of entertainment, though it may be
also that, but rather, a living and burning reality that exists in
the psyche and culture of a people. A myth is ectypal [it deals with
the existential world] and archetypal [it deals with eternal
experiences]. Existence on these two levels contains past, present,
and future within its structure.
A myth, then, lives outside temporal time. . . . It flows in a
cyclical, sacred, or eternal dimension. Myth-time is reversible. The
events narrated in the Prometheus myth are perpetual; they were
understood by the ancient Greeks according to their cultural canon,
by men of the Middle Ages in terms of their concepts, and so on. In
that the myth is ectypal, it reveals and relives "the structure of
reality." It may then become the model or the prototype of the
period or periods that brought it into being, and it reflects in its
many transformations and recountings throughout the centuries the
needs, obsessions, and longings of the individual cultures.
Myths cannot be understood merely on an intellectual level if they
are to be experienced fully. [They not only stir us with their
poetry, their images, but with their praxis, their action in the
everyday world. The myth may give energy to a hero, to an entire
culture.] Each culture has its own myths, which are frequently
adaptations of others. . . . The popularity of certain myths at
particular junctures in civilization explains the needs and
deficiencies as well as the positive attributes of the society.
The Prometheus myth is an Occidental phenomenon. It entails,
psychologically, the birth and development of the individual's ego
-- that is, it strengthens the factor within the psyche that relates
and adapts to both inner and outer realities. [Ms. Knapp sees
Prometheus as representing the ego.] "Once the ego acquires the
strength and courage necessary to steal Zeus's fire -- or
symbolically speaking, transforms amorphous visions into the
creative act, the existing psychological and social structures are
displaced. To accomplish such a feat, the ego has to do battle in a
solitary struggle."
Prometheus represents the archetype of the defiant, rebellious and
gigantically ambitious type who refuses to submit to the existing
structure and thus to destiny. . . . The testing of his values
helped him transcend his individual needs and wishes. He saw beyond
his immediate situation and realized during his ordeal that he was
dealing with collective wills and factors that would be instrumental
later in his reintegration into the pantheon of gods. In the end,
Prometheus is the child grown into man -- the "would be" artist has
become the artist "who is."
Fire is the purest form of substance. Symbolically, it has come to
indicate consciousness, intellect, will, and compulsion. It has also
been regarded as sacred energy, as a transcending power. . . . For
the primitive, fire was "soul stuff" charged with dynamism. . . . To
possess it was to know power -- to be on an equal with the gods.
Fire is also libido (psychic energy). And for the metaphysician, it
means spiritual illumination. . . . Bachelard explains fire in the
following manner:
"Thus fire is a privileged phenomenon that can explain everything.
If everything that changes slowly is explained by life, everything
that changes quickly is explained by fire. Fire is ultralife. Fire
is intimate, and it is universal. It lives in our hearts. It lives
in the sky. It reveals depths of substance and offers itself as
love. It descends once again into matter and hides as a latent
force, like hatred or vengeance. Among all phenomena, it is really
the only one that can contain two contrary valorizations, good and
evil. It shines in Paradise. It burns in Hell. It is gentleness and
torture. It is cooking and apocalypse. . . . It is well-being and
respect. It is a tutelary and a terrible good, good and evil. It can
contradict itself; it is, therefore, one of the principles used to
explain universal substance."
In Prometheus's case, fire and lightning indicate intuition, the
idea bursting upon him as a flash. . . . Hence, Prometheus had given
man the most potent of all instruments: fire as a source of infinite
energy and power that could transform matter and elements. Fire was
so powerful a force that it could not be touched. . . . Fire is
equally powerful as cognition. It gave birth to what Bachelard
labels "the Promethean complex," the compulsion to "know as much as
our fathers, more than our fathers, as much as our masters, more
than our masters."
Prometheus's titanic characteristics aroused dissatisfaction with
the social structure of his day and prevented him from yielding to
Zeus's established order. What was paradoxical and made Prometheus
unique among the Titans was the fact that he was conscious of his
act and of its many consequences. He was both fire as energy and
power, fire as intellect and rational principle, as is the
individual who strikes out on his own on a psychological, aesthetic,
philosophical, scientific, or religious level. He, too, may possess
that titanic fire that urges him to liberate his vision.