In 2008, my friend, the sculptor Alexander Polzin, invited me to compose a new work for the unveiling of his sculpture of Giordano Bruno in Berlin. In preparing for the piece, I immersed myself in Bruno’s writings and life, searching for a personal connection.
Bruno greatly admired the Maharal of Prague and longed to meet him. Though no historical record confirms such an encounter, both men were in Prague in 1588, making it possible. John Crowley’s novel Endless Things imagines this very meeting. My own family tree added a surprising dimension: I discovered that I am a direct descendant of the Maharal, whose lineage in my family reaches back to 1392.
This composition is inspired by that imagined — or perhaps real — meeting between Bruno and the Maharal.