Delia Derbyshire and Barry Bermange -"Inventions For Radio No.2: Amor Dei" (1964)

The second fantastic slice of 'Inventions For Radio' by the legend that is Delia Derbyshire, and Barry Bermange.This time the subject for the public of 1964 to discuss is the subject of 'God'.
Then there's the task of creating backing music that invokes a feeling of the true horror of life,fear of death,yet can also represent the natural spirituality of human superstition.
When Delia asked Barry Bermange what he wanted musically, he drew a sketch of a church altar over the notes for the dialogue track.
"He wanted sounds which would sound like a Gothic altarpiece. 'Oh,' I said, 'yes. What a good idea. But what do you really mean? What sort of sounds?' He said 'Well, give me a pencil and paper'. I did, and with great care and elaboration he drew me a beautiful Gothic altarpiece and said 'That's the sort of sound I want'." (Delia Derbyshire 1964)

Barry's inspiring sketch...a lesson in how to write music.

Barry Bermange said that he himself thought of Amor Dei as ‘rather in the manner of a Renaissance painting with the believers in God in the foreground or centre and half-hidden disbelievers looking out from shadowy places round the edge of the painting.’
This programme was made in four sections. In the first you will hear several thoughtful voices groping towards God, feeling their way into something undefined. In the second, some more assured voices cite concrete images; a defined notion of God begins to emerge. The third is a contest between those who love God and those who cannot believe in Him. The assured and confident voices in the last section are inspired by absolute faith.

The actual effect of this haunting piece,is the pure gothic horror of mortality and the plunging depths of infinity,in which the abstract choirs and aging believers seem to be drowning.
Quite an extraordinary and powerful piece of work that lay hidden in the vaults of the BBC for decades,and I struggle to think of another piece that can match its wide ranging encapsulation of this profound subject. 

Tracklisting:

1.Groping towards God
2.Rorate Coeli
3.I'd like to believe in God but...
4.There IS a God!

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