Taking its title and texts from a book of modern poetry, this choral work uses the idea of dryness to examine man's capacity for self-awareness and discipline. Although the texts are only vaguely referential, the composer himself has explained his title with allusions to various religious figures and even to atomic testing. Composed in the early 1980s, this piece also marks a transition for the composer away from electronic music and the extreme avant-garde, and towards more traditional musical genres and universal themes…