William Durand-Poole

Your face is lighting up, Lloyd.

One of these widescreen epics, you know, in which Akhenaten is shown as this kind of monotheist,

He chants the hymn with all of these kind of Hollywood singers in the background, shaking cistern, doing the ahs.

And of course, very famously in Philip Glass's opera, Achmarten, which I think is a masterpiece.

I think it's absolutely a masterpiece.

I saw the first one in 1984.

The Hymn to the Arten, you see, is a masterpiece.

Whoever wrote it, it is a beautiful, beautiful literary work, a lyric work.

And what Glass does in that, the whole opera is sung in ancient Egyptian until we get to that moment where Akhenaten, who is sung by Castrato,

which, you know, well, a countertenor, which of course has all that sexual ambiguity about the voice.

He sings the hymn to the Aten in the language of the audience, whoever it will be, so English or Catalan or Spanish or French or whatever it will be, just to bring that closeness, that proximity home.

And then Glast does the amazing thing.

He puts on the end of that wonderful hymn

the Hebrew, biblical Hebrew singing of Psalm 104.

So it all comes together really beautifully.

Yeah, I really recommend people listen to it.

That's a really good question.

I'm tempted to say yes, you know, because I really don't know of any other individual before the late Bronze Age that does that at all.

Because all kings and all priests recognize the authority of other gods and other kings, and he just doesn't do that.

So yes, you know what?