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The second movement of Lilith, entitled “Succuba,” is devoted to her mythical persona associated with sexuality as described above. The initial tempo marking is “Adagio religioso,” (Bolcom, Lilith 7) and the piano begins the movement alone with a gentle asymmetrical eighth-note line that is both serene and ominous. The chords are tertian-based but are voiced in unusual inversions and spacings that subvert their consonance. Bolcom indicates to the pianist that the line should be both “absolutely even & smooth.” The effect is seductive while still foreshadowing violence, like the afore-mentioned harlot waiting at the crossroads. After three measures the eighth-notes arrive at a dissonant sustained chord in measure 4 and the saxophone makes its first appearance of the movement with a long tone that is articulated with a sforzando-like “mfpp” and fades to pianissimo. Bolcom writes above the note “like a wild animal’s soft growl,” and the saxophonist is indicated to begin the note with a guttural noise and transition to normal tone. This technique pervades this movement, and though it appears throughout the whole piece, in the second movement it is clearly associated with animal sounds more than simply Lilith’s primitive and violent character.

Most of the earliest references in Lilith mythology associate her with various creatures of a threatening nature, like wild carnivores and unclean birds. In the second movement, this aspect is juxtaposed with her sexuality, exemplified in the entrance of the saxophone in the measure 10 of the second movement, which again is preceded by the serene eighth-note line in the piano. The saxophone enters as before, more violent this time with harsh accents and a growl, and its line then becomes a sweet and capricious, concluding in measure 13 with an intriguing sixteenth-note gesture and a seductive glissando. The piano rhythm beginning in measure 14 becomes more disjunct and the saxophone plays a gentle melody floating above the texture, marked “simply,” that decays at its end to a soft growl in measure 17. This playful exchange continues throughout the relatively short movement. Attractive melodies inevitably reveal their primitive violence like Lilith as the temptress, leading men astray and unleashing her wrath upon them. One could also draw comparison of this movement to the peaceful slumber of unsuspecting men, whose dreams Lilith intrudes and uses to conceive her offspring.

At first, the title of the third movement, “Will-o’-the-Wisp,” does not seem to be directly related to context of Lilith set forth in the composer’s introductory note. Considering Bolcom’s comments in the appended e-mail interview however, his intention to create atmospheres rather than program reveals the connection between the will-o’-the-wisp and the nature of Lilith. When asked directly about the movement’s meaning to him, Bolcom responded:

Both those [including the fifth movement, “The Night Dance”] are of Lilith in the woods, running to or in her hideouts (as is ‘Child-Stealer’). They depict her in character, both hag and seductress, always a wild creature. (Bolcom, E-mail interview)

Will-o’-the-wisp, also known as jack-o’-lantern or ignis fatuus, is an atmospheric phenomenon. It results in a flickering light near swamps or marshes that seems to recede when approached, and in folk-lore has come to be associated with the metaphysical, like the wandering of a lost soul (“jack-o’-lantern”). According to the Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, a will-o’-the-wisp is “anything that deludes or misleads by luring on” (“will-o’-the-wisp”), just the way a succubus does. These associations, along with Bolcom’s conceptualizations of Lilith retreating into the woods, clearly establish a parallel between the title of the third movement and Lilith mythology.

Program and Myth in Bolcom's Lilith

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