Magnum Opus
Magnum Opus cover
Studio album by Yngwie J. Malmsteen
Released	October 17, 1995
Genre	Neo-classical metal
Label	Import
Producer	Opus One
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Yngwie J. Malmsteen chronology
The Seventh Sign (1994) Magnum Opus (1995) Inspiration (1996)

Magnum Opus is an album released in 1995 by Yngwie J. Malmsteen.

Track listing

1. "Vengeance" – 4:49 (words: Michael Vescera, Malmsteen)
2. "No Love Lost" – 3:07 (words: Vescera)
3. "Tomorrow's Gone" – 5:20 (words: Vescera)
4. "The Only One" – 4:01 (words: Vescera)
5. "I'd Die Without You" – 5:49 (words: Malmsteen)
6. "Overture 1622" – 2:41
7. "Voodoo VIII" – 6:18 (words: Malmsteen)
8. "Cross the Line" – 3:32 (words: Vescera)
9. "Time Will Tell" – 5:08 (words: Vescera)
10. "Fire in the Sky" – 4:57 (words: Malmsteen)
11. "Amberdawn" – 4:24
12. "Tournament" – 2:04

• All music by Yngwie J. Malmsteen

Personnel

• Yngwie J. Malmsteen: All Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Sitar, Background Vocals
• Michael Vescera: Vocals
• Mats Olausson: Keyboards
• Barry Sparks: Bass
• Shane Galaas: Drums

•  • [ e] Yngwie Malmsteen
Yngwie Malmsteen | Doogie White | Derek Sherinian | Mick Cervino | Patrik Johansson
Former members: Vocals | Keyboards | Bass | Drums
Discography
Studio albums: Rising Force | Marching Out | Trilogy | Odyssey | Eclipse | Fire and Ice | The Seventh Sign | Magnum Opus | Inspiration | Facing the Animal | Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra | Alchemy | War to End All Wars | The Genesis | Attack	Attack	Unleash the Fury
Live albums: Trial by Fire | Double LIVE! | Concerto Suite LIVE With the New Japan Philharmonic
Compilations: The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection
DVDs: Far Beyond the Sun
Related articles
G3 | Steeler | Alcatrazz | Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster | Shred metal | Neo-classical metal

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Magnum opus (sometimes Opus magnum, plural magna opera), from the Latin meaning great work,^[1] refers to the best, most popular, or most renowned achievement of an author, artist, or composer, and most commonly one who has contributed a very large amount of material.

The term is also used in several spiritual traditions, such as Qabalah, Thelema, and alchemy, with a complex meaning that mainly refers to the philosopher's stone.^[2]

In alchemy

The Great Work (Latin: Magnum opus), is a term which originated in medieval European alchemy which refers to the successful completion of the transmutation of base matter into gold or the creation of the philosopher's stone. It has subsequently been used as a metaphor for spiritual transformation in the Hermetic tradition.

In Kabbalah

The term "great work" does not exist in classic Kabbalistic texts such as the Zohar or Sepher Yetzirah. However, the concept appears in the writings of Kabbalists throughout the Renaissance:

''Do not pray for your own needs, for your prayer will not then be accepted. But when you want to pray, do so for the heaviness of the Head. For whatever you lack, the Divine Presence also lacks.

This is because man is a "portion of God from on high." Whatever any part lacks, also exists in the Whole, and the Whole feels the lack of the part, You should therefore pray for the needs of the Whole. (from a disciple of the Kabbalist R. Israel Baal Shem Tov)

In Hermeticism

Main article: Hermeticism

Eliphas Levi (1810-1875), one of the first modern ceremonial magicians and predecessor to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, discussed the Great Work at length. He defined it as such:

The Great Work is, before all things, the creation of man by himself, that is to say, the full and entire conquest of his faculties and his future; it is especially the perfect emancipation of his will. ^[3]

In Thelema

Main article: Thelemic mysticism

Within Thelema, the Great Work is generally defined as those spiritual practice leading to the mystical union of the Self and the All—"The Great Work is the uniting of opposites. It may mean the uniting of the soul with God, of the microcosm with the macrocosm, of the female with the male, of the ego with the non-ego."^[4] According to Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), this is first represented by what he called the "Knowledge and Conversation with the Holy Guardian Angel."^[5] From another perspective, he also considered the Great Work to be the pursuit of self-knowledge, to "obtain the knowledge of the nature and powers of my own being." ^[6] Although Crowley often discussed the idea of "succeeding" or "accomplishing" in the Great Work, he also recognized that the process is ongoing:

The Quest of the Holy Grail, the Search for the Stone of the Philosophers—by whatever name we choose to call the Great Work—is therefore endless. Success only opens up new avenues of brilliant possibility. Yea, verily, and Amen! the task is tireless and its joys without bounds; for the whole Universe, and all that in it is, what is it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN?^[7]

See also

• Masterpiece
• Seminal work
• Work of art
• Henosis

Notes

References

• Thelemapedia. (2004). The Great Work. Retrieved April, 14, 2006.
• Levi, Eliphas. Dogme et rituel de la haute magie, published in English as Transcendental Magic. A.E. Waite, trans.
• Crowley, Aleister. (1997). Magick: Book 4. 2nd ed. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
• ____. (1982). Magick Without Tears. Phoenix, AZ : Falcon Press
• ____. Liber CXCVII. Sir Palamedes the Saracen Knight "A poetic account of the Great Work and enumeration of many obstacles."