Don’t everybody get over-excited, but today we have two new sections of Dream One.
Lest you think that I was super industrious over the weekend, remember that I had worked on both of these all last week and only had the ending of each to hammer out. Still, it is impressive, isn’t it?
The first is our old friend, Ariadne’s “My mother, bored and pampered.” I had to work out her last phrase, “We map this fate forever,” in which I wanted Theseus to join her in a gentle lament. I think it works.
Astute listeners will hear that I radically revamped the accompaniment to Ariadne’s climactic “I loved you—I love you!” It’s very effective in a maudlin kind of way, and I’m wondering if it’s too Broadway. Or am I forging new paths for La Scala?
The second new piece is the closing of our first Dream, “What of us?” It starts with Daedalus reminding Ariadne that he too was trapped there, along with Icarus. The music references “Fly and fall,” and then segues into the “machine music” motif as our trio retreat to their personal concerns. (I am reminded of Sweeney Todd, where Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett often sing at cross-purposes, he of emotions and she of commerce.) From there we reprise the opening chorus, “Let us joyfully gaze.”
On the whole, I’m quite pleased. Next up: the beginning of this last segment of Dream One, transitioning from Icarus in the sky down to the control room. It’s not a short piece of text, so this may take all week. However, when I finish this, DREAM ONE WILL BE FINISHED, YOU GUYS!
Dream One, “My mother, bored and pampered” | score (pdf) | mp3
Dream One, “What of us?” | score (pdf) | mp3
Do not let me forget that I have to work out the “falling” motif.