Orfeo e Euridice

My take on the ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, this is a sort of electronic étude, my first attempt in the medium of “electronic music”.  Electronic music has a lot going for it: namely, the fact that one doesn’t really have to deal with other people in order to make one’s music.  Not that I’m a curmudgeon or anything.  In this case, however, I had a really great time recording the harp parts with Haley Rhodeside.

Speaking of which, in this piece, Eurydice is represented by the chorus and Orpheus by the harp.  The piece opens with the door to hell closing on Eurydice and her mangled voice disappearing into the netherworld.  We then transition to an outdoor scene, complete with a “babbling brook” in which little fairies alert Orpheus to the disappearance of Eurydice.  Orpheus then descends into the underworld (in my version, the descent is via a sort of industrial metal staircase).  As he descends, he hears the hellish cries of the deceased, which become louder and louder.

The underworld turns out to be a sort of hellish dance club (which maybe says more about me than anything else).  Having found Eurydice, Orpheus ascends the stairs whence he came.  His heart fills with excitement and growing anticipation.  He reaches the top of the staircase and turns around, only to see Eurydice plummet back into the underworld as the door shuts down on her.