Ewig

A new day brings lots of changes. The music for PLAY 2 PLAY is now nearly complete. Jo has asked for a couple of additions, but they’ll be composed when I’m in Niigata. The core of the ballet is done. I finished the finale just yesterday. It wasn’t easy, once again, to juggle between my wishes and what I could actually do regarding my means.

Isabelle came to work on her aria. I sang her the vocal line and she got goose bumps! It’s a very operatic ending for a ballet. A cello is holding a single note throughout the whole number as the soprano slowly reminisces a long forgotten song. She comes like the sunset at the end of a journey. A few piano sounds fall like a crystal rain and create a nearly dream-like backdrop until the soprano reaches the climax emphasized by an orchestra playing a simple, long E-flat major chord and leaves the soprano to repeat one word: Ewig (eternally) as a distant echo of what has been.

It’s amusing to read what I had in mind even a few days ago. In spite of my plans, I knew I would find an unexpected turn and follow it. There is no Hebrew chanting anymore. The cello number is set in two parts, first a long inspirational elegy backed by high strings, then that slow waltz I mentioned. The Hebrew choir was replaced by a last recall of the Slavic theme that was sung by the soprano and the choir, as a transition to the finale.

Jo said he finished choreographing the first three movements. We have challenged each other to push our limits and explore even further is this forest of creativity. I know PLAY 2 PLAY is the start of a new phase. Nicolas told me that I should be welcoming some kind of revolution now. And I have intuited it since my New York trip. And I also keep catching cold. My body is readjusting!