Floating Points & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra — Mere Mortals

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Electro-acoustic ballet <i>Mere Mortals</i> swirls analogue and digital sounds like oil and balsamic. What initially appears immiscible—the opening casts extended, drone-like electronic shadows, over which strings pirouette—is later so well integrated that it’s virtually impossible to tell melody from midi. <i>Mere Mortals</i> is the first foray into ballet for Sam Shepherd, the composer also known as Floating Points, and retells the Greek myth of Pandora, restoring some of the original ideas that have been lost in translation, while also adding his own twist in the tale. This 2025 recording sees San Francisco Ballet Orchestra reprise its 2024 premiere performance, during which it wasn’t only the dancers who had a strenuous job. Shepherd describes running between the orchestra pit and front of house, where the mixing takes place. Stirring together sighing strings, bold brass and electronic effects is essential in this work, which sees the sound engineer—a role not ubiquitous in classical ballet—elevated in rank to become the conductor’s equal. “Mixing on this scale is arcane and complex,” explains Shepherd, “It feels like there are thousands of wires.” A Reich-like circular motif passes through the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, whirling into a declamatory brass beat that is undercut by repeated strings. This depicts Pandora’s creation: the rushing sounds evoke Hephaestus’ melding of earth and water to create the ballet’s heroine—not unlike Shepherd’s use of those similarly opposing elements, electronic and acoustic. Hephaestus was acting on the orders of Zeus, who sought to punish humankind after Prometheus stole fire from the gods. A sinewy string melody emerges to become Pandora’s theme, its aching beauty leavened with crackling beats that grow increasingly frenetic as we open the box. Or in this case, jar. Shepherd takes inspiration from Natalie Haynes 2020 book <i>Pandora’s Jar</i>, an examination of women in Greek myths that dissects popular cultural depictions. “In Giulio Bonasone’s 16th-century engraving, Epimetheus opening Pandora’s box, the spirits that fly out the pithos are good ones—Truth, Justice and Peace. But by Rossetti’s painting from 1871, there’s a box, and things are far more ominous,” says Shepherd. “I was fascinated how over time Pandora’s positive attributes were objectified and the negative ones moralised.” The piece reaches the calamitous highpoint in the 11th of 13 movements, a phantasmagorical splurge of sound. “It’s chaotic, almost atonal,” agrees Shepherd. At times, it feels like an apocalyptic video game, winding and expanding, then exploding into unexpected silence. The subsequent vibraphone and violin duet—invoking the earlier theme for Hope—adds Shepherd’s own narrative. “In the original story, Hope is left in the jar. In the ballet, Hope persuades Pandora to let it out. Hope is a buoyant creature, which is free to fly away.” But, as fans of the British electronic composer might expect, Shepherd never lets things get too saccharine. As his creature rises in a high-pitched melody (there's a hint of Vaughan Williams’ <i>The Lark Ascending</i>), it realises the earth is scorched and it has nowhere to land. “And so the inevitability of hope is hopeless,” says Shepherd. More hopeful is Shepherd’s step into the world of dance, following his collaboration with Pharaoh Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra (<i>Promises</i> was nominated for the 2021 Mercury Prize). <i>Mere Mortals</i> has had regular performances in the UK featuring the original choreography by Aszure Barton, designed for a cast of 40. “I wrote the romance between Epimetheus and Pandora as a harp solo,” says Shepherd. “It became a <i>pas de deux</i>, and that was a first for me.” Judging by the musical success of <i>Mere Mortals</i>, it won’t be the last.

Артист

Floating Points & San Francisco Ballet Orchestra

Треки

  1. Movement 1 - Fire 5:25
  2. Movement 2 - Hope 0:45
  3. Movement 3 - Rage of the Gods 3:11
  4. Movement 4 - Zeus’ Command 3:32
  5. Movement 5 - Pandora’s Creation 6:42
  6. Movement 6 - Pandora’s Theme 4:28
  7. Movement 7 - Gift from the Gods 2:31
  8. Movement 8 - Falling to Earth 9:19
  9. Movement 9 - Prometheus’ Warning 3:31
  10. Movement 10 - Her Gift 5:36
  11. Movement 11 - Opening of the Jar 6:08
  12. Movement 12 - A Plea 4:36
  13. Movement 13 - Hope Taking Flight 1:39
  14. Movement 14 - Nowhere to Land 3:55