Commedia - INFERNO
For Full Orchestra and Chorus [2222 4221 3pc pno hp chr str]
Duration: 13 minutes
2008
Indiana University Masters Thesis
Text by Dante Alighieri:
PER ME SI VA NE LA CITTA’ DOLENTE,
PER ME SI VA NE L’ETTERNO DOLORE,
PER ME SI VA TRA LA PERDUTA GENTE.
GIUSTIZIA MOSSE IL MOI ALTO FATTORE;
FECEMI LA DIVINA PODESTATE,
LA SOMMA SAPÏENZA E’L PRIMO AMORE.
DINANZI A ME NON FUOR COSE CREATE
SE NON ETTERNE, E IO ETTERNO DURO.
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH’INTRATE.
English Translation by Robert M. Durling
THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE GRIEVING CITY,
THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW,
THROUGH ME THE WAY AMONG THE LOST PEOPLE.
JUSTICE MOVED MY HIGH MAKER;
DIVINE POWER MADE ME,
HIGHEST WISDOM, AND PRIMAL LOVE.
BEFORE ME WERE NO THINGS CREATED
EXCEPT ETERNAL ONES, AND I ENDURE ETERNAL.
ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YOU WHO ENTER.
Program Note:
The inspiration for the work INFERNO began early in 2007 when writing a solo vocal piece for the Cazenovia Counterpoint summer music series in Upstate New York. Having drawn the text for the piece from The Divine Comedy, I was compelled to pick up the book I began to read almost 2 decades ago and read it completely since much of the imagery and allegory I found was now very powerful and also extraordinarily relevant to current world events.
Due to its epic nature, I decided early on that I wanted to set all three cantiche, (s. cantica – narrative poem), focusing initially on the INFERNO, and to follow to some extent Dante’s own development of the entire Commedia.
Choosing the right text was a difficult matter, in trying to portray the entirety of the contents of the cantica yet being concise in conveying it. Eventually I chose to use the text derived from the third canto that is the inscription upon the outer gates of hell.
Because of Christian mythology, the use of terza rima as a literary device (aba bcb cdc…), and Dante’s multifaceted use of the numbers three and nine, these numbers play an important role in the architectural development of my own work. INFERNO loosely follows the narrative trajectory of the cantica, but is more of one artist’s reaction to the powerful imagery and its beautiful, if craggy, subject matter.
Recording:
Excerpts from the Indiana University Orchestra