How do we find our place in this world when everything is destined to end? What is the point of being attached when we know that permanence is illusory? A man and a woman meet and share their anguish about the finitude of life and the attachment they feel for each other. It is on the edge of a cliff that the two young people meet Magellan, a strange character who will become their confidant. Will Magellan’s philosophy overcome the despair that drives the two young protagonists?
Project Requirements
The author of the play, Paola Locatelli and the director Philippe Minella hired Valerio to compose the entire soundtrack of her new play. It was necessary to compose an introduction, a finale and then several other pieces accompanying the events of the piece while keeping a certain link between the different parts.
For example, these were the requests from the author of the play for the introduction, “Danse d’éphémères”:
- The first part needs to symbolize the symbiosis of the two protagonists.
- The second part needs to alternate between a tango and a fight.
- The third part needs to be like an explosion after the fight, a dance with some rotations
Project Details
To keep a certain link between the different parts, Valerio used leitmotiv. A common technique first used by Richard Wagner that aims to assign themes to characters or events so that the listener can identify what/who the music refers to.
In this introduction, Valerio used some themes to tell the story in its integrity only in the introduction. The listener can get some clues about what’s going to happen, and he will be more emotionally engaged in the story when he hears these themes again. For example, at the end of the final “Deux âmes, une chute”, you can hear the last theme of the introduction but in a different way. At the beginning, the story has two protagonists, and as you can hear, it changes at the end…