Fallen Angels
(Ángeles caídos)
Oratorio in 2 parts (45 min.)
Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, 7 Female Voices (from the Chorus), Chorus (SATB) & Orchestra.
3.3.3.3. - 6.4.3.1 - Timpani, Percussion (5) - Harp & Strings
Texts taken by “Book of Genesis” of the Bible, and Milton’s “Paradise Lost”
*Parts are available for rent, please send us an email for price and details
About this piece:
Part I (Magical Creation)
On the stage, 7 female singers (Angels) surround the orchestra elevated in podiums. The music appears slowly, hardly audible from complete silence and little by little the angels awake, with very soft, whisper-like sounds. The music is reminiscent of an early religious style. Music and text are clear in a logical world where God is creator and dictates his laws, Angels are his creation and they listen to his words and obey. An Ave Maria at the end of Part I, introduces humans with freedom of choice, born into the equation. Humans create an unexpected variable in an otherwise perfectly organized existence. The Gods, by interfering with the creation, disturb the natural way of evolution and make a negative impact on the final outcome.
Part II (Dystopian creation)
In Part II, the roles don't exist anymore, and everybody has a voice as in modern times. Everybody has opinions... science, religion, individuals... and there are no clear parameters of who is right, what the laws are or who has authority. To reflect this brave new world in the vocal parts, there are no clear roles, everyone has a voice.
The music uses the same thematic material and overall structure of the first part but with much different results.
The text continues with a few passages from the Genesis, but it jumps suddenly to Milton's Paradise Lost. From the beginning the Angels start to question the rules and appeal to their own reason and freedom of choice. Disagreement, dissent and rebellion seem unstoppable.
"Eternal silence be thir doome." Loud as their voices might be, they are drowned in a sea of other voices, noise, realities, facts, untruths... In that sense, we went full circle, since at the beginning the Angels had hardly any voice and now, they are screaming but still their voices can't be heard because of all the noise. Both approaches have no influence in the chaotic and dystopian outcome. Using different text sources (Orwell's 1984 & Twitter pop culture) depicts a universe with alternative realities, a sense of chaos and inability to separate facts, sources and reality from fiction.
The sense of chaos reaches its zenith when the first word spoken by God at the beginning in a Gregorian chant style are substituted towards the end by a quote from Orwell's 1984. From there, the piece then gradually returns to the calm textures of the very beginning, with the Angels whispering "Shhh" symbolizing the eternal silence and the piece slowly fading away.
***
The text is not intended as a continuous narrative but instead as sporadic thoughts expressed through the music. Since the story of the biblical creation is commonly known, the text serves as pieces of a puzzle that the audience uses to unravel the story. They fill in the narrative -and any relevance to the current situation- according to their own experience.
With the questioning of authority and disobedience in Part 2, the music keeps transforming and growing more chaotic as the foreseeable future looks more ominous. The only redeeming factor may be beauty itself through art, nature or music.
The work has a great potential to be enhanced with visual elements (lights, video projections...) although it's not necessary for the performance of the piece as written.