Post by Spaced Out Looney on Jun 15, 2008 11:24:19 GMT -5
Oops, more from Bear McCreary's post about the episode.
Diaspora Oratorio
“Diaspora Oratorio” spans across the entire final act, except for the last minute. It is a five-minute work for full orchestra, SATB choir and ethnic percussion and soloists. The choir is singing my original text, translated into Latin by Michael Speidel. The voices functions almost as a classic Greek chorus, commenting directly about the action on screen.
Traditionally, an oratorio is a composition for orchestra and choir that also features soloists, who often portray specific narrative characters. I think of the form as an opera without the physical staging or blocking. ”Diaspora” is an oratorio in the traditional sense, although it is obviously much shorter in length, perhaps a Mini-Oratorio.
Writing the text, I tried to imagine a passage from a classical Caprican text, something akin to their version of Homer’s Odyssey. I envisioned the end of a long sea voyage; ancient wooden ships cutting through the mist to find their homeland. While the text for some of the choral passages are written from this perspective, other lines directly comment on the events on screen. The result is a text that feels like it was written for another era, but is also inseparable from the storyline.
The Oratorio begins on the establishing shot of the fleet. The choir gently enters:
* Finis itineris
o Journey’s end
Inside the CIC, the crew makes preparations to jump. The strings state the Oratorio’s A Theme in a simple, chorale-like arrangement:
This melodic idea is the seed of the entire piece. After composing for four days, these six notes were all I had! But, it turned out to be virtually all I needed.
Adama turns to Laura, and asks her to give the order. Here the brass and choir join the strings, in a warmer arrangement of the Oratorio’s B Theme:
And with it, the choir states the next line of the text:
* Viatores fatigati
o Weary travellers
* Venientes ad litus longe distantem
o Approach a distant shore
The fleet jumps into uncharted space, and with it, the harmony leaps from Ab back to D major, the largest harmonic leap possible in Western music. The violins, sopranos and altos state two dissonant contrapuntal lines that ultimately resolve to a major triad.
Back inside the CIC, Adama waits for confirmation from Gaeta:
* Collinae virentes
o Verdant peaks
* Superstant nebulam tristem
o Pierce the melancholy haze
The arrangement is stripped down to a solitary, suspenseful high D in the violins as Gaeta turns to proclaim “Visibile constellations are a match.” An uncontrollable excitement begins to bellow up, first seen in Roslin’s reaction to these words. The choir and orchestra enter with a fierce and energetic swell, that crescendos further on the reveal of the fleet approaching Earth.
The text and music merge perfectly for this beautiful moment:
* Dies surgit
o The sky breaks
* Unda matutina
o Like a wave
The huge swell cuts off suddenly, leaving a lingering string chord in its wake as Adama picks up the intercom, to make the speech we’ve been waiting for since the miniseries.
Beneath his words, the Oratorio A Theme returns, sung in a lush, moving arrangement:
* Omnes passi sumus multa
o We have all suffered
* Omnes superviximus
o We have all survived
* Veniums Terram
o We have arrived at Earth
For this speech, I abandoned the text’s distance from the story and allowed the choir to take on a more literal, narrative quality. In fact, the final line, “We have arrived at Earth,” is stated by the choir at the exact moment that Adama says it himself.
The fleet erupts in an overwhelming display of joy unlike anything we’ve ever experienced on Galactica. The music is equally jubilant, adding triplet shime daikos and hammering nagado daikos to the lush and expressive arrangement. The choir, strings and brass trade off statements of the Oratorio A Theme, resulting in the most uplifting musical expression the show has ever allowed:
* Fratres sororesque
o Brothers and sisters
* Inimici et amici
o Enemies and friends
* Osculamini
o Embrace
* Domum venimus
o For we have come home
The shime daikos play a steady quarter-note-triplet pattern, set against the choir which ignores the triplet feel. As Lee leaps atop the table, the nagado daikos and dumbeks kick into a faster triplet-eighth groove, which essentially resolves the rhythmic conflict between the shimes and the choir, adding considerable excitement and forward momentum to the score.
On the cut to Tyrol, the music takes on a pensive, more somber feel. I wanted the close-ups of Nicky and Hera to be more peaceful and calm, almost a lullaby. The orchestral strings, electric violin and erhu bring back the Oratorio B theme. Two female soloists answer with a contrapuntal response:
* Iam plango
o Yet I weep
On the cut to Gaius and his followers, the choir and orchetsra swell with a new, transitional idea (the C Theme, I suppose). This idea, which spans the shots of Baltar and Tigh, serves as a bridge to return us back to the A Theme. This elegant transition from Bb major back to the home key of D major, accomplished by pivoting around G minor, is in itself a little compositional feat, and one of my favorite musical moments in the entire episode. The choir echoes the soloists and continues the line:
* Iam plango
o Yet I weep
* Non mortuos
o Not for the fallen
* Sed implacatos
o But for the unforgiven
The line “Not for the fallen, but for the unforgiven” lands on the reveal of Col. Tigh, alone in his quarters, adding another layer of melancholy, without diluting the cue with too much darkness.
Kara and Anders look at Kat’s picture on the memorial wall, and the A Theme is brought back. Here the text returns to the more abstract poem about travellers coming home:
* Collinae virentes nos excipient
o Green hills await
Back in the CIC, Roslin weeps for joy as Adama hugs his son. The final statement of the A Theme concludes on the shot of blue oceans and white clouds, disappearing as it fades to black:
* Vento sequente
o With wind at our backs
* Caeli aperient
o The heavens part
* Approquinquantibus
o As we approach
Diaspora Oratorio
“Diaspora Oratorio” spans across the entire final act, except for the last minute. It is a five-minute work for full orchestra, SATB choir and ethnic percussion and soloists. The choir is singing my original text, translated into Latin by Michael Speidel. The voices functions almost as a classic Greek chorus, commenting directly about the action on screen.
Traditionally, an oratorio is a composition for orchestra and choir that also features soloists, who often portray specific narrative characters. I think of the form as an opera without the physical staging or blocking. ”Diaspora” is an oratorio in the traditional sense, although it is obviously much shorter in length, perhaps a Mini-Oratorio.
Writing the text, I tried to imagine a passage from a classical Caprican text, something akin to their version of Homer’s Odyssey. I envisioned the end of a long sea voyage; ancient wooden ships cutting through the mist to find their homeland. While the text for some of the choral passages are written from this perspective, other lines directly comment on the events on screen. The result is a text that feels like it was written for another era, but is also inseparable from the storyline.
The Oratorio begins on the establishing shot of the fleet. The choir gently enters:
* Finis itineris
o Journey’s end
Inside the CIC, the crew makes preparations to jump. The strings state the Oratorio’s A Theme in a simple, chorale-like arrangement:
This melodic idea is the seed of the entire piece. After composing for four days, these six notes were all I had! But, it turned out to be virtually all I needed.
Adama turns to Laura, and asks her to give the order. Here the brass and choir join the strings, in a warmer arrangement of the Oratorio’s B Theme:
And with it, the choir states the next line of the text:
* Viatores fatigati
o Weary travellers
* Venientes ad litus longe distantem
o Approach a distant shore
The fleet jumps into uncharted space, and with it, the harmony leaps from Ab back to D major, the largest harmonic leap possible in Western music. The violins, sopranos and altos state two dissonant contrapuntal lines that ultimately resolve to a major triad.
Back inside the CIC, Adama waits for confirmation from Gaeta:
* Collinae virentes
o Verdant peaks
* Superstant nebulam tristem
o Pierce the melancholy haze
The arrangement is stripped down to a solitary, suspenseful high D in the violins as Gaeta turns to proclaim “Visibile constellations are a match.” An uncontrollable excitement begins to bellow up, first seen in Roslin’s reaction to these words. The choir and orchestra enter with a fierce and energetic swell, that crescendos further on the reveal of the fleet approaching Earth.
The text and music merge perfectly for this beautiful moment:
* Dies surgit
o The sky breaks
* Unda matutina
o Like a wave
The huge swell cuts off suddenly, leaving a lingering string chord in its wake as Adama picks up the intercom, to make the speech we’ve been waiting for since the miniseries.
Beneath his words, the Oratorio A Theme returns, sung in a lush, moving arrangement:
* Omnes passi sumus multa
o We have all suffered
* Omnes superviximus
o We have all survived
* Veniums Terram
o We have arrived at Earth
For this speech, I abandoned the text’s distance from the story and allowed the choir to take on a more literal, narrative quality. In fact, the final line, “We have arrived at Earth,” is stated by the choir at the exact moment that Adama says it himself.
The fleet erupts in an overwhelming display of joy unlike anything we’ve ever experienced on Galactica. The music is equally jubilant, adding triplet shime daikos and hammering nagado daikos to the lush and expressive arrangement. The choir, strings and brass trade off statements of the Oratorio A Theme, resulting in the most uplifting musical expression the show has ever allowed:
* Fratres sororesque
o Brothers and sisters
* Inimici et amici
o Enemies and friends
* Osculamini
o Embrace
* Domum venimus
o For we have come home
The shime daikos play a steady quarter-note-triplet pattern, set against the choir which ignores the triplet feel. As Lee leaps atop the table, the nagado daikos and dumbeks kick into a faster triplet-eighth groove, which essentially resolves the rhythmic conflict between the shimes and the choir, adding considerable excitement and forward momentum to the score.
On the cut to Tyrol, the music takes on a pensive, more somber feel. I wanted the close-ups of Nicky and Hera to be more peaceful and calm, almost a lullaby. The orchestral strings, electric violin and erhu bring back the Oratorio B theme. Two female soloists answer with a contrapuntal response:
* Iam plango
o Yet I weep
On the cut to Gaius and his followers, the choir and orchetsra swell with a new, transitional idea (the C Theme, I suppose). This idea, which spans the shots of Baltar and Tigh, serves as a bridge to return us back to the A Theme. This elegant transition from Bb major back to the home key of D major, accomplished by pivoting around G minor, is in itself a little compositional feat, and one of my favorite musical moments in the entire episode. The choir echoes the soloists and continues the line:
* Iam plango
o Yet I weep
* Non mortuos
o Not for the fallen
* Sed implacatos
o But for the unforgiven
The line “Not for the fallen, but for the unforgiven” lands on the reveal of Col. Tigh, alone in his quarters, adding another layer of melancholy, without diluting the cue with too much darkness.
Kara and Anders look at Kat’s picture on the memorial wall, and the A Theme is brought back. Here the text returns to the more abstract poem about travellers coming home:
* Collinae virentes nos excipient
o Green hills await
Back in the CIC, Roslin weeps for joy as Adama hugs his son. The final statement of the A Theme concludes on the shot of blue oceans and white clouds, disappearing as it fades to black:
* Vento sequente
o With wind at our backs
* Caeli aperient
o The heavens part
* Approquinquantibus
o As we approach