The Midnight Verdict

Ensemble Ars Nova

How can a figure as celebrated as Orpheus inspire a creative musical project today? Through sound and poetry, The Midnight Verdict connects the imagination of three contemporary composers to one of the most emblematic ancient myths of Western culture, set to verse by the late Irish poet Seamus Heaney. Life and death, love and commitment, loss of harmony caused by noise, violence, and social withdrawal: making the link between Orpheus’ symbolic references and several major issues of modern societies, Benoît Sitzia, Deirdre McKay and Gregory Vajda are opening a dialogue between contemporary and traditional music, between poetry and new lutherie. A creative sound experience deployed in 3 parts, inviting the audience to follow Orpheus on his journey between Heaven and Earth, between dream and materialization.

____________________________

Orpheus – part human, part divine – cannot be killed and his music cannot be silenced, just like all the poets and composers of the world – part human, part divine – will never stop, no matter what, singing their songs. I have been long envisioning a piece of music composed to be the fellow traveler to a written text; and Seamus Heaney’s The Midnight Verdict lends itself to this idea in the best possible way. Listen as you read, read as you listen; and meet again the immortal embodiment of the power of music, the – part human, part divine – Orpheus himself.  – Gregory Vajda, composer and conductor