In the Shadow of God's Wrath

I - Alone in the Woods

II - Dis

III - Pit of Fire, Pit of Ice

for chamber orchestra

Duration - approx. 75 min.

Program Notes:

In the Shadow of God's Wrath is a ballet based on Dante's Inferno. It is a collaboration with choreographer Iouletta Stratos.

The story is very famous.  Dante awakes in a dark forest (a metaphor for the state of his life), and is pursued by three beasts.  He is rescued by Virgil, who informs him that he has been sent to guide Dante to restoration.  To achieve this, they must travel down into the depths of hell, then up through purgatory and finally to paradise.  Along the way Dante comes to understand the nature of sin and forgiveness and ultimately reaches paradise and comes face-to-face with Divine Love.  Although the entire Divine Comedy warrants further attention, In the Shadow of God’s Wrath will deal only with Dante’s Inferno, the sinister beginning of his three-part Divine Comedy.

In the Shadow of God’s Wrath is divided into three tableaus.  The first tableau starts at the beginning, with Dante waking in the wood, and concludes when the poets pass through the gates of Dis.  The second tableau begins with the poets in the sixth circle of hell, and follows them through part of the seventh circle, culminating when the duo board Geryon and fly down into the lowest reaches of the inferno.  The third and final tableau picks up after the poets have landed, and continues through the dangerous climb over the back of Satan and out into the clear night’s sky. 

As with Dante, numerology plays an important part in the work.  It is no coincidence that the larger work is divided into three tableaus, and that each tableau is divided into seven segments.  There is also a similar macro/micro concept in terms of pitch content and dissemination.  There are certain motives and themes that are delegated to one circle of hell, or a specific character, while on a macro level there is a large “row” that is introduced one note at a time through each circle of hell, expanding the motivic possibilities each time.  All this combines with the dance into a dense collaboration of metaphor and symbolism that will leave the viewer exhausted and overwhelmed.  Don’t whine to me, remember what it says above that gate…

- Ryan Jesperson
February 28th, 2007

The work is divided into three tabeaus.

I - Alone in the Woods. This includes Dante waking in the dark woods up to Dante and Virgil's passing through the gates of Dis and the sixth circle of Hell. Duration - 30 min.

II - Dis. This continues the poets' trip through Hell up until being carried by Geryon down the waterfall into the eighth circle. Duration - 15 min.

III - Pit of Fire, Pit of Ice. This concludes the work, as the poets' move through the final two circles and climb over Satan and into Purgatory. Duration - 30 min.

Check out the score to the first part of In the Shadow of God's Wrath - Alone in the Woods