Project Orfeo

Novelist Richard Powers’ 2013 novel Orfeo contains a deeply informed portrayal of both the contemporary American music scene and of 20th century music generally. Electric Earth Concerts’ interdisciplinary project takes inspiration from Orfeo’s central theme: the search for a revelatory new musical language that has engaged composers for the past century. Along the way Powers discourses eloquently on 20th century masterpieces, while he imagines a yet-to-be-written music for the 21st century that might be derived from existing natural and scientific phenomena. The project’s several layers will include a new work by composer Scott Lindroth, whose recent incorporating of biological ‘data’ into his music resonates strikingly with the protagonist Peter Els’ imaginings. The Lindroth premiere will be embedded in a concert shaped by Orfeo’s themes: the audacious musical environment of the mid 20th century that fostered Peter Els, and Els’ search to express those values in a revolutionary new music. One of its remarkable passages is a description of how Olivier Messiaen’s 1941 Quartet for the End of Time came to life in a concentration camp- a legendary act of creative will. Richard Powers will read excerpts alongside a performance of the Quartet’s eight movements, placing Messiaen’s work in a dramatic literary context. Scott Lindroth’s new composition will be the program’s second half, also accompanied by passages from Orfeo that relate to Lindroth’s 21st century compositional journey.