It is with some amazement that I can announce the completion of the formatting of the full score of my reduction of Richard Strauss's Elektra, and therefore the availability of the performance materials. It seems surreal that six years ago Chris Fecteau suggested this project in earnest. It's been so much work, undertaken on no particular schedule in my rare spare time from both my business and my other music pursuits, that subconsciously I'm not sure I really believed it would ever be done. With the global pandemic still in full furor, not surprisingly the discussions towards its performance have gone dormant. But still, it's done.
As the global urging of quarantine continues, the extra spare time my self-imposed captivity provides has brought the finish line of this project actually in sight. So here's my next teaser: Klytemnestra's entrance. For me, this is one of the most extraordinary and innovative passages in Elektra itself, in Strauss' oeuvre, indeed in orchestral music. The genius with which Strauss captures the mounting suspence of the impending confrontation between Elektra and her mother, the increasingly frenetic and chaotic textures, the onomatopoeic depiction of the tumultuous procession with its whips and sacrificial animals. It's also one of the prime examples of the argument of this edition: contrasting the impact of Strauss' original huge orchestra with the ability of my smaller forces to highlight the clarity of inner details that often get lost due to the dynamic overwhelm of the original. VO courtesy of Noteperfermer 3.1.
**NOTE: All metronome markings, and therefore tempi, are Strauss', not mine.**
For other teaser videos, check out my Youtube page.
