Composer-producer-musician-DJ Floating Points, aka Sam Shepherd, presents Mere Mortals, his first full-length ballet score. Commissioned and directed by the San Francisco Ballet’s Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, with choreography by Aszure Barton and design and visuals by Hamill Industries, the ballet reimagines the story of Pandora in a fusion of myth, music and movement. Recorded with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon, the 14-track album is a potent mix of elegiac strings, apocalyptic brass and pulsing electronics. From the lyrical solo violin of Hope to the dissonance and pummelling percussion of Rage of the Gods, and the exquisite harp melody of Her Gift before the eeriness of Opening of the Jar, the score is rich in texture and effect. Orchestral music emerges from an electronic haze, mirroring the ballet’s central question: where does the human end and the machine begin?Side A1. Movement 1 - Fire2. Movement 2 - Hope3. Movement 3 - Rage of the Gods4. Movement 4 - Zeus’ Command 5. Movement 5 - Pandora’s CreationSide B6. Movement 6 - Pandora’s Theme7. Movement 7 - Gift from the Gods8. Movement 8 - Falling to Earth9. Movement 9 - Prometheus’ WarningSide C10. Movement 10 - Her Gift 11. Movement 11 - Opening of the Jar12. Movement 12 - A Plea13. Movement 13 - Hope Taking Flight14. Movement 14 - Nowhere to LandSide DEtched
