Hungarian-Swiss conductor and composer Mischa Santora, music director of Boston Ballet, was asked by choreographer Ken Ossola to write the score for his new ballet, inspired by Michelangelo’s “non-finito” sculptures “Prisoners”. Ossola explores the tensions between our mind and body and the perpetual human state of both emergence and incompleteness.
Mischa Santora explains the creative process in his own words: “Ken Ossola and I started discussing musical possibilities for his Boston Ballet world premiere roughly three years ago. After tossing out a few options of pre-existing music, we settled on the idea of creating something from scratch, based on music that was written during the Italian Renaissance period (since the choreography draws inspiration from Michelangelo). I picked the opening phrase of a Madrigal by Gesualdo (Madrigal #2 from Book 6). After submitting a series of basic orchestral sketches, Ken liked the idea of developing this into a full orchestral score, with added live electronics in the mix.
After completing many sketches and sound samples, it became clear to me that the Gesualdo fragment had to be deconstructed into its most basic musical elements, using those building blocks to create a 35-minute orchestral canvas. As a result, there are very few moments where you hear the actual Gesualdo madrigal as such. But the entire piece is based very closely on its harmonies and rhythms.
Working with eminent jazz pianist and electronic artist Michael Cain has been such an inspiration. It is also the culmination of a true collaborative process, and the electronic sounds will keep evolving until the premiere.
One of my main goals with this project was to expand the sonic vocabulary of what we have come to recognize as the classical symphony orchestra. The orchestral sound has been changing and developing over the last 300 years of classical music, and I believe it must continue to do so in order to stay relevant as a dynamic art form.”
Ken Ossola’s world premiere ballet “The Space Between” will take place on May 9, 2024, with music by Mischa Santora (“Toccata for Orchestra and Live Electronics”) performed by Boston Ballet at the Boston Opera House. It is part of the Spring Experience program (running May 9 through 19), also featuring Jiří Kylián’s “Bella Figura” and William Forsythe’s “Blake Works III”.
