The Pit and the Pendulum (2020), for baritone, chamber orchestra, choir, and electronics, is a work conceived for the stage. I also authored the libretto, closely following the original narrative. For theatrical reasons, I divided Edgar Allan Poe’s tale into five different scenes that summarize the most important points of the plot. In Scene I, The Judgement, the condemned, sung by the baritone, remembers the moment of his judgement by a court of the Inquisition and acknowledges his situation of solitary imprisonment in a dark, mysterious room. In Scene II, The Pit, he realizes that there is an unfathomably deep pit in the center of that room; he risks falling into it and grows desperate about his fate. In the subsequent Scene III, The Pendulum, as the convict regains consciousness, he finds himself bound to a table while a giant pendulum, equipped with a razor blade instead of a weight, descends on him. Nonetheless, he reacts, and with an act of extreme courage—letting rats eat the bandages that enchain him—he manages once again to escape death. All is not Lost, Scene IV, harks back to the aesthetics of the classic operatic aria; the action is paused, and the character reflects on his fate. Scene V, Rescue, leaves unsolved the final destiny of the prisoner. The room heats up and starts contracting around him, bringing him again on the brink of the pit…
In the original story, it is in fact unclear whether the tale is the delirium of a lost mind or if it is meant to represent facts that, even though hallucinatorily distorted, really could have happened. I have preserved this ambiguity in my operatic rendition.
For dramatic reasons, I cut some events from Poe’s original plot. Namely, during the original story, the protagonist faints and regains consciousness multiple times. This could not have been rendered properly in theater; therefore, I preferred to abridge those passages and recount moments of unconsciousness with the use of interludes of electronic music, which seamlessly connect the five scenes. The whole play develops, in fact, between the confines of a faint conscience, a weak self-perception, and sheer madness. The electronic music adds a layer that hauntingly portrays the moments of insanity of the main character.
Track List
- 0.00 First Scene: The Judgement
- 6.16 Interlude 1
- 7.42 Second Scene: The Pit
- 13.16 Interlude 2
- 14.37 Third Scene: The Pendulum
- 20.44 Interlude 3
- 22.25 Fourth Scene: All is not lost
- 27.17 Interlude 4
- 28.25 Fifth Scene: Rescue
For an optimal listening experience, the libretto is available for download here:
The Pit and the Pendulum was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Music of Duke University. The recording of the dissertation has been realized at Duke University on 13 and 14 September 2022, with the participation of Thomas Meglioranza, The Ciompi Quartet (Eric Pritchard, Hsiao-Mei Ku, Jonathan Bagg, Caroline Stinson), The Imani Winds Quintet (Brandon Patrick George, Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Mark Dover, Kevin Newton, Monica Ellis), Julia Thompson, Blake Ray, Craig Brown, and Rodney Wynkoop conducting soloists of the Duke University Chorale. I conducted the ensemble. The recording has been commercially released by DoNeMus and is available for purchase at the following link:
https://donemus.nl/release/dcv-486-maximiliano-amici-the-pit-and-the-pendulum/
Maximiliano Amici 