THE ONE
A Demo a Day: Day 11.
The wait is over. We finally get to meet the man himself, the Antichrist, aka THE ONE.
This is the last song in Act I, and the centerpiece of the opera. It is a sprawling number broken into four distinct movements:
A candlelight vigil, in which a multitude of excited end times-believers gather in anticipation of the much-reported comet crashing into the earth and ending all existence. A chorus sings in unison, begging to be spared but fearing the worst. The music and choreography are initially deliberate and worshipful, and then transition to a swirly, ecstatic drum-and-bass ritualistic dance.
Annunciation: angels appear in the sky and in high-pitched tenors and tell the crowd not to fear. It wasn’t a comet after all; it is the arrival of the new savior of the world. A raucous glam rock shuffle reminiscent of Ballroom Blitz accompanies the aerial spectacle on stage.
Poor Little Planet: this movement is a mournful 6/8 dirge in Phrygian Dominant mode (I’ve been told it’s the saddest of all keys). THE ONE makes his first appearance on Earth and addresses the crowd, telling them that after millenia of suffering it’s all going to be ok: they just need to renounce their irrational, religious ways and follow his lead. He’s lying of course, as will become clear in Act II.
The Four Horsemen. It’s time to break that first seal, as the four horsemen of the apocalypse appear and a right shitshow takes place on stage-- the first of many cleansings of humanity in preparation for THE ONE’s reign. The music reprises the Annunciation, with an angel singing while THE ONE’s advance guard lays waste and the curtain is drawn on Act I in a blinding flash of white light.
LISTEN:
The foundational 3-4-5 melodic line runs through all four movements, spanning key and mode changes. The song is foreshadowed many times from the overture through Act I, and reprised and modified throughout Act II. And somehow… all four movements and twelve minutes of it popped into my head nearly fully formed.