Mere Mortals

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 A

01 Movement 1 - Fire

02 Movement 2 - Hope

03 Movement 3 - Rage of the Gods

04 Movement 4 - Zeus’ Command 

05 Movement 5 - Pandora’s Creation

Side B

06 Movement 6 - Pandora’s Theme

07 Movement 7 - Gift from the Gods

08 Movement 8 - Falling to Earth

09 Movement 9 - Prometheus’ Warning

Side C

10 Movement 10 - Her Gift 

11 Movement 11 - Opening of the Jar

12 Movement 12 - A Plea

13 Movement 13 - Hope Taking Flight

14 Movement 14 - Nowhere to Land