For most musicians, composing a ballet would be a departure from their usual career path. For Sam Shepard, better known as Floating Points, it seems a logical next step. Over the past decade, Shepard has seamlessly transitioned between club music, jazz, orchestral composition, and experimental electronica. He's collaborated with everyone from the late Pharoah Sanders to the London Symphony Orchestra, creating albums that could soundtrack a warehouse rave or a concert hall.
Now this curiosity manifests itself in the form of «Mere Mortals» , Shepard's first full-scale ballet score, will be released on August 28 on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
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Originally commissioned by San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo and first performed in January 2024, ballet "Mere Mortals"« reimagines the myth of Pandora with choreography by Azura Barton and visuals by Hamill Industries. The new album features a recording of this work performed by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra.
The first preview took place earlier this year with the captivating composition "Fall to Earth." Also released was "Her Gift," a striking duet of harp and the Therevox ET 4.3 synthesizer. The latter represents "the dance between Epimetheus and Pandora: he falls in love with her. Prometheus appears at the very end to warn his brother against their pursuit," says Shepherd. The harp part is performed by Miriam Adefris, who toured with Shepherd and helped him understand the instrument's capabilities.
Long before he captivated festival audiences with Floating Points, Shepherd's musical background was firmly rooted in classical music. He sang in the Manchester Cathedral Choir and studied composition and piano at Chatham's School of Music. One of the most important moments in his life occurred when he attended a performance of "« Rain"» Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker, staged at Steve Reich's music "Music for 18 Musicians" »"I had never seen dance before, and it was just phenomenal," Shepard recalls.
Years later, Rojo invited him to write music for the San Francisco Ballet. Instead of a short piece, Shepherd proposed something more ambitious. "I'd never even thought about writing a ballet before," he says. "But I said, 'You know, I think I'd like to do a whole performance.' And that's how it all happened.".
Ultimately, this project led him to Pandora, though not the version most people know. Inspired in part by classicist and novelist Natalie Haynes, Shepherd became intrigued by how centuries of retelling had transformed Pandora from an active figure into a cautionary tale. "Translations had robbed her of her agency," he says. "Pandora isn't about bringing hell to Earth. She truly represents curiosity and change." Indeed, the final section of the soundtrack imagines a future shaped by climate collapse, where Hope, escaping Pandora's vessel, discovers a devastated world.
«"My favorite part of the process was writing 'Nowhere to Land,'" says Shepherd. "Hearing the music I'd written on paper transformed by Cordula's exquisite violin playing inspired me to create more in the future.".
Shepherd prepares to perform the opera "Mere Mortals"« live during its European premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival on August 28-30 with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, before the production transfers to London's Sadler's Wells Theatre in September.
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