2343/44. “Prelude”/”Overture” by Elvis Costello
Lala hosts the whole album.
Ah, Elvis Costello’s journey into classical music, Il Sogno, presents me with a bit of a problem. While there are plenty of writers out there who are extremely qualified to address the quality and content of this album, I am at as much of a loss on how to attack it as I am with all of the classical music in my library.
I lack the vocabulary to discuss it in a meaningful way and, thus, end up writing things like “that thing Bach wrote sounded purty cool hurf durf.”
On the other hand, Il Sogna is was composed for a ballet company that wanted original music for a danced production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I do know a thing or two about that, so I’ll use Shakspeare’s play as a lens to focus the discussion.
Since they’re both under a minute long, I will address the Prelude and Overture together.
“Prelude” starts with a dark little flute (?) melody. Presumably it suggests a passage from our world to the world of the dream - as “Preludes” are wont to do.
Generally speaking, an Overture is an instrumental introduction to the world of the piece. Again, this is a fairly dark introduction. It is possible to view much of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as a fairly dark play - one filled with strange and aweful creatures, horrific betrayal (albeit magically induced) and a touch of besiality. The Overture ot Il Sogno establishes this world of fairy menace fairly effectively. It also announces “this isn’t a funny take on the play.”