Jorge Rivera-Herrans

April Choice Video 1 of 2- Olive Tree (cut song) Verse 2

Added 2023-04-17 15:01:47 +0000 UTC

Hello friends! Here's the first of two April Choice Videos! This is the second verse and chorus of the now cut song Olive Tree.

For the music, I had tried to keep it minimal relative to the more grandiose songs in the show. As you can hear, the majority of the orchestration consists of a nylon stringed guitar (Odysseus) and a viola (Penelope).

While I do like the melody in this song, one thing I am focusing on as I continue working on the ending songs of EPIC is what does this ending say about the major themes of the show? In this draft of song 40, I felt I had captured the reunion between Odysseus and Penelope but not as much a satisfying resolution for the philosophical conflict.

Also, another reason this song is hard to both write and perform is that there's not really a clear conflict in place. In this setup, Penelope tells this story to someone she is not sure is Odysseus, the entire time looking away. I have found that this premise is a very thin string to hang tension on. But I have another in mind that I think will work. :)

Anyways, just wanted to give you all some insight into my thought process as I continue tackling The Ithaca Saga. :D