measure of the sea
Music theatre [25′]
Part 1: Surf - voice and electronics
Part 2: Abyssal - voice, orchestra and electronics
Written for Barbara Hannigan for the Scapino (Nanine Linning) production of La Mer (2026).
Two connected pieces that open and close the Scapino Ballet production of La Mer, framing Debussy's score from either side. Composed for the Scapino Ballet production of La Mer, choreography Nanine Linning, conducted and sung by Barbara Hannigan. Premiere October 8th 2026, Nieuwe Luxor Theater, Rotterdam. Written alongside Fracking and Dead Zone, composed in 2023 for Boston Ballet's La Mer, as part of an ongoing suite of works set against Debussy's original.
The text is a modified transcription of an oracle. According to Herodotus (Histories), in 560 BC Croesus of Lydia consulted the Delphic Oracle to test its powers, and received the answer:
οἶδα δ᾽ ἐγὼ ψάμμου τ᾽ ἀριθμὸν καὶ μέτρα θαλάσσης,
καὶ κωφοῦ συνίημι, καὶ οὐ φωνεῦντος ἀκούω.
I know the number of the sand and the measure of the sea;
I understand the speech of the dumb and hear the voiceless.
For measure of the sea, the final two lines are replaced:
ὀδμὴ μ᾽ ἐς φρένας ἦλθε θαλασσίων μυρίων ζῴων ἑψομένων ἐν πόντῳ·
ἀνθρώπεια μὲν ὑπέστρωται, ἀνθρώπεια δ᾽ ἐπιέσται.
A smell enters my mind, countless sea-creatures cooked in the deep;
below them, human refuse, above them, human refuse.
Credits
Concept, Direction and Choreography: Nanine Linning
Conductor and Soprano: Barbara Hannigan
Newly commissioned compositions: Yannis Kyriakides
Costume Design: Yuima Nakazato
Visual and New Media Art: Heleen Blanken
Light Design: Brandon Stirling Baker, Pepijn van der Sande
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Scapino Ballet
Laurens Collegium
