Infidel.

Infidel for Soprano and Orchestra addresses the complexity of modern love relationships through the story of a marriage marred by adultery. The cycle consists of four separate but thematically linked settings of poems by Megan Levad written from the point of view of an adulterer. The piece is non-narrative; each song in this twenty-minute work explores the emotional complexities that underlie a particular moment of love and loss. Infidel's musical language is post minimal, relying on a steady pulse, repetition and a harmonic language that is almost entirely diatonic. Vocal inflections are occasionally reminiscent of contemporary popular music, and at times the musical setting of the text works against the poetry's natural rhythm, creating an affect that is stylized and somewhat artificial. Layered textures are used to convey a sense of the adulterer's inner conflict, guilt and anxiety. In addition, there are key moments in which the dramatic tone set by the orchestra is out of sync with the emotional character of the vocal line. This discrepancy suggests a state of moral ambiguity, leaving it to the listener to question how and why we make the choices we do in love and marriage and whether those choices have ethical meaning.