Inferno, Canto I - Dante Alighieri

[intro, instrumental, deep war drums alone, slow and heavy, 4 steady strikes, then distant soprano voices hum wordlessly, low bass drone underneath, 12 bars building dread, no melody yet, only darkness gathering] [verse 1, bass male vocal, slow, grave, spoken-sung, drums pulse underneath, soprano hums faintly behind, cathedral reverb, voice of a man lost and heavy] Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura Che la diritta via era smarrita [verse 2, bass voice drops lower, more anguished, drums grow slightly, soprano choir enters softly, wordless vowels rising behind the bass, eerie] Ahi quanto a dir qual era e cosa dura Esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte Che nel pensier rinova la paura [chorus, full choir erupts, soprano voices soar upward, bass voice anchors below, drums strike hard on each line, powerful and overwhelming, dark sacred chant, voices intertwine, ancient terror made holy] Tant'e amara che poco e piu morte Ma per trattar del ben ch'i vi trovai Diro de l'altre cose ch'i v'ho scorte [verse 3, bass voice alone again, quieter, confessional, drums pull back to single heartbeat pulse, soprano fades to distant whisper, intimate and lost] Io non so ben ridir com'i v'intrai Tant'era pien di sonno a quel punto Che la verace via abbandonai [verse 4, bass voice steadies, begins to rise, drums return with purpose, soprano choir builds again, sense of emerging from darkness, not yet light but less dark] Ma poi ch'i fui al pie d'un colle giunto La dove terminava quella valle Che m'avea di paura il cor compunto [chorus, choir and bass together, powerful chant unison, drums at full force, all voices locked in sacred rhythm, the mountain glimpsed, light breaking at the edge, soprano reaches highest note, then cuts to silence] Guardai in alto, e vidi le sue spalle Vestite gia de raggi del pianeta Che mena dritto altrui per ogne calle [bridge, sudden drop, only soprano voices, no drums, wordless sacred melody, three sopranos in harmony, grief and relief tangled together, 8 bars, bass voice returns under them, low and trembling] Allor fu la paura un poco queta Che nel lago del cor m'era durata La notte ch'i passai con tanta pieta [verse 5, bass voice now exhausted but alive, single drum returns like a second heartbeat, voice of a survivor looking back at the sea, soprano breathes gently behind each phrase] E come quei che con lena affannata Uscito fuor del pelago a la riva Si volge a l'acqua perigliosa e guata [verse 6, bass voice slows to near silence, drums stop completely on final two lines, only voice and distant soprano hum, the living man turns back and stares into what nearly killed him] Cosi l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva Si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo Che non lascio gia mai persona viva [outro, all voices fade to single soprano note held long, one deep drum strike, then silence, cathedral reverb decays slowly, 12 bars of fading echo, then absolute dark silence]