The Raw Song, bare bones version

The Raw Song, bare bones version, - is extracted from Jenni's 1992 opera The Descent of Inanna, bare bones version. This is the moment in the second act after her trials in the Netherworld, the Sumerian Underworld, of 500 BC. Inanna returns to life and is reborn, vulnerable, fragile, but alive! This myth was preserved for 2000 years on clay tablets, written in the ancient language of cuneiform. It predates the 'Orpheus and the Underworld' myth by 500 years. Here we have a matriarchal society and a female protagonist. (The story of Inanna's descent is one of the main myths used by Carl Jung to examine the feminine shadow archetype). The bare bones version of the opera is about 45 minutes in total. It is scored for eight voices, with piano and harmonium. The video on YouTube is of the full score version. "There was pace and energy, with echoes ranging from Sondheim and Reich to African and Middle Eastern rhythms and cantillations,... many places where the score matched the situation memorably: Inanna's return to life (The Raw Song) or her radiant first entry (Share My Joy) with its cascading string scales. Roditi's vocal writing can be imaginative and sensitive." Stephen Johnson, The Independent, June 1992, following the premiere of the full score opera at ICA, London UK. The full score version of the Raw Song for mezzo, chamber ensemble and optional free voice is in Jenni Roditi's My Score catalog. More materials from the opera will be forthcoming on MyScore in due course. The complete full-score of the opera is only obtainable through the composer's website, forthcoming 2025.