Penthesilea

This dissertation is a ballet composed for chamber orchestra. The ballet is based on Heinrich von Kleist’s play Penthesilea. The twenty-four scenes of Kleist’s play were reduced into ten scenes. In Kleist’s version of Penthesilea, unlike in Greek mythology, the queen of the Amazons Penthesilea survives after being struck by Achilles, who falls in love with her. The romantic relationship between the two warriors is tragic and results in the death of both. Penthesilea features contrapuntal writing, elaborate harmonic language and Leitmotif technique. The performance time is approximately 40 minutes.