Todd adapted Nobel winner Knut Hamsun's 1894 novella Pan as an evening-length solo song-cycle for composer Andy Vores.
Panic explores themes of solitude, longing and madness as it tells the story of a newcomer to an isolated mountain town, his entanglements with its taciturn women, the sacrifice of his dog, and the madness that's unleashed.
The "one man opera" premiered in May 2014 by Florestan Recital Project, in collaboration with University of Minnesota’s School of Music: Aaron Engebreth, baritone and Alison d’Amato, pianist. More here.
It was Todd's first text for musical setting.
Todd took a vague suggestion and crafted a stunningly varied,
focused, nuanced, and contained set of poems. For a composer, they were ideal;
wonderful to set to music — full of allusions and moods. Turning Hamsun’s complicated protagonist and dreamlike, ambiguous story into this sequence of 34 poems
is impressive enough, for them to be so eminently ‘settable’ too—a gift!
— Andy Vores, composer
Deconstructing the narrative, characters, and settings of a novel, and setting it for a solo vocal performance, was one of the most challenging literary projects I've ever tackled. Hearing the work through multiple rehearsals and performances, I learned a lot about how lyrics and music work together to create tensions and develop ideas. I'm immensely grateful to Andy Vores for the collaboration. This project made me want to work with other composers.
