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The Discontents of OrpheusThe Discontents of Orpheus (2007) a lament for unaccompanied husband for solo violin or viola duration: 10 minutes 30 seconds full recording
Program Notes The Orpheus myth has lots of endings. In the most familiar tellings, those by Virgil and Ovid for example, the legend ends tragically: the singer loses Eurydice forever and then endures a horrible death at the hands of the Maenads. Most operas on the other hand, alter the story so that it has a somewhat happier conclusion. In works by Rossi, Gluck, and Offenbach, Orpheus is exalted by the Gods, reunited with Eurydice on earth, or at least consoled for his sufferings by Apollo. There are many different reasons—artistic, musical, social, and sometimes even personal—that explain why the ending is frequently changed. The summer I wrote this solo work for violist Peter Sulski I saw Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Glimmerglass Opera with a staging that wallowed in emo ennui. It made me think about a this composition as lamentation that presented an alternative ending: Orpheus and Eurydice are forced to settle with a long–distance, commuting relationship – something I have some experience with. The work expresses Orpheus’s complaint with his fate: the sadness of separation from his beloved and the exhilaration of reunification. The form and language of the work harken back to the Baroque, a reference both to the golden age of Orpheus operas and to my work with Peter recording the complete Bach Cello Suites for viola. The electronics represent the figure of Eurydice. Rather than a literal presence, she appears here as Orpheus's memory,
September 21, 2008 October 17, 2008 October 18, 2008 September 11, 2010
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