Elysian Fields

Description

Flute — Commissioned by the James Pappoutsakis Memorial FundComposed in PhiladelphiaJanuary-February 1994First performed April 17, 1994 at John Jacob Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA by the finalists in the James Pappoutsakis Memorial Competition:Janelle Olson DiBiase, Lisa Hennessy, Megan Maiorana, and Helen Richman. PART ONE: . . . the lyre gave forth some mournful notesPART TWO: . . . The poet’s shade fled beneath the earthPART THREE: . . . and, seeking through the blessed fields, found EurydiceThe mourning birds wept for thee, Orpheus, the throng of beasts, the flinty rocks, and the trees which hadso often gathered to thy songs; yes, the trees shed their leaves as if so tearing their hair in grief for thee. Theysay that the rivers also were swollen with their own tears, and that naiads and dryads alike mourned withdisheveled hair and with dark-bordered garments. The poet’s limbs lay scattered all around; but his headand lyre, O Hebrus, thou didst receive, and (a marvel!) while they floated in mid-stream the lyre gave forthsome mournful notes, mournfully the lifeless tongue murmured, mournfully the banks replied. And now,borne onward to the sea, they left their native stream . . .. . . The poet’s shade fled beneath the earth, and recognized all the places he had seen before; and, seekingthrough the blessed fields, found Eurydice and caught her in his eager arms. Here now side by side theywalk; now Orpheus follows her as she precedes, now goes before her, now may in safety look back uponhis Eurydice.—from Ovid’s METAMORPHOSES, Book XI, translated by Frank Justus Miller, 1916 Elysian Fields is a fantasy on themes from Gluck’s “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” — one of the“greatest hits” in the flute repertoire, and a favorite of Mr. Pappoutsakis — from the opera Orfeo ed Euridice.The narrative flow of the music is drawn from the reunion of Orpheus and his beloved Eurydice in thefields of Elysium, the mythological dwelling place of virtuous people after death. Today the word “Elysium”describes a place or condition of ideal bliss or complete happiness — in short, paradise.— Robert Maggio