ORPHEUS WITH HIS LUTE

I’m about to fly off to Greece next week to tend to some family business, and my mind is turning towards some of the Greek mythology that permeated my childhood reading as my mother attempted to inundate me with the history of my Greek heritage growing up.

Orpheus mosaic at Dominican Museum, Rottweil, Germany, 2nd c. AD

In particular, my mind is drifting towards the Orpheus myth. According to the Greek legend, Orpheus was a fantastically talented musician and singer, and thus his story has been a big draw for many composers throughout the centuries. The most famous part of his tale is that on the day he wed the beautiful Eurydice, she fell upon a nest of snakes who bit her, fatally wounding her with their venom. Upon her death on what should have been the most joyous day of their lives together, Orpheus sang songs so beautiful that the the gods themselves wept. As he sang his songs, he resolved to follow Eurydice to the Underworld, in an attempt to bring her back to the land of the living with him. Upon his descent into the land of the dead, though his music, Orpheus was able to persuade Hades (or Pluto, depending on who is telling the story) to allow him to lead Eurydice back - on the condition that he not turn around and look at her while she followed him out of the Underworld.

Composers and librettists throughout history have varied the ending of the fable from here, but in the most traditional tellings, the tale ends in tragedy: Orpheus panics that he has been tricked by Hades, and he turns around to see Eurydice one last time before she vanishes back into the realm of the dead forever.

My first musical allusion to this story is from a hot Chicago day in the summer of 2021 with lutenist Brandon Acker. Brandon and I got together to film a few lute songs, and this beautiful tune by John Banister (1630-1679) was a revelation. It was a beautiful take on Orpheus' mourning of his lost Eurydice that was completely unfamiliar to me, and I was so grateful to Brandon for introducing me to it.

My next Orpheus memory is with @jeremydenkpiano and cellist Amos Yang as part of one of San Francisco Symphony's SoundBox performances that was filmed during the pandemic lockdown.

This moment is from Claudio Monteverdi's iconic opera based on the Orpheus myth, and is the moment when Orpheus (Orfeo) resolves to follow Eurydice down to the underworld. The piece was part of a beautiful and moving program curated by Jeremy for SoundBox called "Delirium", which wove together musical moments that explored states of sorrow and healing from composers across the ages. An incredible aspect of the experience filming this snippet of Monteverdi was watching Jeremy play two (!) instruments at the same time. Jeremy is among the most brilliant musicains I've ever met, and it was astounding to make music with him as he effortlessly negotiated both an organ and harpsichord simultaneously.