Andrew Earle Simpson

Three Songs on Ancient Greek Lyrics (2002-03)

Instrumentation	mzo sop, fl, va, gt, perc (also available for reconstructed ancient instruments; also available for pno)
Text	Archilochus, Sappho, Alcaeus: English trans. by Sarah B. Ferrario
Duration	13'
Movements	3
Premiere (concert)	2/14/03, Goethe Institute, Athens, Greece
Performers	Lyraylos Ensemble
Commissioned by	Lyraylos Ensemble, Greek Composers Union
Recording	N/A
Publication	Composer
Performance History	2/03, Goethe Institute, Athens
pdf score samples (ancient inst vers)	1. Archilochus 2. Sappho 3. Alcaeus

Program Notes

Three Songs on Ancient Greek Lyrics is a cycle for mezzo-soprano and an ensemble of modern and reconstructed ancient instruments. Mr. Panayotis Stefos and the Greek Composers Union approached me in the fall of 2002 to write a work for Mr. Stefos’ trio, consisting of a mezzo-soprano and two instrumentalists, to be premiered at this concert.

The complete roster of ancient and modern instruments includes stringed instruments: large and small lyres and kithara, as well as modern violin and pandouris (in its modern form, best associated with bouzouki music). Wind instruments include the syrinx or pan-pipes and sea shell, and percussion instruments are the sistrum and crotales, both played by the soprano. A different assemblage of instruments is employed in each song. The first song, "Archilochus," is set for mezzo-soprano, small lyre, and syrinx (pan-pipes). "Sappho," the second song, calls for mezzo-soprano playing sistrum, kithara, and the modern violin. The final song, "Alcaeus," employs mezzo-soprano playing crotales, the pandouris, a large (or bass) lyre, and sea shell. The limited pitch content of the ancient instruments proved to be an especially interesting challenge in developing the songs’ harmonic language. In some cases, when chromatic notes are desired, the instrumentalist (both wind and string) is asked to bend pitches. The fully chromatic capabilities of the modern violin and pandouris allow a broader harmonic and melodic exploration in the second and third songs.

Three Songs on Ancient Greek Lyrics sets the work of three ancient lyric poets: Archilochus of Paros, Sappho of Mytilene, and Alcaeus of Mytilene. A new English translation of these poems, taken directly from the ancient Greek, was made especially for this piece by my wife, Sarah B. Ferrario.

The first poem, by Archilochus, concerns an eclipse of the sun. Having seen the overwhelming event of the sun eclipsed, the poet claims that nothing could possibly surprise him afterward. Beginning with an instrumental prelude, the syrinx sounds a simple melody, later taken up by the soprano. The mood of the song is initially quiet, awestruck. As the poet recalls the fear caused by the eclipse, however, the music becomes greatly more agitated, building in tempo and intensity to a strong climax. A very long melisma in the voice, beginning in the highest reaches of the mezzo-soprano’s range and descending to her low range, brings the piece back to the quiet mood of the beginning. The final section, similar to the first, sets the poet’s wonderful image of animals on land changing places with those in the sea. An instrumental postlude, again featuring the syrinx, brings the song to a quiet close. The tonal center of the song is A, although B has a competing importance: indeed, the song’s postlude initially favors B as tonal center, only to be brought to rest on A at the song’s conclusion.

A poem attributed to Sappho is set by the second song. This short poem, upon an initial reading, suggests gentle pastoral subjects: beautiful images of roses, apple groves, rippling water, and horses in flowering meadows adorn the poem. Beneath the surface of these lines, however, lies a powerful erotic tension. Sappho, the poet, summons Aphrodite, the goddess of love, asking her to come to her from Crete to join her in religious celebrations. Much of this poem’s imagery – for example, apples and horses – has erotic connotations in ancient lyric poetry. Thus, Sappho’s poem is less pastoral verse than sexually-charged seduction. The poem’s sensual energy and ritualistic images (temple, celebrations, golden cups) are evoked by a driving 7/8 and 5/8 metrical pattern which recurs throughout the song. The soprano’s sistrum, a percussion instrument similar in timbre to a tambourine, adds a further physical dimension to the seduction. (The sistrum later became associated with ecstatic and erotically-charged ancient cults such as that of Cybele; thus, the instrument is doubly appropriate). Two interruptions of gentler music briefly slow the onrush of the song, but are quickly subsumed. As the song progresses, the tempo becomes ever faster, as the poet becomes ever more fervent. The piece ends in a frenzy with soprano on high G and the instruments playing at their highest dynamics.

In another context, the third poem might have been set in a very different way than it was set in this cycle. However, Alcaeus’ poem, a true pastoral depicting the heat of summer, also treats sexual energy (in this case, the lack of it!). The third song, coming at the end of two relatively intense songs, is a bright and slightly naughty finale, a "humoresque" or "burlesque." An introduction depicts the calm, often oppressive stillness of summer afternoons, as occasional sounds from cicadas or woodpeckers punctuate the silence. Gradually, however, the music gathers momentum, and a triple meter begins to assert itself. A folk-like melody in g minor appears, which will become the song’s principal tune. It is initially heard as a bouzouki song, and acts as a refrain throughout the song. The music changes character to evoke first Italian operetta and then Beethoven’s more intense style, somewhat in the character of theme and variations.

To add further descriptive depth, the images of falling and wilting hinted at in the poem are evoked throughout in all of the instruments: listen for the pandouris’ falling tremolos (and its final tremolo!), the sea shell’s pitch bends, and the large lyre’s descending glissandi. This third movement, both poking fun at certain failings and inviting us to partake of life’s pleasures, provides a happy ending to the set, giving to Alcaeus’ ancient words a decidedly modern setting.