Oboe teacher suggested that I do three of Britten's Six Metamorphoses After Ovid in my degree recital programme. She recommended numbers 1, 4 and 6 (Pan, Bacchus and Arethusa).
Lesson on friday afternoon went like this:
Teacher: See the first phrase here? It's like a sigh. And the second one after that? That's more of a whine. A lament. Pan's lamenting because Syrinx turned into a reed flute.
Me: Uh, okay. *tries to play following her direction*
Teacher: And here its as though he has fits or something. He's sobbing really badly.
-a while later-
Teacher:Honestly, having his lover turned into a reed flute! How pathetic that must be! Now they can't go for walks in the forest or sit by the fountain, and he can only play on her. She can't even respond!
Me: *starts giggling*
Teacher: Oh, come on! Imagine your boyfriend turned into a teapot...
Me: *bursts into a fit of laughter*
Seriously, the ludicrousness of it all!
Later on, when we were working on Bacchus, teacher was walking around the room acting like a drunkard, trying to help me interpret the music. That only made me laugh even more. Gosh, I so love my oboe teacher. (:
Baccheus - you mean his birth or the part where Pentheus is eaten by his mom?
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I'm really not sure. On the work the description given is:
ReplyDeleteBacchus - at whose feasts is heard the noise of gaggling women's tattling tongues and shouting out of boys.
I think he was also known as Dionysus, the god of wine.
You tell me! (: How's everything over in Deutschland?
Ah, but Pan's love wasn't returned! He was chasing her when she turned into reeds, didn't she? Maybe I'm wrong ...?
ReplyDeleteI always play it as if Pan has put together this pan pipe and, at the beginning, is just figuring it out. By then end he's got it all down. So the first tentative notes is a "Hmm. How does this work?" At then end he just gives up ... those last three notes ... kind of like an "oh well." Because that's Pan for you. ;-)
It's always fun to hear about other people's different interpretations!
Yes, Bacchus = Dionysios, that much i know. In Ovid's Metamorphoses there are two big parts covering him.
ReplyDeleteYou know, if you have the time for it, you should read the Metamorphoses...would help you to further your interpretation too haha
Yes, and why do boys shout...it's because the womenfolk are attacking them! Bacchus is the god of wine and all that is irrational, which is why performances used to be under the cult of Dionysios or Bacchus. One is Greek, the other Roman.
Even Orpheus was killed by the Bacchae (note the feminine) because he was so pretty, but he rejected all women after losing Eurydice at his wedding.
ReplyDeleteOrpheus went to Hell and charmed Persephone, who allowed Eurydice to follow him back to Earth, granted he not look back. But he did, and Eurydice was lost forever.
Patty: Haha, interesting interpretation there! Mine roughly goes along the lines of whining, crying, lamenting. After which he becomes hysterical, and then pounds on the floor, and hiccups (the repeated A#s). Then at the end he decides its all not worth it, so the last part is something like "Ah, whatever. I'll just go find myself another girl." :P
ReplyDeleteGuojun: Wow! i never knoew. Thanks! (: The part about Orpheus and Eurydice reminds me of a Purcell Opera I studied ages ago :P And, if the boys were shouting because the womenfolk attacked them, it doesn't seem to fit in the music at all! Funny. (I'm assuming this to be the allegro molto part, correct me if i'm wrong, Patty!) I'll definitely read the Metamorphoses when I've got time (: