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Score
Mythweaver : for soprano and piano / Kevin March ; based on the poetry of Sappho.
Library shelf no. 783.66542/MAR 2 [Not for loan]
Score
Voice of Australia : Volume II / compiled by Wendy Dixon and David Miller.
Library shelf no. 783.2542/VOI 1 [Not for loan]
Display all products featuring this work (1 more) 
Work Overview
The poetry of Sappho has come to us, down through the centuries, primarily through three means: 1) one complete poem, 2) fragments surviving on papyrus, and 3) citation by other authors in instances where the original has been otherwise lost. We know also of a few other lost works which were mentioned by other writers but not quoted, leaving us with the knowledge of their existence but nothing of their content.
In the case of the poetic fragments, some poems, such as The Moon
has Set, are nearly complete, missing only a few lines, while
others are so fragmented as to contain only a few lines, a few
words, or in some cases only a single word.
The poetry in this cycle is drawn from citations (Stars Around
the Full Moon and Lady Dawn) and fragments (Beautiful Things).
Two of the texts (The Moon Has Set, and Sweet Oil) are the result
of combining citations with fragmentary texts of similar theme
and tone. The brackets indicate places where the text has been
lost.
In composing Mythweaver, I wanted to find a way of depicting
these lost words, or to put it another way, this voice whose
words have been lost. Wanting neither to simply ignore the gaps
in the text nor to force upon the singer and listener text that
wasn't Sappho's, I sought a third option. In several places I
wrote new text to replace the lost text and set this text to
music along with the rest of the poem. Once finished, I removed
the text from the music, leaving the singer to wordlessly voice
the sentiment of the poem. Though unsung, the added text appears
in italics as a reference to assist the singer in conveying the
overall tone of the poem. The singer has the option of performing
the non-word syllables in the score as they are written or they
may choose to use other appropriate syllables.
Work Details
Year: 2010
Instrumentation: Soprano, piano.
Duration: 12 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Contents note: I. Stars around the full moon -- II. The moon has set -- III. Sweet oil -- IV. Beautiful things -- V. Lady dawn -- VI. Yes! Radiant lyre!
First performance: by Judith Dodsworth, Stefan Cassomenos at Sappho's Butterflies (Melbourne Recital Centre, Primrose Potter Salon) on 9 Apr 2014
Subjects
- In the form/style of: Song Cycles
Performances of this work
9 Apr 2014: at Sappho's Butterflies (Melbourne Recital Centre, Primrose Potter Salon). Featuring Judith Dodsworth, Stefan Cassomenos.
22 Aug 2013: at Synaesthesia Triple Bill at Mudfest 2013 (Union House Theatre, University of Melbourne).
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