| Description |
“Two Rivers” (from Lethe to Mnemosyne) for mezzo soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2008)
I. Lethe, the Water of Oblivion
a. The Guardians
b. Night Procession and Lament
II. Mnemosyne, the Water of Remembrance
a. Invocation
b. Incantation
The work is written between September and December 2008 for mezzo soprano Angelica Cathariou and the Greek Ensemble of Contemporary Music under Valery Oreshkin. It is based on an excerpt of an ancient greek funerary inscription of 4th century B.C. found at the Trofonius Oracle in Petilia, South Italy.
"Γης παις ειμί και ουρανού, αστερόεντος. Αυτάρ εμοί γένος ουράνιον, τόδε ίστε και αυτοί. Δίψηι δ’ειμί αύη και απόλλυμαι, αλλά δότ’ αίψα ψυχρόν ύδωρ προρρέον της Μνημοσύνης από λίμνης."
(I am a child of earth and starry sky. My origin is celestial, and you know it very well. I am burning thurst and I loose myself. But give me soon cool water, springs from Lake Mnemosyne.)
The text, which is being set at the 2nd part of the work, is an invocation of the soul descending to Hades to the guardians of lake Mnemosyne, to allow keeping its memory alive to the next life. Privilege, under tradition, of the initiate souls, counter to that of lake Lethe which led them to eternal oblivion.
The two parts of the composition are the equivalent to the watery - metaphysical element of the two lakes - rivers running across Hades. The work is dedicated to the memory of composer's father Ioannis Theodossiou (1917 - 2008) and has been performed by Angelica Kathariou and the Greek Ensemble of Contemporary Music under Valery Oreshkin at "Ph. Nakas" Concert Hall, Athens, in 2009. |