SSATB, Soprano solo + Piano + Crotales

Performed at the Southwest ACDA Conference

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

Odysseus and the Sirens depicts the mythological wayfarer, Odysseus, as his ship approaches the island of the Sirens.  In Greek mythology, the Sirens (sometimes called “muses of the lower world”) were sea nymphs, part human/part bird.  The writer of this epic text, Homer, gives the number of the Sirens as two (represented in this musical setting by the oboe and the soprano solo). The story (narrated by the chorus) tells of mariners who attempted to sail by the island of the Sirens, but were lured to shore by the “honey-sweet” and sensuous tones (crotales).   In fact, no sailor had ever successfully passed without being secured, lured ashore – only to face their death.  Odysseus devises a plan to escape this fate.

Written for Dr. Trent Brown the choirs at Florida Gulf Coast University.