Description
Pan
Composed by Alex Ford
for solo flute
Published by Alry Publications
Synopsis:
On Arcadia's cold mountain slopes among the wood nymphs,
one was the most celebrated: Syrinx.
Pan, whose head was crowned with a wreath of sharp pine shoots
saw her coming from Mount Lycaeus and spoke to her.
The nymph, unable to fully understand Pan's words and frightened by his visage, ran.
Pan, enamoured and earnest, chased Syrinx through all the forest –
catching sight of her for moments between the trees.
She came to the calm waters of Ladon and could run no further.
As Pan rushed to finally embrace her, Syrinx prayed for the sisters of the stream to change her.
Pan, threw himself into an embrace, but opened his eyes to see only water reeds.
There he sighed.
The wind, moving through the reeds, gave a clear plaintive sound.
Pan fashioned the reeds into different lengths and bound them together with wax.
In this way, tragically, he had a way of communication with Syrinx at last.
– from Ovid's “Metamorphoses“
Program Notes:
Many of the versions of this myth describe Pan as lustful, painting him as the image of carnal desire against purity and virtue. Upon further study of the metamorphoses, and the various possible translations, I felt the version I've written above makes, at least, for a more theatrical telling of the story.
The piece is told through the eyes of Pan, getting glimpses of Syrinx through the trees. The marking Con Fuoco is for the performer to capture Pan in a frenetic panic. All of the whole bar rests can be stretched or truncated as the performer sees fit to best tell the story.