Voices from the Ancient World

Voices from the Ancient World by Thea Musgrave
For 3 flutes and percussion
– Flute 1: doubling alto flute,piccolo, bamboo (or wooden) wind chimes, sleigh bells, crotales (D and E flat)
– Flute 2: doubling piccolo, glass wind chimes
– Flute 3: doubling piccolo, (preset offstage: cowbells played with a woodenmallet, metal wind chimes)
– Percussion: (one player) marimba played with a felt mallet, suspended cymbals (three sizes), temple blocks (four sizes), side drum, tomtoms (four sizes), tambourine, crotales (two octave set), small and large triangles
Duration: 15 minutes

I. EOS: The Goddess of the Dawn, who travelled on the winds and sprinkled down dew upon the earth.
II. PAN: The God of the countryside, of flocks, shepherds and animals, a famous player of the syrinx, or pan pipes, – the shepherd's pipe.
III. BOREAS: The God of the North Windwho had two faces – one facing where he was going, the other from whence he came. He was the male counterpart to Eos.
IV. CIRCE: The enchantress who changed men into beasts. Ulysses was given a sprig from a certain plant by Hermes which allowed him to resist her charms.
V. PANDORA: When Pandora was created by Zeus, he ordered all the Gods to endow her with some of their attributes. She was also given a box, but forbidden to open it. Her curiosity about its contents overwhelmed her – she opened it and all the evils of the world flew out. Too late she closed, but she managed to prevent the escape of Hope.
VI. SELENE: The Goddess of the Moon who drives across the night sky in her chariot to visit the sleeping Endymion.