Tales of the Sun God

Movement 1 (The Contest) Apollo and Pan were great rivals. When King Midas attended a musical contest between the two deities, he offended Apollo by saying that Pan was the better musician. As punishment, Apollo gave Midas the ears of an ass, making the King the laughing stock of all his subjects. Movement 2 (The Laurel Tree) Daphne was a mountain nymph who spurned men, but was loved by Apollo. Urged on by Eros, the god of love, Apollo began his pursuit of Daphne. But, to escape him, she prayed to her father, the river Penius, and he turned her into a laurel tree. However, Apollo then decreed that a laurel garland should be the sign of success in the arts! Movement 3 (Cassandra’s Kiss) Cassandra was the most beautiful of the daughters of the Trojan king and queen, Priam and Hecuba. Such was her beauty that Apollo fell deeply in love with her and endowed Cassandra with the gift of prophecy. Later, however, she refused his advances. She agreed to give Apollo a single kiss, whereupon he removed the power of belief. Her trances were subsequently regarded as madness.

Performance notes Movement 1 (The Contest) The first section needs to build in intensity from the outset up until bar 29. The second section develops into the air of a triumphant march. Movement 2 (The Laurel Tree) This movement requires great control to keep it quiet yet rhythmically steady. Think ‘mist over a shimmering river with the tree breaking though the haze’! Bars 29 through to 35 form a brief but climatic passage concluded with a dramatic pause and leading to an even more delicate reprise of the initial melody. Movement 3 (Cassandra’s Kiss) At all times this movement requires energy and a sense of rhythmic drive and forward motion even though much of the melodic writing is legato. The closing section (from bar 131) should steadily build to a rousing finish.