Piano Solo - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.930541 Composed by Evan Schwartzman. 20th Century,Contemporary. Score. 35 pages. Evan Schwartzman #4767227. Published by Evan Schwartzman (A0.930541). Four pieces for solo piano on mythological themes. The four pieces are: Voyage to Cythera, Circe’s Palace, Sirens, and Erinyes, the Mist Walker. I. Voyage to Cythera (ΚÏθηÏα) describes a sea voyage to the home of Aphrodite. The music captures some of the intense ambivalence of Baudelaire’s poem of the same title, alternating between feelings of expectation and dread. II. Circe’s Palace describes Odysseus’ crew coming upon the enchantress Circe (ΚίÏκη) in her stone palace, sitting at her loom. She invites them to a feast, where she drugs them and transforms them into swine. III. Sirens (ΣειÏῆνας) also paints a scene from the Odyssey. The Sirens were sea nymphs who would entice sailors to their deaths through their seductive singing. When Odysseus and his men draw near to the Sirens, he orders them to stuff their ears with beeswax so that they cannot hear clearly. Odysseus has himself bound to the mast of his ship, so that he can hear the song without risking his life. IV. The Erinyes (ΕÏινυες) were an early Greek form of the Roman Furies. They were chthonic deities, born from the blood shed by Uranus when he was castrated by Cronus. Their role was to punish men and women who had broken natural law, usually by driving their victims mad. The piece opens with the victim wandering about in mist, after which he is set upon and torn to pieces in a frenzy.
