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Actaeon
1997
solo cello
2 horns
10 violins
4 violas
4 cellos
2 doublebasses
duration 23'
first performance:
Joseph Elworthy with Metamorphosen, cond. Scott Yoo
Jordan Hall, Boston / October 5, 1997
RECORDING—first performance
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SCORE
The Chase
The Sacred Grove
Metamorphosis—The Hunt—The Death of Actaeon
Actaeon is a programmatic work; an imaginary ballet, the story from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Actaeon was a renowned hunter who, with his company of men and pack of hounds, had spent a hot summer morning hunting in the mountains. Taking his rest, strolling through woodland, he arrives at a dark valley of pine and cypress. In the center of this valley is a secret grotto sacred to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Actaeon by chance finds himself in Artemis' grove and sees her bathing. Attendant nymphs try to shield her and Artemis, unable to find her bow and quiver throws water in Actaeon's face. Horns sprout from his forehead, his neck stretches, his arms turn to legs and he is transformed into a stag. His own hounds come 'baying over cliffs and crags' and pursue him. Actaeon is cornered and torn to death while his companions,not knowing the stag to be their friend, call for him to join them in the kill.
This work has three continuous sections; The Chase: boisterous 6/8 music, full of horn calls, gaining in intensity as the kill nears; The Sacred Grove: pastoral, full of birdsong and rustling leaves, turning colder as the grotto is reached; and The Hunt: relentless speedy string writing, framed by a prologue, Metamorphosis—aggressive music, in which Artemis curses and transforms Actaeon; and an epilogue, The Death of Actaeon—harsh and unsentimental, befitting a story in which there is no moral except perhaps that nature (i.e. Artemis) just is; caring nothing for our feelings of fair-play, morality, culpability, our explanations, our excuses, or our entreaties.
REVIEW
Commissioned to write a new piece for Metamorphosen, the prolific, Welsh-born, Boston-based Andy Vores gave the group a brilliant metamorphosis. His Actaeon, for strings, two horns, and cello solo, is inspired by the story of the hunter who stumbles upon the goddess Diana naked in her bath, is changed into a stag, and killed by his own hounds. Vores’ teeming imagination brought forth an almost cinematic piece. Hunters’ horns call from different locations; birds flutter, nymphs shriek; ravening hounds chase the panting stag in a truly hair-raising final scene, which the band played with maniacal frenzy. The extraordinary cellist Joseph Elworthy took the role of narrator, playing with bardic drama and intensity, moving from wild A-string squeals to Diana's voluptuous lyricism and Actaeon's final agonies. Here is a consummate instrumentalist with visions in his head and passion in his heart.
Susan Larson • The Boston Globe