Three Myths by dowcarpenter

Each movement of this work is based on a Greek myth, as summarized below (freely adapted from Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths):

I. Narcissus

The handsome youth Narcissus saw his own image in a pool of water, and fell in love with himself. He was so enamored that he forgot to eat or drink, and eventually faded away, leaving behind a beautiful flower. The nymph Echo, who had loved him from afar, grieved his death until she too faded away, with only her voice remaining, forever repeating the words of others.

II. Sisyphus

Sisyphus, king of Corinth, having frustrated the god Zeus in his pursuit of Aegina, daughter of Asopus, and tricking Hades into letting him return to world of the living, was finally condemned to push a boulder to the top of a hill, only to see it fall down the other side. He would push the boulder up the hill again, and see it fall, continuing his labor for eternity.

III. Apollo and Daphne

Apollo, the god of music, fell in love with the nymph Daphne and chased her through a forest. Terrified, she sought to escape from him, and called out to her father, the river-god Ladon, who transformed her into a beautiful laurel tree. Having lost Daphne, Apollo took some twigs from the tree and made a crown for himself, so as to remember the nymph he loved.

Pascal Gallois, bassoon

Recorded live in concert
October 2008
Boyer College of Music, Temple University
Philadelphia, PA