Seattle Collaborative Orchestra: Becoming Medusa - Stacy Garrop скачать в хорошем качестве

Seattle Collaborative Orchestra: Becoming Medusa - Stacy Garrop

Seattle Collaborative Orchestra - https://www.seattlecollaborativeorche... Conductor - Yuchi Chou May 13, 2025 Stacy Garrop (b. 1969) is a celebrated American composer whose music is distinguished by its vivid storytelling and emotional depth. Her diverse body of work spans orchestra, opera, oratorio, wind ensemble, choral music, art song, and chamber ensembles of all sizes. Among her most compelling compositions is Mythology Symphony, a five-movement orchestral work that reimagines the legendary tales of iconic women from Greek mythology. The symphony opens with Becoming Medusa (mvt. 1), a haunting and evocative portrayal of Medusa’s transformation, not as the monstrous Gorgon of popular imagination, but as a tragic figure undone by divine wrath. Rather than leaning into the trope of Medusa as a fearsome creature, Garrop paints her as a victim of fate, cursed by Athena after a fateful encounter with Poseidon. At the heart of the movement is a solo violin, whose lyrical, tender lines evoke Medusa’s former beauty and humanity. These melodies emerge from a dissonant, foreboding introduction, hinting at the tragedy to come. As the music unfolds the violin's voice is gradually overtaken by the orchestra, portraying Medusa’s seduction, betrayal, and ultimate transformation. Swirling textures in the strings, woodwinds, and percussion evoke the twisting serpents of her hair, while jagged, dissonant harmonies suggest the petrifying power of her gaze. You can hear musical connections to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and to Strauss’s Salome, two works that, like Becoming Medusa, center around the figure of a young woman who is destroyed by the forces around her. The title itself captures the essence of the movement: not simply a transformation, but a loss of identity, beauty, and agency, becoming something feared, yet never fully understood. Program notes by Mica Weiland, viola