Alan Mills - The Birth of Orpheus

Composed in 2003, setting a text specially written by poet and essayist Peter Davison, this piece considers the arrival of Orpheus into the world. Since Orpheus is generally believed to have been the first creator or music and poetry, the work also ponders on the origins of the creative impulse - and on what drives certain people to produce words or music in the first place. Musically this work derives from, and is particularly influenced by, certain solo canatas from the baroque era.
Instrumentation: Mezzo Soprano and String quartet