Prelude and Demeter’s Scena from Mysteries of Eleusis

Prelude and Scena for soprano and orchestra combines two excerpts from my opera Mysteries of Eleusis. The opera is based on a myth that has terrifying resonance in her time: Persephone, the daughter of the Greek goddess of the harvest, Demeter, has been abducted by Hades, the Lord of the Dead. In her grief, the grieving goddess, whose name is equivalent to “Earth-Mother”, refuses to replenish the planet, and famine threatens to end all life on earth.

The Prelude opens with a sorrowful oboe melody, which will be sung by Demeter at the end of her Scena. In the prelude the timpani enter softly, bringing in the rest of the orchestra, which expands on the opening melody and lead to a harsh, climactic outburst. The opening returns at full strength, builds to an even greater climax, and then gradually dies away into a despairing close.

Demeter’s Scena is the long solo she sings after she dismisses her worshippers, have unsuccessful in begging for her mercy. Alone, Demeter recalls her grief for her child and for her failure to save her. She relives what she believes is the rape of her child by Hades. Finally, exhausted, she ends in despair, recalling that “no one, none of the gods felt compassion” for the anguish of her child. An old woman, she has “left the gods, crushed, wasting away in longing for my daughter, who is gone”

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