syrinx rhapsody (ssaatb)
- Catalog ID: S-352
- Composer: Victor Paranjoti/arr. By Coomi Wadia
- Voicing: ssaatb
- Accompaniment: a cappella
- Country: India
- Series: Music Of Asia And The Pacific
- Other: MAP, new for 2011
- Score: View Score
- Sound: Listen
Description
This piece was never performed in Paranjoti’s lifetime. The first performance was conducted by Coomi Wadia, Paranjoti’s successor as conductor of the Paranjoti Academy Chorus. Similar in its character to the immensely popular Dravidian Dithyramb (S-42 satb; S-179 ssaa; M-24 ttbb), the Rhapsody is conceived as a very expressive and highly rhythmic piece built on whole tones and a phonetic text, The narrative element of the piece has mythological origins. The chaste nymph Syrinx was pursued by the crude and goatish Pan from Mount Lycaeum to the banks of the mythical Ladon River. Here she was turned into a clump of reeds by the Naiades in the nick of time. Noticing that the wind passing over the reeds produced a pleasant sound, Pan cut the bundle and made it into a musical instrument—pan pipes.