Lamentations of a Phoenix
Program Notes:
The legend of the Phoenix exists in many cultures however it is the Arabic version that most people are familiar with. The Arabian phoenix was a bird, said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Making its home near a cool well, the Phoenix would appear at dawn every morning to sing a song so enchanting that even the great sun god Apollo would stop to listen. After several thousand years the bird would make a nest that would be set ablaze, the phoenix would then be engulfed in the flames and would later be reborn from its ashes.
I often wonder what that melodious song would sound like. I think after the thousands of years it spent living and seeing all the pain and beauty in the world that its song may be beautiful but also filled with sadness, and this piece hopes to capture that idea.