‘Transforming Early Greek Lyrics’ (Michael Parsons)

Michael Parsons was a classical scholar at St. John’s College Oxford (1957-61), and went on to study composition at the Royal College of Music in the 1960s. After thirty years of involvement in experimental and avant-garde music, he rediscovered his earlier interest in Ancient Greek literature, with settings of choruses from Greek tragedy and lyrics by Sappho, Alkman, Bacchylides, Pindar and others. The music of these settings, although closely related to the metrical and accentuation patterns of the original texts, is not intended to imitate or restore characteristics of Ancient Greek music. It aims rather to transpose the lyrics into a different context and to suggest their continuing interest and relevance. The lyrics are reinterpreted in the light of the polyphonic and harmonic resources of European music since the Renaissance. Michael Parsons will discuss his approach to Ancient Greek texts, with reference to the changed context in which they are represented.

‘Musico-Poetics in Cross-Cultural Perspective: The ‘China-Europe-Japan’ Triangle’‘ (John Lam)

Abstract to follow

Title TBC (Jane Alden)

Abstract to follow