Songs of Orpheus and Izanagi
‘Songs of Orpheus and Izanagi’ is a recital developed as part of the Daiwa Foundation Scholarship for Anglo-Japanese cultural exchange, awarded alongside my collaborator and pianist Marie Otaka.
Together we created a multidisciplinary song recital that tells the myths of Oprpheus and Izanagi - two figures whose mythology shares remarkable parallels, despite developing in distinct cultural traditions and time periods - through a combination of Art Song, image and Poetry.
Seemingly disparate songs - English Song, Lute Song, Folksong, Lieder, Melodie and a new commission - are woven together under the narrative of these two characters.
This musical narrative is accompanied by a booklet that is based on a hybrid between the 14th C manuscript - ‘Roman De Fauvel’ - and Japanese Manga, designed to be both a programme and a guide through the recital.
In ‘Roman De Fauvel’, the story is told through the integration of Music, Image, and Text, and it is only when experiencing the three simultaneously that the tale is fully understood.
This booklet is designed to fulfil the same function; that the original poetry, selected images from across time, and the various musical settings of each poem will all combine to tell the myths of Orpheus and Izanagi.
Below live recordings from Tokyo accompany the images.
