ii. (Orféiade)
from [Orfeas-zyklus]
large orchestra, ca. 7'.

In Striggio the Younger’s libretto to Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Charon speaks the words:

O tu ch’innanzi morte a queste rive
Temerario ten vieni, arresta i passi:
Solcar quest’onde ad huom mortal non dassi,
Ne può co’morti albergo aver chi vive.

(O thou who before thy time to these shores comest,
most audacious of men, nor stay'st thy footsteps,
these gloomy waters no mortal man may traverse,
nor with the dead consort him he who liveth.)

Orfeo responds with the tremendous “Possente Spirto” aria, the only of its duration and sheer gravity in Orfeo. ii. is merely another echo, like those from “Possente Spirto”.

Premiere: Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Borden Auditorium.
Year: 2014
Audio: