Classical Music | Music for Flute

Recorded on 05/09/2009, uploaded on 09/22/2011

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Syrinx was composed in 1913 as incidental music for Gabriel Mourey’s unfinished play Pysché. The piece was originally entitled Flûte de Pan, but this title was already taken by the first of the Chansons de Bilitis composed over a decade earlier in 1900-01. Debussy, therefore, gave it is present title, named for the nymph which Pan amorously pursues. In the legend, Syrinx, known for her chastity, repeatedly refuses Pan’s advances and in an effort to escape him is turned into a water reed. Not knowing which reed his love turned into, Pan cuts several of them, including the one which Syrinx became, and fashioned out of them his set of pan pipes, named for her and which Pan was afterwards seldom ever seen without.

Debussy chose a lone flute to depict Pan’s plaintive tune following the loss of Syrinx, adding a strong poignancy and realism to the music. It was the first prominent solo piece written for the instrument since the days of C. P. E. Bach, as well as the first for the modern Böhm flute which was perfected in 1847. A staple of the repertoire, Syrinx also was particularly influential on later solos written for the flute. With the absence of an accompaniment, the soloist is given tremendous latitude in terms of expression and bringing to life Pan’s melancholy performance. The work also brings to mind the composer’s Prelude à l'après midi d'un faune, also written as a depiction of Pan’s amorous adventures.      Joseph DuBose