The human race has always been fascinated with looking up and interpreting the night sky. Gods were made, stories were told, and legends were born from the alignment of the stars. People from all civilizations connected what they saw in the skies to what they experienced on earth.
Composer John Fischer takes us on a journey through the skies tovisit some of these stories, with the tale of Perseus the Destroyer, Aquila the Eagle, and Orion the Hunter. The stars come to life as these stories unfold while we gaze upon the stars.
Difficulty - Medium Easy Grade - 2.5
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION - No rights required.
Mvt. I - Perseus the Destroyer
The son of a mortal woman and of the god Zeus, the demigod is one of the most most heroic and celebrated heroes in Greek mythology. A brave warrior, he was sent to fetch the head of Medusa, a tall task that slayed many men before him as they were petrified with her gaze. He accomplished this feat while averting his eyes from her gaze and returned to claim his kingdom. On his way home he freed the princess Andromeda from being a sacrifice as he slayed the sea beast.
Mvt. II - Aquila the Eagle
In Greek mythology, Aquila is identified as the eagle that carried Zeus’ thunderbolts and was once dispatched by the god to carry Ganymede, the young Trojan boy Zeus desired, to Olympus to be the cup bearer of the gods. In another myth, Aquila represents Aphrodite disguised as an eagle, pretending to pursue Zeus in the form of a swan, so that Zeus’ love interest, the goddess Nemesis, would give him shelter. In the story, Zeus later placed the images of the eagle and the swan among the stars to commemorate the event.
Mvt. III - Orion the Hunter
In Greek mythology, the hunter Orion was the most handsome of men. The son of the sea god Poseidon, he is exceptionally tall and armed with an unbreakable bronze club. In myth, Orion fell in love with the Pleiades, the seven sisters, daughters of Atlas. He started pursuing them and Zeus scooped them up and placed them in the sky. Orion can still be seen chasing the sisters across the sky at night.