Pyramus and Thisbe

Pyramus and Thisbe was created for an Erasmus Intensive Programme and first performed on 4 July 2014 in the Solti Hall of the Liszt Academy in Budapest by students from several European conservatories, conducted by Nicolas Taboulot. Based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses in David Raeburn’s English translation, it is written for three actors and a small ensemble; most of the text is spoken, although the actors sing near the end. Only death can reunite Thisbe with her beloved, and her death transforms nature itself: the mulberry tree’s snow-white fruit turns blood-red. The drama moves along the fragile boundary between madness and a recovered form of lucidity. Three transformed thematic ideas—atmosphere, the tree and death—shape the music, while the bassoonist embodies the lion through multiphonics. Overlapping layers and gradual fades make the tree’s transformation the central musical event.