Instrumentation

guitar

Duration

7 Minutes

Commission

3rd EuroStrings Composition Competition 2021

Short Synopsis

This work is a ritual intended to honor the ancient Greek deity Dionysus, whose cult spread throughout Southern Europe and Asia Minor at least as early as 1600 BC, flourishing there until the 7th century AD – while his mysteries and image were transformed through Roman-Byzantine cultural appropriation and adaptation.

Over time, numerous forms of worship arose with the goal of honoring Dionysus. These ranged from the formal, state-sanctioned ceremonies of the Dionysia in classical Athens to the wild occultism of the Dionysian Mysteries in the 5th century BC. Although the exact form and structure of these ritual mysteries – if indeed there were fixed rites – have been lost over time, we know from reports that many were centered around cyclical themes like death and rebirth, and often represented deliberate inversions of the commonly practiced religious ceremonies of the time. For example, while most ceremonies of the time were held publicly and in daylight, the Dionysian Mysteries often took place far from public spaces, usually in the dead of night.

These mysteries were also notorious for their use of intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques, meant to loosen inhibitions and overcome societal constraints, thereby liberating the individual and returning them to a natural state of being. Dionysus himself, although known under many names in ancient Greece, was also synonymously called Eleutherios ("the Liberator") – for even marginalized groups within Greek society: women, poor men, slaves, outcasts, and non-citizens were allowed to participate in these ritual acts.

It is this later tradition to which my own Dionysian Mystery refers. Here is a rough outline of a ritual from that time – and although some sections are purely symbolic and carry only structural meaning within the work (such as marking the transition from one section to the next, representing the cyclical nature of death and rebirth, etc.), other sections should be understood more like a tone poem and ideally performed as such: as a sonic representation of an environment or action.

Although, as already mentioned, this work is a rough approximation of a ritual from the 5th century BC, it was never intended as a reconstruction of the soundscape of that time or a historically authentic performance. Rather, this work should be understood as a modern interpretation of the Dionysian Mysteries – detached from metaphysical questions – written to honor and perpetuate certain aspects of the Dionysian character that are sorely lacking in our present-day world.

Although this modern ritual can be performed anywhere and at any time, it should ideally begin deep in a secluded forest on a warm midsummer evening, at twilight, and in the company of no more than 50 people. And when the seal has been cast, the scent of fermented grapes is in the air, and the wind rustles through the trees, one might quietly hear the voice of Eleutherios, heralding the birth of a new world.

PDF of the Synopsis

Performance rights

Sean Robert Silva

kontakt@seansilva.de

(+49) 157 325 289 57

Lessingstraße 28

76135 Karlsruhe

Deutschland

© Copyright 2021 by Sean Robert Silva