Description

• Composer: Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890)
• Instrumentation: SATB Choir, Orchestra
• Work: Psyche (Cantata), Op. 60
• Binding:
• Work Language: German
• Size: 8.9 x 12.6 inches
• Pages: None

Description

Psyke (published in Germany as “Psyche”), a secular oratorio or concert opera—the composer rather ambiguously called it a Conzertstück—devolves upon aspects of a complex, often-told legend: that of Psyche and Eros. (Gade’s libretto alternates between Greek names, such as “Eros” for “Cupid,” and Roman names, such as “Venus” for “Aphrodite.”) Composed in 1882 for the Birmingham Festival in England, the completed work is masterful, yet today it may strike audiences as a bit too “Mendelssohnian” to be altogether distinctive. A careful listener will catch hints of Wagner’s earlier musical-dramatic style, but Gade remained throughout his life a conservative who usually clung to German models. To what extent he eschewed “local” musical influences in spite of friendships with Edvard Grieg and other Scandinavian artists remains a matter of contention. Certainly Gade never sought a reputation as a folkloric composer, nor has he been accepted as such outside Denmark.