META(M)ORPHEUS

Morpheus was the Greek god of dreams. His father Hypnos was the god of sleep. Morpheus was able to transform himself into the likeness of any human being and most often appeared in dreams as the sleeper’s beloved.

Orpheus was another Greek mythological figure and was one of the most renowned of the singers and poets of Antiquity; he was also regarded as one of the gods of music. The powers that his literally magical voice possessed were so great that he could not only bring his rough and ready contemporaries closer to civilisation but also tame the wild beasts in the forest; he could even breathe life into and then enrapture inanimate Nature herself.

Girolamo Frescobaldi brought his two volumes of Arie Musicali to publication in Florence in 1630 and distanced himself from Caccini’s purely narrative madrigals by so doing. Frescobaldi brought together secular sonnets, sacred madrigals, recitatives, arias and ensembles in every possible style; it is this immense variety above all else that makes a recording of the complete Arie Musicali so exciting and challenging.

Meta(M)Orfose: improvisations by Maurice Clement that are far removed from such fatal desires and the 17th century aesthetic. New timbres on the organ that provide a highly individual commentary on Frescobaldi’s Arie Musicali… desire, search for and missing the beloved… times have not changed.