Syke

Notes

Syke is an extension of my earlier vocal quintet, hamadryads, and, like that earlier piece, makes use in the generation of its pitch material of Josquin’s Déploration on the death of Johannes Ockeghem, Nymphes des bois. It is the second in a series of pieces taking Josquin’s lament as a starting point, each of which will be based on a particular ‘reading’ of the source text and will take the title of one of the eight types of hamadryad named in the Greek mythological tradition. Syke is named for the hamadryad who was bonded to the fig tree.

Syke was written for Vassilena Serafimova and Vincent Lhermet and was commissioned by the Uzerche Music Festival.