Anonymous Lyrics

Anonymous Lyrics of Lesbos and Locris is a set of three short settings of Ancient Greek texts in translation. The original manuscripts of the poems, like many others written between 700-500 B.C.E., were almost completely lost; only small fragments remain. The authors are unknown; however, the second poem is attributed to Sappho. The poems interested me particularly because of their mysterious, disembodied quality, which is probably due to their fragmented state. Taken completely out of their intended context, the poems’ vivid images alone inspired the musical setting.

The texts are used by kind permission of the University of Chicago Press.

© 2001 Gordon Beeferman. All rights reserved.