Music and story go hand-in-hand. They ignite the imagination, invite the mind on a journey, and become the cornerstone for cultures as history unfolds. Much like music, myths and legends have added depth and color to our perception of the natural and developed world, and they continue to influence how we create and perceive things even today.
Ancient Greece, the birthplace of Western thought as well as fascinatingly complex mythology, has influenced stories, cultural conventions, and ideas even up to today. One of the most famous, and heart-wrenching, of stories is Orpheus and Eurydice, where a fatal look back results in the earthly separation of two lovers. Enjoy interpretations of this famed story, from Marie Nelson Bennett’s setting Orpheus as a retired folk singer in the American Northwest to Joseph Summer’s presentation of Orpheus with his lute made trees, a poem attributed to William Shakespeare.
Shifting north, La Mandragore presents folklore and stories about Viking warriors in their Kassias Saga on the album MIDGARD. Tireless seafarers, the Vikings roamed and traded across the known world from Iceland to the Mediterranean Sea, flourishing as a culture, creating mythical stories, and influencing a number of European traditions.
In modern-day southern Iraq, four lyres were discovered in a royal cemetery. Considered to be the second oldest surviving instruments, these lyres, including the “Bull’s Lyre” which features a solid gold head of a bull, have sparked legend and imagination for many. For example, composer Michael Mauldin was led to imagine who might have been the last person to play on this ancient instrument. The Last Musician of Ur is his story of this final artist to play on the famed harp.
These are just a sample of the legends captured in song across our catalog. Experience these, stories from Argentina to the lakes of Minnesota, and more as you explore legends and myths from around the world, and the cultures they helped to build.
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