Krewe of Orpheus Sirens, Orpheus took up his lyre and began to sing. The Sirens' song lost all its power, and the women were changed into rocks. However, Orpheus' greatest feat involved his beautiful wife, Eurydice. Shortly after their marriage, Eurydice was pursued by Aristaeus, who was overwhelmed by her beauty. When fleeing his advances, Eurydice stepped on a snake, which bit her foot, and she died. Overcome with grief, Orpheus vowed to rescue her from the regions of the dead. Orpheus gained entry to the Underworld by using his music to charm Charon, the ferryman and Cerberus, the three headed dog that
The Mask of Orpheus with the Orpheus myth decaying. "The Mask of Orpheus", in addition to vocal and orchestral music, contains a significant amount of electronic music, (which was precisely composed by Birtwistle, and realized on his behalf by Barry Anderson). Each act has its own electronic "aura", which goes on continuously, sometimes prominently, sometimes inaudibly; the voice of Apollo is heard on several occasions as an electronic sound "speaking" in an invented language. These electronic sounds were made by Anderson in Paris at IRCAM. There are also six purely electronic interludes created by computer manipulation of harp sounds. Jocelyn Herbert was commissioned to