Adonis

Adonis, poème symphonique (1901) I. Mort d'Adonis (Death of Adonis) [0:00] II. Déploration des nymphes (The Mourning of the Nymphs) [6:04] III. Réveil d'Adonis (Rebirth of Adonis) [10:41] A symphonic poem by French composer and organist Théodore Dubois (1837-1924). A student of Ambroise Thomas, Dubois won the Prix de Rome in 1861 and went on to assume the post of choirmaster in the Church of the Madeleine in Paris. As a professor and later Director at the Paris Conservatoire, he taught a generation of composers, including Paul Dukas, Achille Fortier, Albéric Magnard, Florent Schmitt, Guy Ropartz and Pierre de Bréville. This tone poem is based on the Greek myth of Adonis, a hero so handsome that he sparked a rivalry between Aphrodite and Persephone. Zeus settled the dispute by arranging that Adonis would spent one third of the year with Aphrodite, one third in the underworld with Persephone, and one third wherever he pleased; Adonis chose to spend two thirds of the year with Aphrodite. Thus, he followed a cyclic pattern of life, death and rebirth, travelling from earth to the underworld and back again each year. Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt, was also intrigued by Adonis, but her vow of chastity caused her passion to be expressed instead in the form of jealousy of Adonis' skill as a huntsman. Artemis sent a monstrous wild boar to kill Adonis, who died in the arms of his lover Aphrodite. Where his blood fell, the short-lived anemone flower sprung to life. Conductor: Jean-Philippe Tremblay Orchestre de la Francophonie canadienne