o isis and osiris (2005) 4'
Commissioner: Mannheim Opera
First Performer: Mannheim Opera, 10 December 2005, Mannheim, Germany
Instrumentation: 2 hn, 2 tpt, 3 tbn, timp
Special Features:
a. commissioned in honor of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Program note:
''O Isis and Osiris'' is Sarastro’s aria at the start of Act 2 of The Magic Flute, in which he calls upon his gods to watch over the trials to which our hero Tamino will be subjected. Mozart’s melody at this point is beautiful, lush and supportive, but I have always felt that if I were Tamino I would be terrified about the mystery about to unfold in front of me. In my piece I have taken all the notes from Sarastro’s aria and rearranged them, in order to put some of the mystery back into it.
—David Lang
