SAMPLE 3. LORELEI. For Jeffrey Zeigler inspired by the german siren. (2017)
Performed by Jeffrey Zeigler at CMMAS/ Mexico in May 2017
The Rhine river is perhaps the most legendary of waterways in Europe. There is a point near St. Goarhausen in Germany where it caresses an enchanted rock and, as the river turns, an intriguing and mysterious echo emerges: diffuse and unintelligible at first, but slowly dissolving into a haunting tune. Sailors have been bewitched by this sweet melody, and intoxicated by the beauty of the maiden sitting on top of this magic rock. Wondrous and otherworldly, Lorelei combs her hair and sings while the sailors become helplessly overcome by the magic of her enchantment. Little by little, they are lured, and then led to a tragic fate, as oblivious to the deadly rocks under the rapids, they perish with their ships -- swallowed inconsolably into the billows of the Rhine. Many sailors have disappeared over the years, and still many to this day are doomed by the song of Lorelei.