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Hymn to Persephone

from Kithara of the Golden Age by Michael Levy

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Persephone was one of the most feminine of all the pantheon of ancient Greek goddesses - according to ancient Greek mythology, she was the goddess of Innocence and Receptivity and Queen of the Underworld:

"Persephone, a Greek goddess known in her childhood by the name Kore (or Cora, meaning young maiden), was the only child of the union of Demeter (goddess of the bountiful harvest) and Zeus, the mighty king of the Olympians. The Greek goddess Persephone was born when Demeter was Zeus' consort, long before his marriage to the goddess Hera.

By all accounts Persephone had an idyllic childhood, raised by her nurturing mother and played with her father's other daughters, the Greek goddesses Athena and Aphrodite. Always a cheerful and compliant child, the little goddess Persephone was a parent's dream.

According to Greek mythology Persephone's life was soon to change. As signs of womanly beauty began to shine along side her childlike innocence, the adolescent goddess Persephone unwittingly attracted the attention of the Greek god Hades, brother of Zeus and ruler of the Underworld...

The god Hades, however, did not bother to woo the young Persephone, traditional goddess protocol notwithstanding. After asking for (and receiving) her father's approval for Persephone's hand in marriage, Hades simply abducted her one bright sunny day. When she stooped to pluck a narcissus from a field of wildflowers near her home, the meadow was suddenly rent open, and Hades simply reached up from the Underworld and snatched Persephone away, taking her to his Underworld kingdom and making her his queen.

Although the young goddess Persephone grew to love Hades, she remained lonely for her mother and the life she'd known on earth."

(www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_persephone.htm)

To reflect the innocent, feminine qualities of Persephone, this piece is composed in the dreamy, sensual and feminine-sounding ancient Greek Hypolydian Mode (equivalent intervals as F-F on the white notes of the piano and misnamed the 'Lydian' mode in the Middle Ages).

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from Kithara of the Golden Age, released September 13, 2016

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Michael Levy UK

Michael Levy is a composer for the recreated lyres of antiquity,

Michael has collaborated with the Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Orchestrated Michael's "Hymn to Zeus" in 2 scenes of his second opera, "Hadrian".

In 2022 - 2023, Michael collaborated with the iconic American artist, Jeff Koons – his music for ancient Greek kithara was the soundscape of Koon’s sculpture, “Apollo Kithara”.
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