Claude Debussy: Syrinx

SHEET MUSIC: https://imslp.org/wiki/Syrinx_(Debussy%2C_Claude)

Claude Debussy wrote Syrinx, la flûte de Pan in 1913 as incidental music to the drama Psyché by Gabriel Mourey. While Psyché has faded into obscurity, Syrinx has become a staple of every flutist’s repertoire

This piece references the story of Pan and Syrinx. Pan is a mischievous faun, and Syrinx a beautiful nymph. Pan chases after Syrinx and, to hide herself, she transforms into hollow water reeds. A frustrated Pan sits down by the water’s edge and hears the wind blowing over the hollow reeds that once were Syrinx. He cuts the reeds, and fashions them into the first pan pipe flute.

Syrinx the piece is not meant to be a literal telling of the story. Instead, it is an evocation of Pan’s emotions...his solitude, the anguish of unrequited love and, finally, acceptance.