(157) EARLY MUSIC:

Edition of 1855 of which 100 copies are signed 1-100, 26 copies are signed A-Z as artist's proofs, two are signed as dedication copies, and three sets are signed as progressives.

October 30, 1993 17-1/8" x 24" 7 colors

Influence: Classical Greek bas-relief

Client: San Francisco Early Music Society, Robert D. Jackson, Executive Director. P. O. Box 10151, Berkeley ca 94709. Telephone (510) 528-1725

A-Z: Artist's own use

Dedication copies: Robert D. Jackson, Joseph Spencer Progressives: One set to the San Francisco Early Music Society

Orpheus playing his lyre before the Prince of Hell, mourning his lost Eurydice, charming even grim Hades. Orpheus, son of OEagrus and the Muse Calliope, had such power in song that with his music he could move trees and rocks and tame wild beasts. When his beloved wife, the nymph Eurydice, died of a serpent's bite, Orpheus followed her into the world of shades and eternal night, and with his song so moved Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, that he was permitted to take Eurydice back with him to the upper Earth, on condition that he not look behind him as she followed in their journey through the realm of the dead.

His love for her was so great, and his longing to gaze upon her face so deep, that he nonetheless turned to her and for that instant glance Eurydice was compelled to return forever to the land of shadow. This earliest of music, this powerful tale of love and loss of love, is the heart of what we mortals ever strive toward, and ever lose, again and again. We find peace only in the silence of Death.