Online "Myths and Hymns"

[MadViolist]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 7:57am

"Myths and Hymns" | presented by MasterVoices

The central project of MasterVoices’ 2020-2021 season will be a virtual rollout of award-winning composer Adam Guettel’s theatrical song cycle, Myths and Hymns, in an online staging conceived by Ted Sperling. Inspired by Greek myths and a 19th-Century Presbyterian hymnal, the 1998 cycle is a kaleidoscopic collection of musical genres as it explores the nature of faith and longing in a secular world. New short musical films will illustrate the protagonist’s attempt to seek answers in four ways – through Flight, Work, Love, and Faith. The four chapters of this personal voyage will be released in free digital installments throughout the winter and spring.

 

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Don't think I've seen a post about this on here. As great as this is on its own, I think I'm even more excited by the mention of this in Guettel's bio in their playbill: Adam Guettel is a composer/lyricist living in New York City. His upcoming musical, The Days of Wine and Roses, will have its first production on Broadway next season. Another new musical, Millions, is also slated for production soon.

 

[lachri5]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 7:07pm

Thank you, good stranger! Just finished watching the first part, THIS WAS SO GOOD!!! Seriously, everybody drop everything, get your nice headphone and lose yourself in the glorious music. And the cast, omg! And Adam plays guitars in it! Can't wait for the next 3 parts! Now let me hit replay. =) Updated On: 1/13/21 at 07:07 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 1/13/21 at 10:05pm

Brilliant!
Simply brilliant!

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 1/14/21 at 1:31pm

Ooooo thanks for sharing this! :) Definitely gonna watch. 

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

Posted: 1/14/21 at 2:42pm

MadViolist said: ""Myths and Hymns" | presented by MasterVoices

The central project of MasterVoices’ 2020-2021 season will be a virtual rollout of award-winning composerAdam Guettel’stheatrical song cycle,Myths and Hymns, in an online staging conceived by Ted Sperling. Inspired by Greek myths and a 19th-Century Presbyterian hymnal, the 1998 cycle is a kaleidoscopic collection of musical genres as it explores the nature of faith and longing in a secular world. New short musical films will illustrate the protagonist’s attempt to seek answers in four ways – through Flight, Work, Love, and Faith. The four chapters of this personal voyage will be released infree digital installmentsthroughout the winter and spring.



---

Don't think I've seen a post about this on here. As great as this is on its own, I think I'm even more excited by the mention of this in Guettel's bio in their playbill:Adam Guettel is a composer/lyricist living in New York City. His upcoming musical, The Days of Wine and Roses, will have its first production on Broadway next season. Another new musical, Millions, is also slated for production soon.

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I thought this was one of the best things I've seen during the shutdown. They really used the medium in an interesting way. I'm pretty confident Days of Wine and Roses will not be on Broadway next season. Both because I've heard absolutely no talk of it happening, but also because Mr. Guettel's politics may now get in the way of his work.

[MadViolist]

Posted: 1/14/21 at 3:08pm

itsjustmejonhotmailcom said: "

I thought this was one of the best things I've seen during the shutdown. They really used the medium in an interesting way. I'm pretty confident Days of Wine and Roses will not be on Broadway next season. Both because I've heard absolutely no talk of it happening, but also because Mr. Guettel's politics may now get in the way of his work."

 

Didn’t Kelli O’Hara and Brian d'Arcy James post on Instagram about doing a reading/rehearsing something that strongly suggested Guettel’s work last year? I might be mixing things up though

 

[John Adams]

Posted: 1/18/21 at 8:32am

I always LOVED this song cycle and I'm so glad to have this new, updated version to appreciate. The sound fidelity (sound engineering?) is incredibly awesome! I hope, hope, hope that there will be an album available for purchase once the last installment has aired in May.

I don't know why the title of the cycle was changed from "Saturn Returns" to "Myths and Hymns", and that's always bothered me. The latter doesn't make sense to me regarding the inclusion of songs like, Come To Jesus, How Can I Lose You? or Awaiting You. To my mind, these are neither myths nor hymns by definition, and don't "fit" well under that title.

"Saturn Returns" however, is a title that encompasses all of these songs. A Saturn Return is an astrological phenomenon that occurs when the planet Saturn returns to the same place it was in its orbit at the time of your birth. Because Saturn's orbit is a lengthy trip, it takes about 29 and a half years to complete. 

In this article about Saturn Returns, the author writes, "When you're young, there seems infinite time to decide what you want to be 'when you grow up''. Well, Father Time swoops down as you're nearing 30 to say, 'You're all grown up now, pick a path.'" Under the section titled, "Time to Get Real", the author says, "Sometimes we make life choices before we really know who we are."

When (in particular) I think about the song, Come to Jesus (regarding the consequences of a pregnancy, and its effect on a couple), I see this much more as an example of a Saturn Return rather than Myth or Hymn. 

The visuals in this first installment of Myths and Hymns (Flight) are OK, but for me, they only serve as a way to occupy the screen while I'm listening to this GORGEOUS music. Categorizing the songs into sub-sections of Flight, Work, Love, and Faith (for me) is a mis-step; similar to a previous attempt to turn the cycle into a book musical. The work was written as a song cycle. Why can't that suffice, considering how beautiful it is, on its own? Does all of Guettel's work need to be a staged production in order to be appreciated? I don't understand why this song cycle needs to be re-tooled into a musical, or re-categorized under sub-headings. As a collection of Saturn Returns, it seems (to me) to work beautifully.

If there's an album created for purchase, my hope is that the original title, "Saturn Returns" would be restored, but bottom line is that if it's released as an album, I'll be first in line to buy it!

[JasonC3]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 3:45pm

New NYT article on the project in which Guettel also says he has finished two musicals:

“Two of them are finished, and they’re circling La Guardia,” Guettel said, “for understandable reasons, between the pandemic and some other complications that have come up, in terms of how and where the shows were meant to be produced.” (The embattled megaproducer Scott Rudin had been attached to “Days of Wine and Roses.”

Updated On: 5/25/21 at 03:45 PM

[NYadgal]

Posted: 5/25/21 at 7:30pm

Don’t miss the Public Premiere of the final chapter tomorrow evening!

All four chapters will remain on YouTube until the end of June!
Brilliant!