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For chamber winds/percussion
About
Inspired by Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (Persian Book of Kings), Feridoun is a loosely-programmatic work depicting the struggle and coming to power of one of ancient Persia’s earliest kings.
In Persian mythology, the lands were ruled by an evil tyrant named Zahhak. Two snakes grew from his shoulders, and Zahhak ordered that two people must die each day in order to satiate the snakes. Fear spread amongst the people, and they longed for justice and revenge. One night, Zahhak dreamed that a boy named Feridoun would eventually dethrone him. Terrified, he ordered that this boy be found and killed.
For years, Feridoun’s mother kept him one step ahead of Zahhak. When he was a teenager, he learned that Zahhak had sacrificed and fed his father to the ever-hungry snakes. Enraged, he joined a small uprising against Zahhak and led his envoy into battle. Singlehandedly he defeated Zahhak and bound him in a cave beneath Mount Damavand. The tyrant cast down, Feridoun ruled the earth with benevolence and justice for the rest of his long lifetime.
Musically, Feridoun is a through-composed piece, each section directly relating to an aspect from the story. Many of the sections have subtitles, a few of which are Zahhak, Kaveh’s Revolt, The Battle of Zahhak and Feridoun, and The Divine Farr.
Feridoun was commissioned by Daniel Swilley.
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