The Lotos-Eaters (2024)

I. “Courage!” he said, and pointed toward the land (Flute, Cello, Piano, Percussion)
II. “Time driveth onward fast” (Piano, Percussion)
III. “Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies” (Flute, Cello, Vibraphone)
IV. “They find a music centred in a doleful song streaming up” (Cello, Piano, Percussion)
V. “O, rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more” (Flute, Cello, Piano, Percussion)

The Lotos-Eaters was commissioned by and dedicated to the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and premiered on August 1, 2024.

I was deeply moved by Tennyson’s poem "The Lotos-Eaters.” It vividly captures mariners yearning for a life of peace, rest, and even death. They arrive in a land where people do nothing but eat the lotus flower, causing them to lose all desire to return home and resign themselves to a life without struggle. When reading this poem, I was struck by the musical nature of the language and inspired to compose a piece for flute, cello, piano, and percussion. Writing for percussion is like being a kid in a candy store for me—so many possibilities. I spent time experimenting with shakers and striking random household items around my NYC apartment to capture the essence of The Lotos-Eaters.

Each movement of my composition is inspired by different evocative lines from the poem. The first and fifth movements feature all the instruments, while the inner three break off into different combinations. The opening evokes a storm with the rumbles of a thundersheet, inside-the-piano techniques, key clicks from the flute, and harmonics on the cello, portraying the foreign land.
The second movement, "Toil," scored for piano and percussion, uses pitched rice bowls to evoke the struggle of a life of work, contrasting with the peaceful longing of the lotos-eaters.
Movements three and four highlight the flute and cello respectively in solo roles, while the finale reunites the quartet in a serene and tranquil conclusion.

- Michael Stephen Brown

Listen & Watch

The Lotos-Eaters, II. "Time driveth onward fast"
World premiere performance, August 1, 2024 at the Bridgehampton Music Festival
Marya Martin, Flute
Mihai Marica, Cello
Michael Stephen Brown, Piano Ian David Rosenbaum, Percussion