A Shepherd's Dream of Love

Nari is excited to be presenting this program at the International Young Artists Competition in York, 2026!

A shepherd falls asleep on the river shore, his thoughts haunted by unrequited love. In his dream, he becomes a speechless nightingale, only capable of expressing his love through song. Desire grows and the dream shifts. He is now Zeus, making love to the mortal Semele who wears the face of his beloved. When he awakens, the moon has risen over the river, and the silvery shimmering wavelets reflect his lonely tears. Yet a new thought arises: had she truly been perfect, would his beloved have been so cruel? He still loves her, but with dawn approaches May Day: he remembers that the village will be filled with many a beautiful maiden, seeking a young shepherd for the evening dance!

Our programme ranges freely across countries and languages, yet the Arcadian thread that binds together the pieces—and the affetti they evoke—belongs in a cosmopolitan culture shared by all five composers. Boismortier settled in Paris after spending formative years absorbing Catalan heritage in Perpignan; Scarlatti, born in Sicily and trained in Rome, would later reshape operatic style in Spanish-ruled Naples. Torri crossed the Alps to serve the Bavarian court, while Pepusch and Handel left the German lands in pursuit of artistic opportunity in London. All were conversant with the pastoral idiom, all could recount the mythological tales of Ismene and Semele. Our sequence of musical “pearls,” varied in colour and character, reflects the world of the early eighteenth-century Baroque, in which styles, stories, and musicians travelled with remarkable ease.

Program notes by Prof. Alon Schab