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The Golden Gryphon

The gryphon is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. As the lion has been since time immemorial the king of beasts and the eagle reigns as king of the birds, the gryphon enjoys reputation as an altogether powerful and majestic creature. In The Golden Gryphon Tom De Haes presents the three principal characteristics of this most wonderful creature: 1) the gryphon as guardian of the divine mystery, 2) the winged gryphon that pulls the chariot of the sun god Helios and 3) the gryphon as heroic, invincible creature. The composition begins mysteriously. The first theme emerges in the low register from a number of short motivic fragments. Having eventually swollen to the full orchestra, the first section ends as mysteriously as it began. In the following section we are led through the sky: three themes are presented as if in flight and are treated contrapuntally - alone and in combination. The culmination of the middle section sees the three themes intoned together. Now we hear a brief reference to the opening section and after the last theme - a majestic chorale - the composition comes to an impressive close.