Liam Ramsey-White
Flight of Icarus
Title
Flight of Icarus
Instrumentation: Full Orchestra
2(2pic).2.2+bcl.2. - 4.3.3.1. - t.3p.hp.pno. - str.
6:30 minutes
Grade 6
LRW Music
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Program Notes
After the Athenian craftsman Daedalus built the Labyrinth (most famous for housing the Minotaur) for King Minos of Crete, Minos imprisoned Daedalus and his son Icarus within his own creation because he gave Ariadne the ball of string that would later help Theseus navigate the Labyrinth. In order to escape the Labryinth and the island of Crete, Daedalus built himself and his son two pairs of wings made out of wax and feathers. Daedalus warns Icarus that he most not fly too close to the sea nor too close to sun, however Icarus is overcome by the ecstasy of flying and soars high into the sky. Deaf to his father's desperate pleas, Icarus flys too close to the sun, melting the wax off his wings. As the wings lose all its feathers, Icarus pluments from the sky and falls into the sea where he drowns. A distraught Daedalus flys onward to Sicily alone where he performs funeral rites for his son. The saying "flew too close to the sun" comes from this story, a reminder to remember our limitations and the dangers of being overconfident and reckless.