Apollo and Daphne
Introduction
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. The American Declaration of Independence
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Thomas Jefferson’s immortal words were inspired by the brilliant energy of the Enlightenment in 18th century Europe. Even now they cast an optimistic beam over humanity and the challenges it faces. Questions about the state and the individual beat in the hearts of many in the 17th and 18th centuries. Their answers still define our lives and what freedoms, if any, we might enjoy. Some of the music in this Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness season is overtly about the grand question of human freedom. Some works have a historical context, and we can pinpoint them as reactions to particular flashpoints, such as the failed revolutions in Germany in 1848. Many pieces relate the conflict between external forces and individual identity, and sing with a voice of undaunted independence. All relate to a notion of intrinsic freedom set out by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the decade before Jefferson and his committee sat down to draft the Declaration of Independence. “L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers,” he wrote in Du contrat social (1762): “Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains”.
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