Sarabande from The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore

D No: 514

Performing Forces: flute, harp, handbells

Date Published: MS

Date of Composition: 1965

Notes: Preceded by the Three Unicorn Fanfares. This haunting piece was a processional for the ensemble from the South Transept entrance to the North Transept where the stage was set. The choir and orchestra were placed in the balcony above. Paul Callaway had conducted the first performance of this "madrigal fable" in 1956 at the Library of Congress Coolidge Auditorium and Wayne was drafted to copy out the instrumental parts. Everything about the piece profoundly attracted him - the scoring, the choral work, the theatricality, and especially the topic: an artist's public and private life. He produced The Unicorn twice at the Cathedral in 1965 and 1976.

This is from the end (Recessional) of the 1975 performance.  Dirksen concluded the work with the tolling of the Bourdon bell three times.