I always LOVED this song cycle and I'm so glad to have this new, updated version to appreciate. The sound fidelity (sound engineering?) is incredibly awesome! I hope, hope, hope that there will be an album available for purchase once the last installment has aired in May.
I don't know why the title of the cycle was changed from "Saturn Returns" to "Myths and Hymns", and that's always bothered me. The latter doesn't make sense to me regarding the inclusion of songs like, Come To Jesus, How Can I Lose You? or Awaiting You. To my mind, these are neither myths nor hymns by definition, and don't "fit" well under that title.
"Saturn Returns" however, is a title that encompasses all of these songs. A Saturn Return is an astrological phenomenon that occurs when the planet Saturn returns to the same place it was in its orbit at the time of your birth. Because Saturn's orbit is a lengthy trip, it takes about 29 and a half years to complete.
In this article about Saturn Returns, the author writes, "When you're young, there seems infinite time to decide what you want to be 'when you grow up''. Well, Father Time swoops down as you're nearing 30 to say, 'You're all grown up now, pick a path.'" Under the section titled, "Time to Get Real", the author says, "Sometimes we make life choices before we really know who we are."
When (in particular) I think about the song, Come to Jesus (regarding the consequences of a pregnancy, and its effect on a couple), I see this much more as an example of a Saturn Return rather than Myth or Hymn.
The visuals in this first installment of Myths and Hymns (Flight) are OK, but for me, they only serve as a way to occupy the screen while I'm listening to this GORGEOUS music. Categorizing the songs into sub-sections of Flight, Work, Love, and Faith (for me) is a mis-step; similar to a previous attempt to turn the cycle into a book musical. The work was written as a song cycle. Why can't that suffice, considering how beautiful it is, on its own? Does all of Guettel's work need to be a staged production in order to be appreciated? I don't understand why this song cycle needs to be re-tooled into a musical, or re-categorized under sub-headings. As a collection of Saturn Returns, it seems (to me) to work beautifully.
If there's an album created for purchase, my hope is that the original title, "Saturn Returns" would be restored, but bottom line is that if it's released as an album, I'll be first in line to buy it!
