The Bacchae 

A composition for solo piano by Felicity Mazur-Park

Developed through the 2025 Summer Composing Mentorship

Mentored by Soheil Shirangi

Piano:Qin Lan Zhang

Published by Zang Records in August 2026

Athenian playwright Euripides wrote the tragedy The Bacchae in 405 BCE. In the play, Dionysus, Greek god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre, punishes King Pentheus of Thebes, his cousin, and Pentheus’ mother Agave for not embracing his cult. Dionysus drives the women of the city, including his aunts, mad and they assimilate into his cult, The Bacchae. Pentheus reacts by banning Dionysian worship in Thebes and, as a result, Dionysus drives Pentheus’ mother, Agave, and the other Bacchae to tear Pentheus apart limb by limb and kill him. Agave presents the head of her son, which she believes to be that of a mountain lion, to her father Cadmus who is horrified by the sight. In my piano piece, divided into five movements, I depict Euripides’ play. I use contrasting piano textures to portray key scenes from the story and the godly presence of Dionysus. The pianist begins by playing a heroic theme in fugato style counterpoint. The introduction of an ominous bass line in the middle section of the first movement foreshadows the horror to come. The ecstasy and violence of the Bacchae is portrayed by virtuosic textures first introduced in the second movement. These textures increase in tempo at each reoccurrence in correspondence with the escalating drama. Each key event in the story is noted on the score for the pianist who is tasked with realizing the music at the same time as portraying the story.

Felicity Mazur-Park is an English composer, pianist, and organist based in Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory, a Master of Education degree from Tennessee State University, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Texas Christian University. Dr. Mazur-Park teaches applied organ at Dallas Baptist University and is the Director of Music at Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church in Fort Worth. She was a 2024 winner of the American Guild of Organists Student Commissioning Project. She also teaches Latin at Great Hearts Lakeside School in Fort Worth. She is currently completing a second doctoral degree (a PhD in Visual and Performing Arts) from the University of Texas at Dallas studying with composer Dr. Robert Xavier Rodriguez which will be completed in May 2026.