The Marsia duo takes its name from the satyr Marsia, legendary aulòs player, who found this ancient Greek instrument in a river, thrown by its creator, Athena. Marsia found the instrument and soon became one of the best musicians in the world: he even challenged the god Apollo. Apollo had to be unfair in order to win the challenge, forcing Marsyas to play the aulòs from the bottom. Of course, Apollo had no difficulty playing his lyre on the opposite way, while Marsia, unable to do the same because of the nature of the instrument, lost the challenge and was skinned alive. Legend states that the skin of Marsia comes alive every time an aulòs is played.
The duo is composed of two young musicians, Gregorio Maria Paone – clarinetist – and Mario Piluso – accordionist. The repertory, despite being based on western classical music, is very versatile and opened to many genres, in order to make Marsia enjoyable for every kind of listener. Marsia play musics by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Giuseppe Verdi, Martin Lohse, Arvo Part, Angelo Biancamano, Danilo Bughetti. The duo has won the XXI International Music Competition “Fryderyc” Chopin in Catanzaro (Italy) on April 28th 2019.
This video is intended to show Marsia’s music.