Syrinx (‘shepherd’s flute’), also known under the title "La flute de Pan", was
written in 1913 as incidental music for Gabriel Mourey’s dramatic poem "Psyché".
The reed flute of the shepherd-god Pan is heard at the opening of Act 3, where it accompanies a dialogue between two nymphs. All the while Pan remains in his grotto, invisible to the nymphs.
In other words, despite occasional assumptions to the contrary, Syrinx was not intended to illustrate Pan’s death scene, with which the play comes to a close.
