Oedipus The King by The Brothers Balliett
Program Note

We all know the story of Oedipus, the tragic Greek king who, without realizing it, murders his father and marries his mother. What led up to these events, and what happened once Oedipus discovered the awful truth have, for the past 2500 years, been the subject of plays, operas, films, and poems (there’s even a rap version). Oedipus the King by The Brothers Balliett presents the story in the form of a choral work “somewhere between an oratorio and an opera.”

“It’s an incredibly exciting story, a real psychological thriller, and we wanted to make it a cinematic experience for the audience,” says Doug Balliett. “We are pulling out all the stops here. In our version, the Chorus is not playing the role of the traditional Greek chorus, just supplying commentary to the action. They ARE the actions — playing, or rather, singing, — all the roles except Oedipus and the children of Thebes.”

For the libretto, The Brothers Balliett sourced an English translation of the Seneca version of the play. Seneca (4 B.C.E. — 65 C.E.) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist. He was also a tutor and later advisor to Emperor Nero. “We chose the Seneca play over the earlier Greek Sophocles version because the Seneca is the more visceral and immediate. This was during the time of Nero’s empire, the most degenerate period in Roman history. This was the time of the gladiators, when audiences wanted their entertainment violent and gory. Seneca obliged them with his version of ‘Oedipus.’”

The various elements included in the Ballietts’ Oedipus the King were staples of the ancient theatrical experience: song, declaimed text, dialog, and musical accompaniment. The Brothers have chosen the instrumentation provided by the Deviant Septet, which they co-founded in 2011, to heighten the drama through the music. “The brass underlines the military moments in the story, the strings the lyrical ones,” explains Brad. The wind instruments — especially the clarinet — provide spooky tension, and the exciting moments are punctuated by the percussion.”

“We are incredibly excited about this project,” says Doug. “It is a challenge for us to stage a Roman spectacle with a cast of hundreds in a modestly-sized Episcopal church in New York City,” comments Doug. “But what a beautiful church it is! And composing a piece of nearly an hour’s length for a massive chorus like The Cecilia Chorus of New York was an even bigger challenge with pleasure and excited anticipation.

© 2017 Jeanne Wikler