First Performance
June 18 2011 The Crossing Choir, Philadelphia
Donald Nally, conductor
Instrumentation
SATB Choir (minimum 12)
Duration
13'
Program Notes
Funded by the Pew Cheritable Center for the Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project, Thyestes is written for The Crossing, directed by Donald Nally. As part of the choir's Seneca project, I chose the text from Seneca's Thyestes. In it the type of revenge taken by a king against his brother for seducing his wife and taking over the kingdom shows the level of debth human hatred and cruelty can go to: to tell your brother that not only did you just killed his sons but that the fiest you just shared was from their meet. This drama was written at the same time the debth of human love and capacity for forgiveness had been shown by Christ and the first Christians. The drama ends with the disbelief of such violence and hatred, which to me shows that at the core humans are good and know what is bad. They are yearning for good, but are possessed by bad.
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