lntro to Western Music- Assignment Due Tuesday, October 16, 2012

OEDIPUS REX

Assignment: Write an essay responding to this question: Treating this production of Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" as a "visual" experience, how does the director Julie Taymor connect the very different elements of the work - actors, singers, dancers, puppets, Japanese ·theater techniques, and Western theater tradition to tell all the various stories involved?

As you watch Stravinsky 's Opera-Oratorio based on Sophocles's tragedy Oedipus Rex, consider the following .

1. The original Greek text was translated into modern French by Jean Cocteau, and then translated into Latin. The whole wo rk is sung in Latin .

2. The music is by one of the great 201h century composers , Igor Stravinsky , who was Russian. lri composing the opera-oratorio , Stravinsky agreed, reluctantly , that there would be a narrator who would explain the story of the opera in the local vernacular language. This was in case there were people in the audience who did not understand Latin.

3. This particular production was created as part of a music festival in Japan. The local vernacular language is , therefore , Japanese.

4. The director of the performance was the American director Julie Taymor, who directed The Lion King and Spiderman on Broadway . A major part of her training involved the study of traditional Japanese art forms - Bunraku puppetry techniques , and Kabuki theater- which she employs in this production , as well as artwork from the very earliest days of Greek civilization. What do you think is the role of a director?

5. Taymor uses a number of symbols to tell the story as the music is being performed . What, for instance , do you think the circular platform might mean? Or the red ribbons? What about the relative sizes of the principal figures in the drama? What other symbols do you observe , and what do you think they might mean?

6. The Greeks believed that birds and their flight patterns foretold the future . There are many references to birds in the play. How does Julie Taymor introduce birds into her direction?

Use the notes you took while watching the performance to inform your writing. You are being asked to demonstrate your understanding of the play , your understanding of the musical version of it, and how all the very different influences work together. Be clear. Do not use florid language; it doesn 't help .

Essay format:

Printed, your choice of readable font, 12 pt, double-spaced, AT LEAST two pages

Handed in to me, note-mailed. A11" eilru@ 'el c t5

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NOTES· for "OEDIPUS REX"- An Opera-Oratorio by Igor Stravinsky, written in 1927.

This production was directed by the American director Juli e Taymor.

It was performed at the 1993 Saito Kinen Music Festival, in Matsumoto, Japan.

The sung text is in Latin, the spoken narration is in Japane se, and is given in a style associ ated with

Japanese Kabuki Theater. The puppetry is derived from Bunraku, which is a highly developed stylized

Japanese puppetry technique .

Taymor uses large stage props and puppets to reinforc e and explain much of the story. Make notes

here about your thoughts concerning the following:

The large suspended circular platform:

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The use of red ribbon s:

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The puppet in the chariot that is carried across the stage:

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IN ADDITION:

How does Taymor incorporate the riddle of the Sphinx?

How does Taymor show us the idea of "catharsis" at the end of the production?

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Use these notes as the basis for your essay.