'August 4, 1964’ boldly captures the urgency of a complex time |
| Published: September 19, 2008, 12:46 am |
|
By CHRIS SHULL DALLAS — August 4, 1964, a "secular oratorio" by American composer Steven Stucky, with the libretto by Gene Scheer, was performed for the first time Thursday by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The piece is coherent, dramatically gripping, thematically relevant and musically accessible. August 4, 1964 uses the combined orchestra, large chorus and four vocal soloists conducted by Jaap van Zweden to convey the history and emotions of the day when the bodies of three slain civil-rights workers were discovered in Mississippi and when an attack on U.S. ships was reported in the Gulf of Tonkin off North Vietnam. President Johnson ordered retaliatory air strikes that evening, a key point in the long escalation of the Vietnam War. Scheer’s words were culled from historical transcripts, yet they retain the immediacy of confession. Stucky’s music reinforces the temperament of the times — from "busy office music" behind White House minutes, to solemn hymns [ Full article ] |
 Blog link
|
No Comments...