Greek Tragedy in the Opera House and Concert Hall of the Late Twentieth Century

Abstract

Abstract About a hundred new musical versions of Greek tragedy have been performed in the last thirty-five years. Many of them will suffer the usual fate of operas and never be performed again, and even their composers are for the most part not household names. But they are among the leading composers of their generation(s), and they have been inspired by ancient drama in a remarkable variety of ways. Some have shown a sustained engagement with Greek tragedy in a succession of works, and it is also noticeable that several (such as Gavin Bryars and John Buller among English composers) have turned to Greek tragedy for their first venture into operatic composition.