Medea's Dance of Vengeance

Medea's Dance of Vengeance is a composition (1955, Op. 23a) by the American composer Samuel Barber, derived from his earlier ballet suite Medea and loosely based on the play Medea by Euripides.^[1] Barber first created a seven-movement concert suite from this ballet (Medea, Op. 23), and five years later reduced this concert suite down to a single-movement concert piece using what he felt to be the strongest portions of the work. He originally titled it Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, but shortly before his death, he changed the title to simply Medea's Dance of Vengeance.^[2]

Instrumentation

Dance of Vengeance is scored for a larger orchestra than either preceding version (ballet or concert suite), being made up of the following:

Woodwinds 3 Flutes (3rd doubling Piccolo) 2 Oboes English Horn Clarinet in E♭ 2 Clarinets in Bb (and A) Bass Clarinet 2 Bassoons Contrabassoon

Brass 4 Horns in F 3 Trumpets in C 3 Trombones Tuba

Percussion Timpani Triangle Cymbals Side drum (without snares) Tom-tom Bass Drum Tam-tam Whip Xylophone

Harp Piano Strings Harp Violins I, II Violas Cellos Double basses

Premiere

The work was premiered on February 2, 1956, by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Dimitri Mitropoulos.^[2] The concert suite was recorded by a Decca studio ensemble, the New Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Barber in 1950.^[3]

References

1. Heyman, Barbara B (2020). Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-19-086373-9.
2. Freed, Richard. "Dance of Vengeance, Op. 23a". John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
3. Stuart, Philip. "Decca Complete", p. 178