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musicainextenso · 2 years

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Nothing is more revealing than the composer's own description of his work, and so is the case of Michael Daugherty: “Dead Elvis (1993) was commissioned by Boston Musica Viva and Chuck Ullery, principal bassoonist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. It is more than a coincidence that it is scored for the same instrumentation as Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat (1918) in which a soldier sells his violin and his soul to the devil for a magic book. In Dead Elvis, the bassoon is Elvis (or perhaps an Elvis impersonator). Does this rock star sell out his Southern folk authenticity to the sophisticated professionalism of Hollywood movies, Colonel Parker and Las Vegas in order to attain great wealth and fame? Dead Elvisgoes far beyond this romantic Faustian scenario. For me, the two clashing Elvis images (the hip, beautiful, genius, thin, rock-and-roll Elvis versus the vulgar, cheesy, fat, stoned, Las Vegas Elvis) serve as a Sturm und Drang compositional algorithm. Further, my use of the “dies irae” (a Medieval Latin chant for the Day of Judgment) as the principal musical theme of Dead Elvis signifies yet another aspect of the Elvis myth: some people believe Elvis is dead, while others believe he is alive and well in Kalamazoo. Perhaps the question is not whether Elvis is alive or dead, but why the phenomenon of Elvis endures beyond the grave of Graceland. Elvis, for better or worse, is part of American culture, history and mythology. If you want to understand America and all its riddles, sooner or later you will have to deal with (Dead) Elvis.” – Michael Daugherty

From Russian folklore to Faust and beyond, the tale of an every-man selling his soul to the Devil for riches and subsequently suffering eternal damnation remains one of humanity's greatest paradoxes – simultaneously a greatest wish and a most dreaded nightmare. Daugherty clearly states that Elvis fell prey to the Faustian trap, and as a consequence lost his artistic essence. But even more profane than questioning the infallibility of an American pop icon is another question: is Elvis America's Christ figure? As an exceptional boy raised by a single mother in poverty, he was propelled into stardom by embodying in a pelvis-swinging, dreamy white boy the soul of Negro songs. Elvis' meteoric career eventually sapped the young singer of his authenticity, leading to his inevitable fall from grace and into a dangerous cocktail of drugs, alcohol and debauchery. Forsaken by all but his most ardent fans, the destroyed singer's death is mysteriously unclear – and many continue to believe in his continued life beyond Graceland.

(Elisabeth Askren, source: ligetifestival.ro)

Gottfried Rabl - conductor Cristian Avram - bassoon Ensemble Ad-HOC ”and Friends”

Enjoy! 🎃 - Editor-in-Chief

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