THE TYRANT
Composed by Paul Dresher
Libretto by Jim Lewis

2005, for Tenor and Pierrot Ensemble

Paul Dresher, in collaboration with writer Jim Lewis and tenor John Duykers, is creating a new music theater work entitled The Tyrant (formerly A King Listens).

The Tyrant is inspired by Italo Calvino’s remarkable short story A King Listens, which was written near the end of his life. However, the collaborators will not recreate the story as a performance piece, nor will they use any of the existing text. Rather, they are taking one of the key elements of the story - a king, unable to physically leave his throne for fear of overthrow, is forced to experience his kingdom entirely through the medium of sound - and building a new text upon this premise.

The libretto of The Tyrant is irreverent, counterpoising intense physicality with the existential experience of power.

… Heaven help you, if
In a moment’s lapse,
Your arms
Erect,
Outstretched,
Doggedly upholding this Orb and sword –
Should cramp
Or slip
And let fall
From their grip
These symbols of your Godlike power.

Jim Lewis and Dresher are currently in the middle stages of creating the libretto and expect to finish it by the end of May 2004.
The work is being conceived as a companion piece to Peter Maxwell Davies’ classic work from 1969, Eight Songs for a Mad King, and may be performed as one of two halves of a single evening performance by Mr. Duykers. Thus the work will be scored for the same instrumentation as the Davies work, the classic “Pierrot” (from Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire) chamber quintet plus percussion. The core of this entirely acoustic ensemble will come from the regular members of the Ensemble’s Electro-Acoustic Band. It will be augmented with instrumentalists with whom we have forged strong relationships through the development and production of Erling Wold’s operas A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil and Sub Pontio Pilato.

The score is being written to draw out the full range and depth of Duykers’ extraordinary voice, a voice that has grown richer with age. (Indeed, at one recent performance it was described as having attained the richness of fine wine.) With The Tyrant, Dresher realizes a long-held goal of creating a substantial solo role for tenor John Duykers, whom he considers as a mentor in the composition of opera/music theater. While Dresher has written for him a number of times, this will be the composer’s first solo work for Mr. Duykers.
There are a couple of additional firsts in this project for Dresher and the Ensemble. The collaboration with writer Jim Lewis represents the first Ensemble-produced music theater work that Dresher has done with a writer other than Rinde Eckert. And whereas all of Dresher’s prior music theater works have involved a combination of acoustic and electro-acoustic instruments, this score will be his first entirely acoustic music theater work.

The work will be directed by long-time Ensemble associate Melissa Weaver, and Dresher will serve as the Music Director. The work, in combination with Eight Songs for a Mad King, will become one of the regular touring productions offered by the Ensemble and their agent, Bernstein Artists Inc. of New York, gradually replacing the Ensemble’s current touring production of Sound Stage.

Commissioning/Performing Details

The Tyrant will premiere in Seattle on May 1 & 2, 2005 in a co-presentation between the Seattle Chamber Players and On The Boards. The work has been commissioned by the Seattle Chamber Players, in consortium with the California EAR Unit (Los Angeles), Present Music (Milwaukee) and Musical Traditions/Paul Dresher Ensemble. In early 2004, the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia joined the consortium and will present the East Coast premiere in Philadelphia May 18 – 22nd 2005, in a festival celebrating their own 20th anniversary.