Synopsis

“Commedia dell’arte” was a kind of theater popular throughout Italy during the 18th century. In this improvised, rough and tumble genre, a group of stock figures with names like “Harlequin,” “Pierrot,” and “Punchinello” would appear in awkward and farcical situations which modern audiences might recognize from the TV sitcoms – only the earthy 18th century version often more “R-Rated.”

These characters were attractive to many of the 20th century’s greatest composers: Schoenberg’s “Pierrot lunaire” sets dreamy, surreal texts sung by a love-sick commedia dell’arte clown; Richard Strauss’s opera “Ariadne auf Naxos” offers an earthy commedia dell’arte troop as unlikely commentators on a serious Greek legend; and Stravinsky’s ballet “Pulcinella” recasts elegant 18th century musical forms into a robust modern score whose title character, according to Stravinsky was “a drunken lout whose every gesture was obscene.”

On today’s date in 1996, a more refined chamber work inspired by commedia dell’arte characters received its premiere at Boston College. It was commissioned and premiered by the Artaria Quartet, and was given the punning title, “ART: arias & interludes.” The music is by the Chinese-born American composer Thomas Oboe Lee, with each movement of Lee’s work related to a different commedia dell’arte figure.

Music Played in Today's Program

Thomas Oboe Lee (b. 1945) — ART: arias and interludes (Hawthorne String Quartet) Koch 7452