Writing an extended secular oratorio in this day and age is a quixotic enterprise for all but the most renowned or well-connected composers; the genre, which requires soloists, chorus, and orchestra, is expensive to produce and is not much in favor with orchestras and audiences. Daniel Börtz, one of Sweden's leading composers, has the standing with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra to be able to bring off large projects like his 90-minute oratorio His Name Was Orestes, even though the piece is unlikely to have much ...
Read More
Writing an extended secular oratorio in this day and age is a quixotic enterprise for all but the most renowned or well-connected composers; the genre, which requires soloists, chorus, and orchestra, is expensive to produce and is not much in favor with orchestras and audiences. Daniel Börtz, one of Sweden's leading composers, has the standing with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra to be able to bring off large projects like his 90-minute oratorio His Name Was Orestes, even though the piece is unlikely to have much international currency. It's an entirely respectable work, using a comprehensible harmonic language with a conventional, shapely dramatic arc, and music that matches the moods of the text, which is mostly very dark. The oratorio rewards close attention with its intelligence, inventive orchestration, dramatically evocative tone painting, and lyrical, skillful text setting, not surprising qualities from as successful an opera composer as Börtz has proven to be. As musically...
Read Less
