British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Timon of Athens

Synopsis
Duke Ellington composed incidental music for a Timon of Athens production at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival in 1963. Ellington’s sketches and partial score remained in the Stratford archives since then and have only recently been reconstructed, and recorded by Stanley Silverman and an ensemble of musicians associated with the Stratford Festival. Consisting of 20 pieces the music blends Afro-American jazz stylistics and social consciousness with the themes of Shakespeare’s play: greed, generosity, betrayal, revolution, reconciliation, and resurrection.
Country
United States
Medium
Audio
Year of release
1993

Credits

Music
Duke Ellington
Cast
Duke Ellington 

Additional Details

Production type
Sound Recordings(Commercial)
Plays
Timon of Athens
Subjects
Music
Keywords
jazz; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General
The score was originally performed by six musicians and premiered on July 29, 1963 in a production staged by the then Artistic Director of the Festival, Michael Langham. In later performances the instrumentation was increased, notably for performances at the Chichester Festival (opening April 8, 1964), the Stratford Festival’s remounting of the play (opening June 7 1991), and the subsequent production at the National Actors’ Theatre on Broadway in New York (opening November 4, 1993), the latter two productions again staged by Langham and starring Brian Bedford as Timon.

Archive

Name

British Library Sound Archive

Email
listening@bl.uk
Web
http://www.bl.uk/nsa External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7412 7676
Fax
020 7412 7441
Address
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB

Online Retailer

Name

amazon.com

Web
http://www.amazon.com External site opens in new window

Record Stats

This record has been viewed 323 times.