Synopsis

For the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a major international arts festival was planned, and, as its centerpiece, a gigantic day-long music-theater work designed and coordinated by avant-garde American director Robert Wilson.  

Wilson titled the work the CIVIL warS: A Tree Is Best Measured When It Is Down, with a story line loosely inspired by Matthew Brady’s famous photographs from America’s Civil War, but also incorporating myths, images, and historical icons from around the world.

The idea was that the various sections of the work would be contributed by a team of composers, each section connected by what Wilson called “knee plays” – short “joints” if you will, linking the parts to the whole. The “knee play” music was contributed by the American pop musician David Byrne, a member of the Talking Heads.

The fifth and final act of Civil Wars was written by minimalist composer Philip Glass. It was dubbed The Rome Section, since it was commissioned and premiered as a separate work by the Rome Opera on today’s date in 1984.

In the end, Wilson’s ambitious day-long epic wasn’t staged in Los Angeles as planned. The reason given at the time was funding problems.

Music Played in Today's Program

Philip Glass (b. 1937): Rome Section, from The Civil Wars; Giuseppe Sabbatini, tenor; American Composers Orchestra; Dennis Russell Davies, conductor; Nonesuch 79487