Lecturer: Anna Conser (Whitman College)

This talk will introduce what is known about ancient music and the music of Greek tragedy in particular. It calls attention to the fact that the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were originally musicals, which featured spectacular song-and-dance sequences composed by the poets themselves. Unfortunately, no sheet music or choreographic records have been preserved for these tragedies, which survive only as texts. Professor Conser’s research seeks to reconstruct the lost song-and-dance sequences of these plays using a wide variety of ancient evidence, as well as new digital text-processing techniques. As a case study for this new approach, Professor Conser will discuss her reconstruction of the musical design of Euripides’ Medea. This spring, this research will be put into practice, with a production of Medea at Whitman College that will feature original musical settings of the Greek text.

This event will be hosted remotely over Zoom. To register in advance, please use the link provided below.