Owen Pallett: Program Notes

Cyclops Libretto by Owen Pallett and Fan Wu Composer Notes Odysseus, on his voyage, with his men, arrives at an island occupied by satyrs. The satyrs warn Odysseus that the island is ruled by many Cyclops— one-eyed giants who subsist on whey and flesh. The satyrs are very interested in Odysseus’s wine supplies— as satyrs worship Dionysus, they enjoy partaking in drink. Odysseus provides the satyrs with wine, and the satyrs assist Odysseus in the act of absconding with several of the resident Cyclops’s sheep.

The Cyclops returns and catches Odysseus and his men in the act, and bars their escape from his cave. Cyclops then delivers a monologue, after which he grabs several of Odysseus’s men and eats them.

Cyclops’s monologue has been represented many, many times in many mediums. The mythical creature and his monologue appears in Homer’s “Odyssey”, in Euripides’s play “Cyclops”, and many more recent incarnations such as James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and the Coen Brothers’s film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

Consistent across the board with Cyclops’s appearance in literature, film and poetry, is the monster’s insistence that his strength and size are the source of his power. In Homer, Cyclops argues that “he bows to no god.” In Euripides, Cyclops argues that consumption itself makes him “the king of gods and men.” In Joyce, the character representing Cyclops (“The Citizen”) makes Nationalistic statements, blaming immigration, foreign wars and Jews for a perceived deterioration in the Irish quality of life.

Consistent with all these representations of Cyclops is the monster’s disdain for the poor and the weak and the hungry. The composer has drawn from these sources as well as modern day statements from American politicians, to create a meta-character that represents any and all monstrous beings that advocate only for the comfort and security of the richest and most powerful members of society.

The music is effectively written in a similar form to the way that Greek lyric poetry would have, historically, been delivered. There are solo lines (mostly in the sopranos) and rolling lines to syllables (“you”, “nin-ny”) that are meant to be evocative of lyre accompaniment.