ABOUT THE ARTIST
Natalie Repper, composition
Natalie Repper is a composition major completing her senior year at West Chester University. During her time at West Chester, she has most enjoyed being a member of the symphony and chamber orchestras as a violinist, studying classical and contemporary styles of composition, studying music history, and writing music for the Dalí Quartet and The Living Earth Show with Tanner Porter.
Natalie is an avid lover of motivic writing, chromaticism, and syncopation and aims to write music which reflect her interests in storytelling, exploring complex concepts, and the macabre. As a composer who is also a painter and a writer, one of Natalie’s greatest joys is when her music inspires her art and her art inspires her music.
In the future, Natalie intends to continue teaching and gigging on violin, to release music as a recording artist, and to become integrated in her local scene in order to meet other artists who share her values and can offer new and inspiring perspectives.
SCENEI:EMBARKATION
In this scene, we are introduced to 14-year-old Philomel, who is looking forward to leaving her hometown of Athens for the first time. She has been growing frustrated with her father’s overprotective nature and has a laundry list of things she’d like to see and do now that she has the freedom to explore. She is travelling by boat to Thrace- to visit her sister, Procne- and is being accompanied by Procne’s husband, Tereus, the King of Thrace, who is tasked with protecting Philomel from people who intend to do her harm. However, Tereus slowly reveals that he is interested in more than just a friendly relationship with Philomel, who repeatedly rejects his advances. Once they arrive in Thrace, Tereus kidnaps Philomel, reminding her that she is in a place where he has ultimate control and power, and that no one would defy their king to help her. He brings her to a hunting cabin hidden in the woods, where she will be kept for almost a year, and rapes her.
SCENEII:THEEKPHORA
Tereus explains Philomel’s disappearance by telling Procne that she was swept out to sea during a violent storm. Procne is overcome with grief over the loss of her sister and is the only mourner present at her Ekphora- an ancient Greek funeral procession, where loved ones would often express their grief through song. She laments over the fact that Philomel’s Larnax (coffin) is empty, and begs Hades to be gentle with Philomel’s soul. When Tereus returns, he comforts his mourning wife by suggesting that they create a new life together to honor their love for Philomel, and perhaps to even provide a vessel for Philomel’s lingering soul. Procne is initially reluctant, as she is deeply upset by her very recent loss, but Tereus reminds her that they must act quickly if they want to capture what is left of her sister’s deteriorating spirit.
SCENEIII:PHILOMEL’SLAMENT
Philomel has been kept as a prisoner, repeatedly violated, starved, and abused for 11 months with nothing to do to pass her time but count the days and lament her situation. In a diversion from Ovid’s telling of the myth in his Metamorphoses (where all characters become birds at the same time at the very end), this trauma has caused Philomel to begin her transformation into a swan, as it has deeply changed her. She prays to the gods, begging them to grant her death so she doesn’t have to suffer at the hands of Tereus anymore. However, when Tereus returns to “visit” her, he cuts out her tongue so she can no longer sing. Now, she has lost the only part of herself that she’s held onto from the days before her loss of innocence: her voice.
SCENEIV:PROCNE’SDESCENT
In this scene, we see how Procne has been doing since the “death” of her sister. She is now a new mother who is increasingly dissatisfied with her station in life and is struggling to maintain her sanity due to her isolation, constant responsibility, lack of sleep, and lack of support from her husband. She sings about the three things in her life which bring her the most stress, starting with her son, Itys, who she was reluctant to bring into the world in the first place. Itys cries all day and night, demands constant attention, and has changed Procne’s body both internally and externally. Taking care of this baby would be much easier if she had any help from her husband, Tereus- but Procne tells us that Tereus is never home, is emotionally absent, and has no interest in taking care of his son. She even reveals that he called her by her sister’s name when their son was conceived, not only damaging her trust in him but ruining her perception of Philomel. Procne now believes Philomel seduced her husband and feels a betrayal so deep she simply cannot manage. As the stress piles up, her ability to hold onto reality and her sense of self are eroded. As the trauma that has come with being a wife and mother consumes her, she becomes a peacock.
Philomel has managed to weave a tapestry into her dress using rodent bones as needles and thread picked out of the garment which depicts her dire situation. She sent this to Procne with the help of a bird who visits her barred window. Now, Procne tells Tereus that they have a guest for dinner, but serves him his meal early since the guest is late. When Philomel appears at the door and joins them, fully transformed into a swan, Tereus is shocked. Procne explains to her husband that her sister was “rescued” by pirates, but that they raped and mutilated her. She then offers him Philomel’s share of their meal since she cannot eat it without her tongue, and he obliges. When Philomel comes back with the “last cut of meat” (Itys’s head), he realizes that he has just eaten his son. Tereus is overcome with despair, and deeply disturbed by what has happened to him. The trauma of losing his son sparks a drastic change within him, and he begins to become a canary. Now, he is weak and small compared to the swan and the peacock, and he no longer has power over the women he has been oppressing. Procne and Philomel- whose voice is restored as a swangently guide him through his transition, encouraging him to embrace it and pointing out that he is undergoing the same change that he forced upon them. Once they are animals, they are free from their human suffering and united by the unique transformation they have all had to go through.
NOTES ON PHILOMEL
This work was originally intended to be a strictly classical operetta, and the first version of Philomel’s Lament was written about a year and a half ago. As I became frustrated with a desire to explore dance music, more modern forms, and my own vocal style, I realized that tradition and innovation do not have to exist separately. By studying the mosaic forms of Stravinsky, the lush melodic writing of Tchaikovsky, the gritty “found sound” beats of Nine Inch Nails and the energized dance music of Björk simultaneously, I found that creating a work which reflects all of these interests together would mean creating a work that was more uniquely mine than anything else I could write. Philomel has provided an opportunity for me to explore my personal voice as a composer instead of attempting to become a part of a previously existing tradition.
My retelling of this myth seeks to explore the impact of trauma on the human psyche. By making the characters’ transformations take place once they have experienced a loss of innocence or control (as opposed to at the end of the story, as in the original myth), I am highlighting the fact that trauma causes a dramatic and sudden change in someone’s brain. It can make them reconsider their values, impact their sense of self, and occasionally can erode their relationship with reality. Continuing to live as one always has can feel impossible when one has encountered such a profound experience. In my Philomel, the characters are only able to find relief from their suffering and achieve unification when they accept that they will no longer be able to live the way they used to and embrace their new roles as birds.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my family for fostering a love for music within me as a child and for always supporting me as that love has grown, even if it did not grow into what they expected. I’d like to thank my composition professors, colleagues, and friends who have seen this work in progress and encouraged me to continue being true to my vision, even when it didn’t make sense or was hard to picture. Most of all, I want to express the utmost appreciation to the performers who are making Philomel happen today, as their support, enthusiasm, and hard work has impacted this piece- and me- in ways I could never put into words.
Lastly, I am grateful to Philomel itself for giving me the opportunity to learn more than I could’ve ever imagined about composition, my artistic identity, and managing the creative process.
SCENE I: EMBARKATION
I. Don’t Rock the Boat
The ocean sings to me in tones unheard by ears which live in repose. So come here, listen!
I’ll pass it on:
“To live with courage is to live twice as long.”
II. Rock the Boat!
My father tells me I should stay at home.
He thinks I’m so stupid and naïve! But, how can I learn to protect myself from things I’ve never even seen?
He tells me there are bears with big, sharp claws, but they couldn’t catch a girl as smart as me! I want to try my hand at three player games…
I wanna get smart and muddy! I wanna make friends and money! I wanna see what the moon sees…
what we do when kids are sleeping!
I wanna get you alonetake you back home…
To see my sister, right?
I want to worship earth, and dance and sing. I want a taste of the anxiety.
I want to meet folks who’ve got rhythm and storiesAnd so damn much to show me!
III. Land Ho
Land ho! Land ho!
We’re on my turf now.
I run Thrace, and you stand no ground. You may rule the ocean blue, but I run the army!
So, think before you scream…
Men are something that you should explore to see all that womanhood has in store. You’ve been such a princessNow try being a whore!
Baby, I could treat you well!
You can call me Philomel.
I can make it worth your time
That’s not what I had in mind!
I wanna read books by beggars and women… Immerse myself in art that’s wrought by the wretched... I wanna feel the beatThe shit that they don’t have in Athens! And I wanna speakto folks who think I have an accent!
I wanna see what’s behind your bedroom door.
I wanna be the whole worldNot just somebody's girl!