Rehearsals and back-stage photographs relating to the concert performance of King Oedipus, for Speaker, Chorus, and Orchestra, at the Whitney Museum in New York.

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 3104 AB/ARCH/F/2/2/2
  • Former Reference
      GB 3104 5.14; 9.1; 9.2; 9.3; 9.4; 9.5; 9.6; 9.7; 9.8; 9.9; 9.10; 9.11; 9.12; E1; E2; E3; E4; E5; E6;E7; E8; E9; E10; E11; E12; E13; E14; E15; E16; E17; E18; E19; E20; E20; E21; E22; E23; E24; E25; E26; E27; E28; E29; E30; T12 (AB.P.4.378)
  • Dates of Creation
      May 1973
      1986 [re-prints]
  • Physical Description
      49 photographic prints. Dimensions (inches): 30 (5x3.5); 1 (10x8); 1 (8.5x6.5); 17 (2.5x2); 13 (6x4). [Black and white] Photograph

Scope and Content

Among those photographed during the rehearsals are Burgess (with musicians and chorus), Stanley Silverman, and Andrew Burgess-Wilson. The file also contains a close-up of Burgess (smoking, in profile), and photographs taken back-stage and in the surrounding area, presumably on the day of the performance. (Those pictured include Burgess, Liana Burgess, Andrew Burgess-Wilson and a friend / au-pair.)

In 1986 Liana Burgess arranged for 13 images to be re-printed. (The re-prints, and a related receipt, are on file.)

Photographer: Probably Liana BURGESS.

Administrative / Biographical History

Michael Langham, Artistic Director at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota commissioned Burgess to write a new English translation of Sophocles' play, Oedipus the King, in 1972. The production opened at the Guthrie Theater on 24 October 1972, with text adapted by Burgess and a score by Stanley Silverman. After Oedipus the King opened, Burgess and Silverman adapted the script and music for concert performance as King Oedipus, for Speaker, Chorus, and Orchestra. The cantata was presented on 16 May 1973 at the Whitney Museum in New York, with Burgess narrating.

Access Information

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