Glamour
Andy Cohen
About this work:
Glamour was originally composed as incidental music for a play of that name by John O’Keefe which was produced by the Undermain Theater Company at the Ohio Theater (off-Broadway) in New York City in 2002. The play Glamour tells the story of Laura Riding, who is fleeing the Nazis (along with her companion Robert Graves) and winds up at the house of Schuyler Jackson, an American writer who has written a positive review of Riding’s most recent book of poetry. Laura Riding is incredibly smart, funny, charming, and politically ahead of her time (strongly anti-racist and in favor of women’s equal rights.) She is also incredibly devious and manipulative: by the end of the play, she has seduced Schuyler (convincing him to leave his wife for her), left Robert alone in America, and convinced Schuyler’s wife Kit to attempt suicide (and subsequently end up in a mental institution.) Of course, this play is based on a true story. (Robert Graves later achieved fame as writer of I, Claudius.)
Thus, a central element of the play is the deceiving nature of greatness. Just as we know how the Nazis were capable of great evil (despite their extensive scientific knowledge and great cultural traditions), we see how a woman who so strongly rebels against fascism can in turn be just as morally corrupt as those she opposes. (Like il Duce and Der Führer, Laura Riding had glamour.)
The music was composed to reflect Laura Riding’s world: stately, formal, classical, and very attractive to listen to. Yet all is not right in Laura’s mind: she is haunted by her demons, and her stately themes can only turn into an obsessive mania which feeds her compulsions to dominate all those around her. But in the end, as the lights go up on Kit in a straightjacket, we see (and hear) how Laura’s glamour is only an illusion, and all that is left is the sound of isolation and silence.
Year composed: 2002
Duration: 00:07:30
Ensemble type: Solo instrument, non-keyboard:Cello
Instrumentation: 1 Cello