The life of Maryland congressman James Raskin is the subject of a new oratorio, commissioned by Washington Musica Viva, a nonprofit group that mounts intimate performances of classical, contemporary and jazz-based chamber music.
Much of the text for The Jamie Raskin Oratorio comes from the congressman's 2023 memoir, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, where he recounts his son's suicide on December 31, 2023, the US Capitol attack six days later, and his leadership of Trump's second impeachment. Besides that, poet Ann Becker--Takoma Park's former poet laureate commissioned to write the libretto--spent nine months pouring through as much material she could find, including Raskin's other books, his speeches, and his op-eds.
The music was written by Washington Musica Viva composer-in-residence, Noam Faingold, who cooperated closely with Becker to make sure his score communicated the right emotions. "For the most part, I try to stay out of the way of the poetry and let the speaking speak," he said. "I used that as a guide, to kind of activate and underline the emotions through the music. It's kind of a call and response between those two elements."
Faingold wrote his music for trumpet and piano, played by Chris Royal, and Washington Music Viva executive director Carl Banner, respectively. Faingold chose the instruments for their emotive range: "Together, they can do just about anything to create impressions of anxiety and release and access any of the emotions that are present in the piece."
Interpreting the piece, Banner said of Raskin's words: "There definitely is fear there. There's also elation. There's also some humor in it. And a deep concern."
Becker believes that the suicide of Raskin's son, Tommy, "is really greatly intertwined with what happened in [Jamie Raskin's] decisions in the months that followed," and that "He really felt his son's suicide pushed him into trying even harder than he had been doing, to bring about a democracy that his son would have really responded to."
"If it was simply political, I don't think I would have been interested."
The Jamie Raskin Oratorio premieres September 7 at Episcopal Church of the Ascension, in Silver Spring, Maryland.
