— This text is not currently
in the database but will be added
as soon as we obtain it. —
Phaedra
Cantata by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
1. Prologue
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Lowell (1917 - 1977), appears in Racine's Phaedra: a verse translation
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Jean Racine (1639 - 1699), appears in Phèdre [text unavailable]
Go to the general single-text view
2. Recitative  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
My lost and dazzled eyes saw only night, capricious burnings flickered through my bleak abandoned flesh. I could not breathe or speak. I faced my flaming executioner, Aphrodite, my mother’s murderer! [A curse by Poseidon, enforced by Aphrodite, the goddess of love, lust and beauty, upon Pasiphaë, Phaedra’s mother, caused her to mate with a sacred bull and give birth to the Minotaur, which was slain by Theseus.] I tried to calm her wrath by flowers and praise, I built her a temple, fretted months and days on decoration. Alas, my hungry open mouth, thirsting with adoration, tasted drouth — Venus resigned her altar to my new lord.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Lowell (1917 - 1977)
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Jean Racine (1639 - 1699), appears in Phèdre [text unavailable]
Go to the general single-text view
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]Total word count: 108