ἡ Κλυταιμνήστρα from Burnt Offerings by Vudu Sister

ἡ Κλυταιμνήστρα (Clytemnestra)
This is the only song for which the lyrics I composed are entirely in Ancient Greek. Here I since as the doomed, scorned queen and in some ways, I suppose I am singing as her ghost, and in some verses I am singing as she explains what is to come before her murder. The song originated as a sort of unknown challenge when my mentor joked not to do a song about Clytemnestra because her name might not lend itself to sounding very musical. So, I wanted to find a way to make her musical and you will notice she is the only character whose name I invoke in a song. I am playing with the sound of certain words such as the “kl” in Clytemnestra and deliberately drawing attention to the fact that her name partly comes from the Greek word and concept “kleos” which is, to put it simply, fame especially by name and it does not necessarily have to be from glory indicating an ambiguity of how that renown is achieved. For this song I wanted to give a voice to a woman who is often depicted as a villainess, perhaps rightly, but in keeping with the theme of Burnt Offerings, I wanted to evoke her passions, her pain, and a sense of what she desires as “justice”.
Main sources: Libation Bearers from Oresteia of Aeschylus. Also Iphigenia at Aulis of Euripides.

Vudu Sister is an American band based in Providence, Rhode Island. Gothic folk with grunge influences. Songs to Sing in the Dark.

Keith J.G McCurdy.
Diane O'Connor.
Isabel Castellvi.

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