You can hardly cast a stone in Washington without hitting a politician with an unearned messiah complex, but soon, Rep. Jamie Raskin will have good reason to compare himself with the Messiah … by George Frideric Handel.
On Saturday, Washington Musica Viva will perform “The Jamie Raskin Oratorio,” a composition adapted from the Maryland Democrat’s memoir.
Raskin, who is Jewish and also describes himself as a humanist, may seem like an odd choice to inspire a musical work so deeply embedded in the Christian tradition. But Anne Becker, the poet who wrote the work along with composer Noam Faingold, said it’s fitting, given the “spiritual aspect” of his book, which describes his son’s suicide, the storming of the Capitol a week later and his subsequent role managing the second impeachment of Donald Trump.
“The idea of calling the piece an oratorio, I have to say it’s slightly tongue in cheek,” said Becker.
She was drawn to the personal suffering and communal redemption Raskin describes in his memoir. The message, Becker said, is that “even though things are hard, and this is hard to do, things have always been hard and we can do this … we don’t have to be stopped with these terrible feelings of impotence and helplessness.”
An oratorio is normally spiritual in substance while secular in style; you can think of it as the great-great-grandfather of Christian rock, emerging in the 1600s but coming into its own as a distinct genre during the Baroque era in the 18th century. Handel not only wrote what is arguably the most famous oratorio, his “Messiah,” but also the first in English, which helped define the style.
Since then, an oratorio has been defined as a musical composition with dramatic elements, vocalists and orchestral instruments, but performed as a concert rather than a play.
Based in Raskin’s hometown of Takoma Park, Md., Washington Musica Viva is a nonprofit organization that performs a mix of classical, jazz and contemporary chamber music.
“Chamber music has a very narrow audience,” said co-founder Carl Banner. The group had commissioned works that combined poetry and musical composition before, but this time Banner wanted something that might attract more attention. Nestled next to the D.C. neighborhood of a similar name, Takoma Park is just as politics-crazed as the rest of the region, if not more so. It’s the type of place where a constitutional law professor turned congressman is revered like a saint.
“He’s certainly a neighborhood hero, but I think a national hero as well,” said Banner, a Takoma Park resident and Raskin constituent. “We’re thrilled to be doing something in his honor.”
Becker will recite her poetry mostly in the first person, “as if Jamie is thinking, these are all his thoughts,” she said. She will be joined on the stage by Banner on piano and Chris Royal on trumpet. Reflecting the source material, Becker said, the music will be at times frenzied, at other times somber, but ultimately uplifting. “The piece has this soulfulness to it,” Becker said. “Jamie’s whole heart and soul is in the words of the piece.”
Raskin, in a statement, said he was “very grateful” to the musical group and Becker, calling her “a brilliant poet,” even if he found the privilege a bit bewildering.
“I am honored and touched beyond measure and also somewhat dumbfounded by the whole thing,” he said.
Due to prior commitments, Raskin is unlikely to attend. But plenty of his Takoma Park neighbors will be there: As of Tuesday, Washington Musica Viva had sold 132 tickets out of roughly 250 seats available. For community-based chamber music in the 21st century, that’s a decent crowd.
Banner said this could be the first of many politically inspired works his troupe ends up commissioning. He already has another one in the works — “something in January,” he teased, though he wasn’t ready to reveal more details.
“The Jamie Raskin Oratorio” will be performed Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Church of the Ascension in Silver Spring, Md. Tickets are $20 and available here, as is a link to a free livestream of the concert.
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