Recorded at the Rotunda September 2009 during the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.

The Gonzales Cantata is a musical setting of the drama and politics of the events leading up to the resignation of disgraced Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. In 2007, NPR news ran several stories featuring electrifying audio excerpts from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings into wrongdoings by Gonzales’ Justice Department, and like many listeners, I was shocked by the tension and emotion in the voices of the men (and the single woman) involved. As Gonzales was mercilessly grilled, I was reminded of Orpheus, alone and defenseless, facing the terrifying and all-powerful Furies of the Underworld. The doomed Orpheus in this modern tale, however, lacks the noble cause and incredible talent of the mythical Orpheus, and he even had a hand in the poisoning of his own Eurydice – the country he serves. This is the account of a man who has risen to the level of his own incompetence and must face the terrible consequences without hope of escape or redemption.

The cantata’s libretto was taken from two main primary sources – transcripts of the actual hearings, and Gonzales’ resignation speech. The text was carefully edited for length and clarity, but most of what is sung by the chorus and soloists was actually spoken during these events. One exception is Gonzales’ aria ―Differently,‖ in which snippets from Gonzales’ replies to the committee were pieced together to give a portrait of the man in his last moments in office.

In protest of the continued male domination of American politics – made obvious by the near-exclusivity of male voices in this drama – the genders of the soloists in the cantata have been reversed in relation to the characters they portray.