About Arjuna’s Dilemma

The Music

Composer Douglas J. Cuomo's largest and most ambitious work to date, Arjuna's Dilemma is a staged oratorio based on the towering Hindu epic, the Bhagavad Gita. Containing both sweeping grandeur and extraordinary intimacy, the piece seamlessly melds classical, jazz and traditional Indian musical idioms. Scored for six vocalists (Indian singer, tenor and a four-member female chorus) and twelve instrumentalists (string quintet, piano, two winds, two percussion, tablas and jazz saxophone), Arjuna's Dilemma utilizes North Indian performance styles, melodic structures, tuning systems, odd time signatures and rhythmic patterns alongside western instrumentation, harmonies and forms. North Indian vocals co-mingle with a Western tenor and four-part choral writing, with references to both modern vocal styles and Byzantine and Gregorian chant. Improvisation is common to both musical worlds, with the Indian singer, tabla player and jazz saxophonist each using their respective improvisatory traditions to reach for the ecstatic, the sublime and the terror that make up the emotional world of this work.

The Story

At the battlefield on the eve of the first conflict of a massive civil war, Prince Arjuna finds himself in a state of almost paralyzing confusion. He must lead his army against an enemy that includes family, friends, and teachers. Unable to justify such violence against his own people, he turns for guidance to his advisor and charioteer Krishna, who has not yet revealed himself to be an incarnation of the most powerful god in the Hindu pantheon. In the ensuing dialogue, Krishna gradually reveals to Arjuna the true nature of the universe, in all its splendor and its horror.

Artist Statement by Douglas J. Cuomo:

“I've always striven to have a musical life that can incorporate both the circus and the sanctuary, that allows me to operate in the deadline oriented world of television and film as well as the private and somewhat mystical world of my own devising. Arjuna's Dilemma is the culmination so far of my exploration of this private world.

Before starting this work I had found myself drawn toward exploring basic questions about how people interact with each other, within and especially across cultures. This led me to examine how various cultures express spirituality through music, and particularly through the use of the human voice. 

Arjuna’s Dilemma came about as a result of these developing interests but the musical inspiration for this piece occurred in a single moment, when I heard a performance by the North Indian vocalist Amit Chatterjee. His singing is a tremendously virtuosic yet emotionally pure statement of spiritual ecstasy and it had an immediate and profound impact on me. I instinctively felt that its perfect dramatic and musical counterpart would be the more restrained yet equally pure sound of western female choral singers, along with a western male voice. The conversation between these very different voices and styles of singing makes up the core of this piece, and correlates with one of the basic messages of the Bhagavad Gita: that life is fundamentally dualistic and it is the play of opposites, (life/death, horror/the divine) that together comprise an eternal unity. This idea runs like a wellspring throughout the piece, finding manifestation in musical forms and source materials, harmonic, melodic and rhythmic devices, as well as choices of orchestration and performers.”

Performers have included the Indian vocalist Amit Chatterjee (Zawinul Syndicate), tenor Tony Boutte, a four-member female chorus (Jacqueline Horner and Susan Hellauer of Anonymous 4, Gallienne Eriksen and Maren Montalbano), tabla player Badal Roy (Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman) ,improvising saxophone soloist Bob Franceschini (Ruben Blades & Seis de Solar, Mike Stern) and a 10-piece chamber ensemble including new music luminaries Ethel, Andrew Sterman, Ann Cecil-Sterman, Kathleen Supove, Robert Black, Jim Pugliese and Rex Benincasa. Conducted by Alan Johnson and recorded and mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Frank Wolf.