John Rea’s Alma & Oskar (Melodrama from beyond the Grave): The Modern Mask of Postmodernity
Composed in 1994 for the cbc National Radio Competition for Young Performers, John Rea’s Alma & Oskar (Melodrama from beyond the Grave) goes far beyond a mere competition piece. At the heart of a reflection on postmodernity, the composer creates a work that seems to fit perfectly into the genre, including quotations and pastiches, until all the latent power of intertextuality is awakened. While drawing on the rich tradition of melodrama, Rea also produces a highly original creation that hovers in the wake of a recovered modernity. The musical analysis presented here gradually becomes an essay that reveals the masks of the work and its author.