We’ll call him Hercules

CREATION
Musicatreize commande

Patrick Burgan
We’ll call him Hercules

Conducting
Roland Hayrabedian

Musicatreize

Attacca Choir
Direction Sébastien Bouin

Maîtrise du Conservatoire d’Istres
Direction Alexis Gipoulou

As part of the Musicatreize / Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence partnership

In Amphitryon 38, Jean Giraudoux imagines a Hercules born of two fathers: Zeus, the god, and Amphitryon, the man. This dual origin — both divine and human — has inspired Patrick Burgan to create a new work commissioned for Musicatreize by Roland Hayrabedian.

We Shall Call Him Hercules explores what it means today to carry contradictory legacies — between mythological power and human fragility, between ecological challenges and a shared humanity.

The score unfolds for the twelve singers of Musicatreize, joined by “nested choirs” (chœurs gigognes) where children and amateur singers enrich the polyphony. The result is an open, vibrant, and collective music that connects founding myths with our present struggles — reminding us that, in our own way, each of us carries a little of Hercules within.

Commissioned by CNAV, Musicatreize, and Région Sud, this piece is another of Musicatreize’s “gigogne” creations. The public will hear its premiere in the Foyer of the Opéra de Marseille, in its complete version featuring Musicatreize, the Chœur Attacca, and the Maîtrise of the Conservatoire d’Istres. Afterwards, each of these ensembles will be able to perform independently the section written especially for them.

The composer chose to evoke the birth of Hercules through a mythological tale inspired by Jean Giraudoux’s play Amphitryon 38.
Is Hercules the child who has been born — or the one yet to come?