Medea's Dance of Vengeance

Medea's Dance of Vengeance is a composition (1955, Op. 23a) by the American composer Samuel Barber, derived from his earlier ballet suite Medea and loosely based on the play Medea by Euripides. Barber first created a seven-movement concert suite from this ballet (Medea, Op. 23), and five years later reduced this concert suite down to a single-movement concert piece using what he felt to be the strongest portions of the work. He originally titled it Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, but shortly before his death, he changed the title to simply Medea's Dance of Vengeance.

Instrumentation
Dance of Vengeance is scored for a larger orchestra than either preceding version (ballet or concert suite), being made up of the following:

Woodwinds

 * 3 Flutes (3rd doubling Piccolo)
 * 2 Oboes
 * English Horn
 * Clarinet in E♭
 * 2 Clarinets in Bb (and A)
 * Bass Clarinet
 * 2 Bassoons
 * Contrabassoon

Brass

 * 4 Horns in F
 * 3 Trumpets in C
 * 3 Trombones
 * Tuba

Percussion

 * Timpani
 * Triangle
 * Cymbals
 * Side drum (without snares)
 * Tom-tom
 * Bass Drum
 * Tam-tam
 * Whip
 * Xylophone


 * Harp
 * Piano

Strings

 * Harp
 * Violins I, II
 * Violas
 * Cellos
 * Double basses

Premiere
The work was premiered on February 2, 1956, by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Dimitri Mitropoulos. The concert suite was recorded by the New Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Barber.