[1] Oedipus rex was written towards the beginning of Stravinsky's neoclassical period, and is considered one of the finest works from this phase of the composer's career.

He had considered setting the work in Ancient Greek, but decided ultimately on Latin: in his words "a medium not dead but turned to stone".

Although the performance's narration was in English, the company moved from its normal English-language practice and the singing remained in the original Latin.

Another filmed rendition survives from 1973, conducted by Leonard Bernstein during his sixth and last lecture for the Charles Eliot Norton chair at Harvard University.

The Narrator greets the audience, explaining the nature of the drama they are about to see, and setting the scene: Thebes is suffering from a plague, and the men of the city lament it loudly.

Creon, brother-in-law to Oedipus, returns from the oracle at Delphi and declaims the words of the gods: Thebes is harboring the murderer of Laius, the previous king.

At last, the messenger and shepherd state the truth openly: Oedipus is the child of Laius and Jocasta, killer of his father, husband of his mother.

However, Stravinsky deliberately mismatches various subjects in the text – sorrow, drama, romance, pity – with jocular and satirical accompaniment.