Dramatic Works The
Dramatic Works The Bridal Day Narrator, baritone soloist, chorus, and small orchestra picc, fl, pn, str OR fl, pno Vocal and instrumental scores on hire 9780193388338 The Bridal Day is a masque founded on Edmund Spenser’s Epithalamion, an ode to his bride on their wedding day. The poem was suggested to Vaughan Williams by Ursula Wood, whom he later married. The masque comprises a combination of dances, choruses, solo singing, and spoken word, with the music reflecting the joyful, untroubled nature of the words. Vaughan Williams later used the work as the basis for the cantata Epithalamion. 45 minutes ed. Roy Douglas The Death of Tintagiles Spirituals Chamber orchestra Score and parts on hire 9780193388505 ob, cl, hn, str This melancholic and darkly atmospheric score was composed as incidental music for a 1913 production of the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck’s play The Death of Tintagiles. In the play, Tintagiles’s family have been murdered by the Queen and, although he tries to escape, he is ultimately murdered by the Queen too. Marionettes are used in place of actors in order, demonstrating that the characters are merely puppets of fate. Despite the generally morose tone, the music still has moments of warmth and tenderness, and does not display the violence and abrasiveness of some of the composer’s later works. 15 minutes Dramatic Works ed. Julian Rushton Job A Masque for Dancing Full orchestra Orchestral version: 3 fl (III + picc & afl, III opt), 2 ob (II opt), ca, 3 cl (III opt), bcl, asax (opt), 2 bn, cbn (opt), 4 hn, 3 tpt (III opt), 3 tbn, tba, 2 hp (II hp), org, timp, perc, str Study score 9780193514324 Score and parts on hire - orchestra 9780193691810 Piano Reduction* 9780193512757 The one-act ballet Job has been described as one of Vaughan Williams’s mightiest achievements. It is a work which, in a full production, combines painting, literature, music, and dance. The work was inspired by William Blake’s Illustrations of the Book of Job , and includes quotations from the King James Bible. The result is a musical masterpiece, combining the ancient and the modern: Vaughan Williams’s earlier style is in evidence, including tranquil pastoral melodies, but the work also anticipates the composer’s later style. *Available from Banks Music Publications 45 minutes arr. Constant Lambert Job A Masque for Dancing Full orchestra Theatre version: 2 fl (II + picc), ob, 2 cl, asax (opt), bn, 2 hn, 2 tpt, tbn, 3 perc (glock, timp, xyl, tri, cym, SD, BD, tam), timp, hp, str Study score 9780193514324 Score and parts for hire - theatre orch 9780193691827 45 minutes The Pilgrim’s Progress A Morality 34 soli, chorus, and full orchestra 2 fl (II+picc), 2 ob (II+ca), 2 cl, 2 bn, cbn (opt), 4 hn, 2 tpt, 2 tpt on stage (opt), 3 tbn, tba, euph (opt), timp, perc (SD, TD, BD, cym, gong, tri, xylo, glock, bell), hp, cel (opt), str Vocal and instrumental scores on hire 9780193392298 Chorus scores on hire 9780193392267 Vocal score* 9780193392250 John Bunyan’s 1678 allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress fascinated Vaughan Williams throughout his career. He returned to the text several times in different forms, but it wasn’t until 1951 that this stage work was finally completed. Reflecting its long gestation, it encompasses the whole of the composer’s stylistic gamut: there is serene lyricism, mystical exoticism, turbulence, violence, and noble grandeur. The opera was first performed at the Royal Opera House in 1951. *Available from Banks Music Publications 120 minutes The Poisoned Kiss A Romantic Extravaganza 12 soloists, chorus, 2 speaking roles, and full orchestra 2 fl (II+picc), ob, ca, 2 cl, bn, 2 hn, 2 tpt, tbn, timp, 2 perc (BD, SD, gong, clash cym, tamb, sus cym, tri, xyl), hp or pn, str Vocal and instrumental scores on hire 9780193393004 This stage work is based on a fairytale-like story by Richard Garnett, with lyrics by Evelyn Sharp and passages of dialogue by Ursula Vaughan Williams. The most notable feature of the score is the strength of its melodic invention, which ranges from gentle and lilting to raucous and boisterous. In 2016, Adrian Williams arranged music from the opera into a single movement work for orchestra entitled A Road All Paved with Stars, showcasing the finest passages. The overture of the opera is available to hire separately. 120 minutes Riders to the Sea 5 soloists, upper-voice chorus and orchestra 2 fl (II+picc), ob, ca, bcl (or cl & bcl), bn, 2 hn, tpt, timp, BD, sea machine, str Vocal and instrumental scores on hire 9780193393349 Chorus scores on hire 9780193393325 Study score* 9780193393356 This one act opera, from a play by J.M. Synge, is the story of a family’s lament for sons lost at sea off the Donegal coast. It is notable for the orchestral portraits of the sea and the wind, which ultimately led to the Sinfonia Antartica, and many consider it to be Vaughan Williams’s finest theatrical work. *Available from Archive 42 minutes The Shepherds of Delectable Mountains STTBarBB soli, SA chorus, and chamber orchestra 2 fl, ob, ca, str; off stage: 2 tpt, hp, 3 bells Vocal and instrumental scores on hire 9780193393905 This ‘pastoral episode’ was composed as an independent stage work in 1922, but was later incorporated into The Pilgrim’s Progress (1951) with its final scene omitted. The tranquil music reflects the rural setting, with expressive solo instrumental lines adorning mellow vocal melodies. The work features six solo singing roles, an offstage women’s chorus, and chamber orchestra. 23 minutes ed. David Lloyd-Jones Sir John in Love Second Edition Soli, SATB chorus, and full orchestra 2 fl, 2 ob (+ca), 2 cl, 2 bn, 2 hn, 2 tpt, tbn, timp, perc (rattle, bell, cym, SD, BD, tri, tam, sus cym, glock, xyl), hp, str Vocal and instrumental scores on hire 9780193543645 Study Score 9780193524682 Dramatic Works Vaughan Williams turned to William Shakespeare for inspiration on many occasions, and such was the case with his opera Sir John in Love. The libretto, written by the composer, is based on The Merry Wives of Windsor, with texts by contemporaries of Shakespeare such as Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and Thomas Campion interpolated. Characteristically, Vaughan Williams incorporates folksongs into the score, most notably ‘Greensleeves’. For this comprehensive new edition, the editor (and conductor) David Lloyd-Jones has drawn on all available sources, providing an authoritative full score with critical commentary. 125 minutes 18 19
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