Thea Musgrave at 100: Opera & Vocal
…as naturally gifted a composer for the stage as anyone writing today…Musgrave has an infallible sense of theatrical pace and effect. — Rodney Milnes, The Times
Mary, Queen of Scots (1977) 2 hr 12 min
Libretto by the composer, based on work by Amalia Elguera
2(2pic)3(2ca)2(bcl)2(dbsn)/3210/timp.2perc/hp.org/str(8.6.5.4.2), Chorus
Principal Roles: 3 Sop, Mezzo, Contralto, 3 Ten, 2 Bar, Bass-Bar, Bass
Mary, Queen of Scots is a grand opera in three acts. Mary, the Catholic Queen of Scotland and widowed Queen of France, has been invited by the Protestant Lords to return and assume the Scottish throne. A struggle to the death ensues as she vies with the powerful men around her for power and control.
With its evocative, atmospheric orchestrations, Musgrave’s thrilling score is rooted in the rough-hewn, elemental Scotland of Elizabethan times. — Joanne Sydney Lessner, Opera News
Simón Bolívar (1992) 2 hr 20 min
Libretto by the composer (English), Lillian Groag (Spanish), Hilary Griffiths and Claus Henneberg (German)
2222/4331/timp.2perc/pf/hp/str
Roles: 5 principal (Sop, 2 Ten, Bar, Bass), 3 comprimario (Mezzo, Bar, Bass), Treble, 4 minor roles
This opera in two acts tells the story of the Venezuelan political leader Simón Bolívar, who liberated five South American countries from Spanish colonial rule and unsuccessfully pursued their political unification under one flag.
The whole is swept along by music of irresistible energy and dash, with gentler soliloquies and set-piece duets deftly slotted in. The unashamedly neo-romantic idiom, with good tunes and helpful recurring motives, engages the audience's attention throughout. — Rodney Milnes, The Times
Songs for a Winter’s Evening (1995) 21 min
Text by Robert Burns
Soprano + 2222/3210/perc/hp/str
This song cycle for soprano and orchestra was commissioned on the 200th anniversary of the death of Robert Burns. In the composer’s words, “[the commission] has caused me to revisit my Scottish heritage. As much as this heritage is inevitably part of my life, so, in this work, the tunes to which Burns wrote his inimitable poems are embedded in the musical texture…
[Musgrave] inhabits the same world of ecstatic allusion as Britten in these brilliant settings of Burns's poems, skilfully weaving elements of the traditional tunes with orchestral colourings that are as light and witty as they can be dark and troublesome. — Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1981) 30 min
Libretto by the composer, based on a short story by Ambrose Bierce
1111/1110/perc/pf/hp/str(1.1.1.1.1)+tp
Roles: Baritone, Actress, 2 Actors
An Alabama planter is captured and executed by Confederate soldiers after attempting to sabotage the Yankee advance. As the noose tightens round his neck he fantasises about his escape down-river and back to his wife and home. The piece was originally conceived for radio, but has since been performed in concert and staged performances.
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