Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- John Paul Jones
The Ghost Sonata (in progress)
- Chester Music Ltd (World)
Unavailable for performance.
- 2(pic)2(ca)2(bcl)2(cbn)/422(btbn)1/timp.perc/hp/str
- Small Chorus
- Baritone, Bass, Contralto, Mezzo Soprano, Soprano, 2 Tenors; Bass Baritone, 6 Actors
- Helen Cooper
Programme Note
Brief Synopsis
Starting the morning after a terrible disaster in Stockholm, the play relates the story of a young student, who finds himself drawn into the lives of the inhabitants of a stylish mansion in Stockholm. He makes the acquaintance of the mysterious Jacob Hummel who invites him into the house, only to find that it is a nest of betrayal and sickness.
Introductory Note & Artistic Statements
The Ghost Sonata is a play in three acts by Swedish playwright August Strindberg. Written in 1907, it was first produced at Strindberg’s intimatetheatre in Stockholm on 21 January 1908. Since then, it has been staged by such notable directors as Max Reinhardt, Olof Molander, Roger Blin, and Ingmar Bergman (who directed it in 1941, 1954, 1973, and 2000).
Stringberg’s work is a key text in the development of modernist drama and a vivid example of a ‘chamber play’. Strindberg creates a world in which ghosts walk in bright daylight, a beautiful woman is transformed into a mummy and lives in the closet, and the household cook sucks all the nourishment out of the food before she serves it to her masters.
To Strindberg, family was something that he could never understand or even be a functioning part of: “Family...the home of all social evil, a charitable institution for comfortable women, an anchorage for house-fathers, and a hell for children” (Inferno, Strindberg). Deception, horror, financial ruin, control, love and loss are all essential ingredients in one of Strindberg’s most striking works.
Jones Paul Jones
When first asked if I was interested in writing an opera, I did not feel that I knew enough about the medium to do justice to the project. I then recalled my childhood days touring with my parents with Variety companies, feeling the wonder and magic of music and theatre combined. These memories, along with the passion for opera which I have nurtured over the years, gave me the inspiration to embark upon this adventure.
Choosing the right subject was of the utmost importance for me, and after much research I came upon August Strindberg’s The Ghost Sonata. I realised that this was a piece of just the sort of darkness and complexity that I was looking for. Although written at the turn of the 20th century, it seems to me a very modern play, concerning itself with power, greed and deceit as well as frailty, cruelty and loves lost and sought. The depth of the characters and the emotional undercurrents give great scope for music, and I intend to use the full range of the symphony orchestra to convey both the atmosphere, suspense and passion of the piece employing mainly lyrical and tonal, yet progressive materials. I am also very happy to be writing for voices again - the heart and soul of the opera.
It is also very exciting to be working with my librettist Helen Cooper, and know without doubt that between us we are making a very mysterious and dramatic piece.
Helen Cooper
I was thrilled when John asked me to write the libretto for The Ghost Sonata.
Strindberg has fascinated me ever since I translated his play Miss Julie for Tom Cairns’ stage production and the screenplay Miss Julie for Mike Figgis’ film. Strindberg wrote The Ghost Sonata not long before he died in a kind of frenzy. His hands were literally bleeding as he wrote it. It is a deeply autobiographical piece. Director Hummel looks back on his life. The haunted house Strindberg creates here is peopled with the ghosts from his past. Amongst them are: the love of his life, who has morphed into a white-haired woman with no memory
left; the beautiful woman with whom he fathered his illegitimate daughter, who is transformed into a mummy, lives in a closet and believes herself to be a parrot; a dead young milkmaid, who haunts Hummel throughout the play; the dead consul, who walks out of the house to count the number of wreaths donated to him and to check how many mourners are attending his funeral; the household cook, who sucks all the nourishment out of the food before serving it up; and the daughter, Hummel’s hope for the future, who is pining away amongst a sea of hyacinths.
Wagner’s Die Walküre is mentioned several times in the piece. As I have worked the last three years on Antony McDonald’s production of The Ring Cycle, it has been a revelation to me to discover how much Strindberg was inspired by Wagner’s epic, while writing The Ghost Sonata. Like Wotan, Hummel looks for a brave young man to marry his daughter, so they can produce new, bright courageous offspring. Strindberg wrote at a time when old beliefs were crumbling and new beliefs could only just be glimpsed on the horizon. Fundamental truths
were replaced by a kind of relativity of truth, depending on where you stand and what you are looking at. Other playwrights of that time still expressed these new ideas through heroes, heroines and villains, who belonged to the serene balanced world of classical art. Strindberg, however, expresses his ideas through new people. They are lost, frightened, irrational, spiritually unsettled, elfquestioning, self-divided. They doubt. They are modern.
There is a wonderfully contemporary Murdochian feel to Director Hummel as well, which is fascinating. For example, Hummel, in his ruthless pursuit of power and profit, won’t stop at anything to acquire the information he needs to further his power. He won’t even stop at hacking into people’s minds! These men also share a romantic streak, as they both believe in a happy ending. Hummel’s hopes for the latter however are dashed. The piece ends in death and destruction. I love this piece. It is a brilliant choice for an opera!
Starting the morning after a terrible disaster in Stockholm, the play relates the story of a young student, who finds himself drawn into the lives of the inhabitants of a stylish mansion in Stockholm. He makes the acquaintance of the mysterious Jacob Hummel who invites him into the house, only to find that it is a nest of betrayal and sickness.
Introductory Note & Artistic Statements
The Ghost Sonata is a play in three acts by Swedish playwright August Strindberg. Written in 1907, it was first produced at Strindberg’s intimatetheatre in Stockholm on 21 January 1908. Since then, it has been staged by such notable directors as Max Reinhardt, Olof Molander, Roger Blin, and Ingmar Bergman (who directed it in 1941, 1954, 1973, and 2000).
Stringberg’s work is a key text in the development of modernist drama and a vivid example of a ‘chamber play’. Strindberg creates a world in which ghosts walk in bright daylight, a beautiful woman is transformed into a mummy and lives in the closet, and the household cook sucks all the nourishment out of the food before she serves it to her masters.
To Strindberg, family was something that he could never understand or even be a functioning part of: “Family...the home of all social evil, a charitable institution for comfortable women, an anchorage for house-fathers, and a hell for children” (Inferno, Strindberg). Deception, horror, financial ruin, control, love and loss are all essential ingredients in one of Strindberg’s most striking works.
Jones Paul Jones
When first asked if I was interested in writing an opera, I did not feel that I knew enough about the medium to do justice to the project. I then recalled my childhood days touring with my parents with Variety companies, feeling the wonder and magic of music and theatre combined. These memories, along with the passion for opera which I have nurtured over the years, gave me the inspiration to embark upon this adventure.
Choosing the right subject was of the utmost importance for me, and after much research I came upon August Strindberg’s The Ghost Sonata. I realised that this was a piece of just the sort of darkness and complexity that I was looking for. Although written at the turn of the 20th century, it seems to me a very modern play, concerning itself with power, greed and deceit as well as frailty, cruelty and loves lost and sought. The depth of the characters and the emotional undercurrents give great scope for music, and I intend to use the full range of the symphony orchestra to convey both the atmosphere, suspense and passion of the piece employing mainly lyrical and tonal, yet progressive materials. I am also very happy to be writing for voices again - the heart and soul of the opera.
It is also very exciting to be working with my librettist Helen Cooper, and know without doubt that between us we are making a very mysterious and dramatic piece.
Helen Cooper
I was thrilled when John asked me to write the libretto for The Ghost Sonata.
Strindberg has fascinated me ever since I translated his play Miss Julie for Tom Cairns’ stage production and the screenplay Miss Julie for Mike Figgis’ film. Strindberg wrote The Ghost Sonata not long before he died in a kind of frenzy. His hands were literally bleeding as he wrote it. It is a deeply autobiographical piece. Director Hummel looks back on his life. The haunted house Strindberg creates here is peopled with the ghosts from his past. Amongst them are: the love of his life, who has morphed into a white-haired woman with no memory
left; the beautiful woman with whom he fathered his illegitimate daughter, who is transformed into a mummy, lives in a closet and believes herself to be a parrot; a dead young milkmaid, who haunts Hummel throughout the play; the dead consul, who walks out of the house to count the number of wreaths donated to him and to check how many mourners are attending his funeral; the household cook, who sucks all the nourishment out of the food before serving it up; and the daughter, Hummel’s hope for the future, who is pining away amongst a sea of hyacinths.
Wagner’s Die Walküre is mentioned several times in the piece. As I have worked the last three years on Antony McDonald’s production of The Ring Cycle, it has been a revelation to me to discover how much Strindberg was inspired by Wagner’s epic, while writing The Ghost Sonata. Like Wotan, Hummel looks for a brave young man to marry his daughter, so they can produce new, bright courageous offspring. Strindberg wrote at a time when old beliefs were crumbling and new beliefs could only just be glimpsed on the horizon. Fundamental truths
were replaced by a kind of relativity of truth, depending on where you stand and what you are looking at. Other playwrights of that time still expressed these new ideas through heroes, heroines and villains, who belonged to the serene balanced world of classical art. Strindberg, however, expresses his ideas through new people. They are lost, frightened, irrational, spiritually unsettled, elfquestioning, self-divided. They doubt. They are modern.
There is a wonderfully contemporary Murdochian feel to Director Hummel as well, which is fascinating. For example, Hummel, in his ruthless pursuit of power and profit, won’t stop at anything to acquire the information he needs to further his power. He won’t even stop at hacking into people’s minds! These men also share a romantic streak, as they both believe in a happy ending. Hummel’s hopes for the latter however are dashed. The piece ends in death and destruction. I love this piece. It is a brilliant choice for an opera!