All in the Mind
Opera in one act for community performance. Libretto by the composer. 2004 70’
Commissioned by W11 Opera (now London Youth Opera) and performed at the Britten Theatre, London in December 2004
What will life be like several millennia form now? Not on Planet Earth, of course, but on The White Moon, a planet with two suns, where it is always day and never night. Is the human race any wiser? All in the Mind is a cautionary tale in which our past, present and future is all mixed up. It takes its cue from the legend of Doctor Faustus - and several contemporary issues.
The action is set in the future on a planet called The White Moon where a company called Clever Clones makes human beings to order; it has also made an artificial Brain capable of great thoughts. When the company runs into trouble, the Emperor, Mighty Rich, and his Ministers persuade the company's Scientists to implant in a batch of new clones digitized thoughts, memories and dreams saved by people long ago. By this means, some Earthlings from an earlier age - our own, perhaps - are reincarnated. Amidst general rejoicing at having created eternal life, the company's fortunes soar, but the Brain, who has been consulted from time to time, suggests the Scientists must go on a mission through space and time to discover the nature of right and wrong.
Having run the gauntlet of Bouncers, the Earthlings encounter the Emperor again at a party in the Black Hole where Nic Night, a prisoner, sings about imminent oblivion. The Earthlings fondly remember their previous life on Earth but, when they express a desire to return there, find they are trapped: the Emperor has set his sights on their priceless souls which he wants to carry off into his underworld. The scheme to help Clever Clones was merely a means to the end and he now summons up the forces of infinite gravity to finish everyone off. When the Scientists enter, they find the Earthlings have perished and everyone else has vanished except for Nic Night whom they release and lead away.
Back on the Moon, the Earthlings awake from what they assume has been a terrible nightmare; the Emperor arrives at Clever Clones to take charge and a battle of wits ensues. Suddenly the Scientists appear with Nic Night: it turns out he is the rightful king of the Moon who was deposed long ago and sent into exile. So was the Black Hole real? If so, was there a 'deeper magic' - or a force greater than gravity? Or have dreams invaded the conscious world?
Nic suggests the people should decide who will be their leader - under him life will be more fun, but less certain. In the face of threats from the Emperor, the workers reject this idea, but when the Earthlings announce their decision to depart for home - and mortality - the people choose Nic. The Brain, who by now has worked out the difference between good and evil, laments its inability to join the human race; it will continue to do the thinking - while, under their singing King, the rest can make music.
However, with the passing of time the Brain becomes obsolete, and is consigned to the Museum of Ancient Science...
Opera in one act for community performance. Libretto by the composer. 2004 70’
Commissioned by W11 Opera (now London Youth Opera) and performed at the Britten Theatre, London in December 2004
What will life be like several millennia form now? Not on Planet Earth, of course, but on The White Moon, a planet with two suns, where it is always day and never night. Is the human race any wiser? All in the Mind is a cautionary tale in which our past, present and future is all mixed up. It takes its cue from the legend of Doctor Faustus - and several contemporary issues.
The action is set in the future on a planet called The White Moon where a company called Clever Clones makes human beings to order; it has also made an artificial Brain capable of great thoughts. When the company runs into trouble, the Emperor, Mighty Rich, and his Ministers persuade the company's Scientists to implant in a batch of new clones digitized thoughts, memories and dreams saved by people long ago. By this means, some Earthlings from an earlier age - our own, perhaps - are reincarnated. Amidst general rejoicing at having created eternal life, the company's fortunes soar, but the Brain, who has been consulted from time to time, suggests the Scientists must go on a mission through space and time to discover the nature of right and wrong.
Having run the gauntlet of Bouncers, the Earthlings encounter the Emperor again at a party in the Black Hole where Nic Night, a prisoner, sings about imminent oblivion. The Earthlings fondly remember their previous life on Earth but, when they express a desire to return there, find they are trapped: the Emperor has set his sights on their priceless souls which he wants to carry off into his underworld. The scheme to help Clever Clones was merely a means to the end and he now summons up the forces of infinite gravity to finish everyone off. When the Scientists enter, they find the Earthlings have perished and everyone else has vanished except for Nic Night whom they release and lead away.
Back on the Moon, the Earthlings awake from what they assume has been a terrible nightmare; the Emperor arrives at Clever Clones to take charge and a battle of wits ensues. Suddenly the Scientists appear with Nic Night: it turns out he is the rightful king of the Moon who was deposed long ago and sent into exile. So was the Black Hole real? If so, was there a 'deeper magic' - or a force greater than gravity? Or have dreams invaded the conscious world?
Nic suggests the people should decide who will be their leader - under him life will be more fun, but less certain. In the face of threats from the Emperor, the workers reject this idea, but when the Earthlings announce their decision to depart for home - and mortality - the people choose Nic. The Brain, who by now has worked out the difference between good and evil, laments its inability to join the human race; it will continue to do the thinking - while, under their singing King, the rest can make music.
However, with the passing of time the Brain becomes obsolete, and is consigned to the Museum of Ancient Science...
Characters
The Brain
Dr Neuron, Chief Scientist
Mighty Rich, Emperor (Empress) of The White Moon
Ancient Earthlings (3)
Nic Night
Bouncers (4)
Celestial Voice (off-stage)
Employees of Clever Clones: Scientists, Telepathists, Bureaucrats & Engineers
The Court: Ministers, Courtiers & Guards
In the Black Hole: Waitresses & Partygoers
Clones
Press Corps
The action takes place in the distant future.
Prologue: The Museum of Ancient Science
Scene One: The Laboratory of Clever Clones
Interlude: A Wasteland
Scene Two: The Black Hole
Scene Three: The Laboratory of Clever Clones
Epilogue: The Museum of Ancient Science
All in the Mind was written for a large cast of 10 to 18 year olds but could be performed by far fewer; the approximate numbers envisaged at the time of composition were Earthlings 6, Ministers/Waitresses 8, Scientists 12, Telepathists 12, Bureaucrats 4, Engineers 12, Clones/ Press 6, Courtiers 14, Guards 14. With the exception of the 4 Bouncers, all the parts were intended to be taken by unbroken or female voices; although the treble clef is used throughout, the casting may be adapted to suit particular circumstances and it is left to the Directors' discretion as to whether parts are played as male or female characters. All the cast appear as Partygoers in Scene Two.
The Brain
Dr Neuron, Chief Scientist
Mighty Rich, Emperor (Empress) of The White Moon
Ancient Earthlings (3)
Nic Night
Bouncers (4)
Celestial Voice (off-stage)
Employees of Clever Clones: Scientists, Telepathists, Bureaucrats & Engineers
The Court: Ministers, Courtiers & Guards
In the Black Hole: Waitresses & Partygoers
Clones
Press Corps
The action takes place in the distant future.
Prologue: The Museum of Ancient Science
Scene One: The Laboratory of Clever Clones
Interlude: A Wasteland
Scene Two: The Black Hole
Scene Three: The Laboratory of Clever Clones
Epilogue: The Museum of Ancient Science
All in the Mind was written for a large cast of 10 to 18 year olds but could be performed by far fewer; the approximate numbers envisaged at the time of composition were Earthlings 6, Ministers/Waitresses 8, Scientists 12, Telepathists 12, Bureaucrats 4, Engineers 12, Clones/ Press 6, Courtiers 14, Guards 14. With the exception of the 4 Bouncers, all the parts were intended to be taken by unbroken or female voices; although the treble clef is used throughout, the casting may be adapted to suit particular circumstances and it is left to the Directors' discretion as to whether parts are played as male or female characters. All the cast appear as Partygoers in Scene Two.
The story of All in the Mind is drawn from the Faust legend of medieval times concerning the learned Doctor who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for magical powers.
If we substitute scientific knowledge for magic – and much of what we can do today would appear magical to people of the past – we see how this story is still relevant to our own times. Science has brought us much that would delight the devil - destructive weapons, pollution and media manipulation, for a start - yet opting out of this knowledge is not an option; we must use it creatively, for purposes that are good and, paradoxically, to get us out of the various muddles that science itself will lead us into.
It is evident that technological progress has brought with it a high degree of predictability in our lives. We have tamed nature to the extent that, in Western civilisation, the fulfilment of our needs is taken for granted. On the White Moon, where it is always day and never night, even human life itself is predictable because it is cloned. Knowledge, isolated in human cells, is implanted to order. A giant Brain - Artificial Intelligence -functions as a central source of reference. Is this a vision of the future that is absurd?
The state of the White Moon ensures its citizens are well catered for. The employees of Clever Clones evidently care about their company for they know of no life outside it. They have, we might say, sold their souls to it. The process of cloning is taken for granted: it is so much more convenient for citizens to take delivery of a ready-made person than having to contend with the unpredictability of birth and raising children. Clever Clones sorts that all out for its customers! Questionable practices - the workers are exploited and the rightful king has been sent into exile - are excused by the fact that the consumer demand exists.
Just as certain dictators have lived in luxury while their subjects starved, so the Emperor is free to be inventive while his people live as automatons. When Clever Clones Corporation crashes, (the Emperor himself has initiated a sell-off), the Scientists can’t think what to do. So the Emperor’s plan to rescue the company seems a brilliant one: resurrect Ancient Earthlings from the ‘files’ they bequeathed to posterity. Despite the clinical circumstances of their re-birth, the Earthlings are seen to be truly human and everyone likes them; they are antiques. The irony is that the Emperor has sown the seeds of his own destruction, for the arrival of the Earthlings set the Scientists off on a course that will lead them to the truth. And the truth is that the Emperor serves another world, another universe even. Under his mask of geniality, he is dangerous.
In the Black Hole, the laws of space, time and gravity combine in a world that isn’t so much absurd as surreal. A sense of impending doom permeates the proceedings. The Earthlings have been naïve to follow the Emperor; they receive veiled warnings from the Bouncers, but are too caught up in the fun of their new life to understand. We meet Nic who appears to be resigned to his own oblivion, but when he hears the Earthlings sing about their previous life on Earth he is moved by their humanity, frailty, warmth, and passion. These qualities are exactly what the Emperor wants; it is now time to take their souls into the next world, and, whereas some gods call on thunder or fire to do their dirty work, Rich summons up gravity; everyone appears to perish in the crush. Only Nic seems to have escaped and is pulled out of the wreckage when the Scientists arrive on the scene.
When Nic, the rightful king, returns to the White Moon a balance is restored and humanity returns in the form of diversity, inventiveness - and music. First the people have to agree to this, and it is the departure of the Earthlings that sets the seal on the Emperor’s downfall. They are confused – as we are – whether the Black Hole was real or just dreamt about; in black holes space and time are curved so who can tell?
Either way, it’s an experience that serves as a warning. The thing that is true for the Earthlings now is that their past is haunting them and that’s where they head off to. It’s the past that we feel and that permeates our consciousness, whereas the future is meaningless because we can’t relate to it. It’s unknown, it’s dangerous, and we need rescuing from the brink. Scientific progress propels us forwards, but if there is any hope for mankind surely it lies in – scientific progress. Think on until the end of time!
Meanwhile, the Brain has considered the question of good and evil in relation to these events. But knowing about Ethics won’t save it from the eventual fate of most inventions - obsolescence. Can it be appreciated in a Museum? At least it can remember this story!
If we substitute scientific knowledge for magic – and much of what we can do today would appear magical to people of the past – we see how this story is still relevant to our own times. Science has brought us much that would delight the devil - destructive weapons, pollution and media manipulation, for a start - yet opting out of this knowledge is not an option; we must use it creatively, for purposes that are good and, paradoxically, to get us out of the various muddles that science itself will lead us into.
It is evident that technological progress has brought with it a high degree of predictability in our lives. We have tamed nature to the extent that, in Western civilisation, the fulfilment of our needs is taken for granted. On the White Moon, where it is always day and never night, even human life itself is predictable because it is cloned. Knowledge, isolated in human cells, is implanted to order. A giant Brain - Artificial Intelligence -functions as a central source of reference. Is this a vision of the future that is absurd?
The state of the White Moon ensures its citizens are well catered for. The employees of Clever Clones evidently care about their company for they know of no life outside it. They have, we might say, sold their souls to it. The process of cloning is taken for granted: it is so much more convenient for citizens to take delivery of a ready-made person than having to contend with the unpredictability of birth and raising children. Clever Clones sorts that all out for its customers! Questionable practices - the workers are exploited and the rightful king has been sent into exile - are excused by the fact that the consumer demand exists.
Just as certain dictators have lived in luxury while their subjects starved, so the Emperor is free to be inventive while his people live as automatons. When Clever Clones Corporation crashes, (the Emperor himself has initiated a sell-off), the Scientists can’t think what to do. So the Emperor’s plan to rescue the company seems a brilliant one: resurrect Ancient Earthlings from the ‘files’ they bequeathed to posterity. Despite the clinical circumstances of their re-birth, the Earthlings are seen to be truly human and everyone likes them; they are antiques. The irony is that the Emperor has sown the seeds of his own destruction, for the arrival of the Earthlings set the Scientists off on a course that will lead them to the truth. And the truth is that the Emperor serves another world, another universe even. Under his mask of geniality, he is dangerous.
In the Black Hole, the laws of space, time and gravity combine in a world that isn’t so much absurd as surreal. A sense of impending doom permeates the proceedings. The Earthlings have been naïve to follow the Emperor; they receive veiled warnings from the Bouncers, but are too caught up in the fun of their new life to understand. We meet Nic who appears to be resigned to his own oblivion, but when he hears the Earthlings sing about their previous life on Earth he is moved by their humanity, frailty, warmth, and passion. These qualities are exactly what the Emperor wants; it is now time to take their souls into the next world, and, whereas some gods call on thunder or fire to do their dirty work, Rich summons up gravity; everyone appears to perish in the crush. Only Nic seems to have escaped and is pulled out of the wreckage when the Scientists arrive on the scene.
When Nic, the rightful king, returns to the White Moon a balance is restored and humanity returns in the form of diversity, inventiveness - and music. First the people have to agree to this, and it is the departure of the Earthlings that sets the seal on the Emperor’s downfall. They are confused – as we are – whether the Black Hole was real or just dreamt about; in black holes space and time are curved so who can tell?
Either way, it’s an experience that serves as a warning. The thing that is true for the Earthlings now is that their past is haunting them and that’s where they head off to. It’s the past that we feel and that permeates our consciousness, whereas the future is meaningless because we can’t relate to it. It’s unknown, it’s dangerous, and we need rescuing from the brink. Scientific progress propels us forwards, but if there is any hope for mankind surely it lies in – scientific progress. Think on until the end of time!
Meanwhile, the Brain has considered the question of good and evil in relation to these events. But knowing about Ethics won’t save it from the eventual fate of most inventions - obsolescence. Can it be appreciated in a Museum? At least it can remember this story!
The Dream That Hath No Bottom
2001
A musical for a large cast of young people drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream - set against a background of Elizabethan England, the Armada, and the Reformation. Created with help from the pupils of Vernham Dean Gillum's School, Hampshire and William Shakespeare and featuring Pyramus and Thisbe by John Frederick Lampe (1745)
2001
A musical for a large cast of young people drawn from A Midsummer Night's Dream - set against a background of Elizabethan England, the Armada, and the Reformation. Created with help from the pupils of Vernham Dean Gillum's School, Hampshire and William Shakespeare and featuring Pyramus and Thisbe by John Frederick Lampe (1745)
Prologue
It's a summer evening about 400 years ago. The pupils and scholars of Gillum's School are resting. They dream up the idea of creating a play and Puck helps them to stage it, stepping in from time to time to sort things out when they get stuck. He also makes sure there is a part in it for him…
Act One
August 1588. The village children are anxious about the Spanish Armada and they pray for the safety of their families. They sing enviously of the entertainment to be had in London - particularly the theatres.
The Fairies and Goblins come out to sing and dance, but Oberon and Titania are quarrelling. Oberon tells Puck to fetch a magic flower whose juice will make Titania fall in love with the first creature she sees when she wakes up.
Oberon overhears an argument between Hermia and Lysanda, two village girls of opposing religious faiths. Lysanda finds a mysterious letter which sounds as though it's written by a spy and she decides to make use of it for her own cruel purposes. When Puck returns with the flower Oberon commands him to find Lysanda and teach her a lesson. When the Fairies sing Titania to sleep, Oberon streaks her eyes with the magic juice.
It is by now the dead of night, and some village youths arrive to rehearse a play. They don't get very far because Puck enters and, seeing Bottom in full flight, thinks this must be the nasty person he's looking for. He puts on him an ass's head. The other youths flee in terror. This commotion wakens Titania who immediately falls for Bottom. He is enchanted to be the object of such attention. They leave together.
The village children rush in with the news that Hermia has been arrested on suspicion of spying and the rumour spreads that Bottom has been transformed by witchcraft. What's going on? they ask.
Hermia enters, on her way to prison, to say her farewells. Oberon realises Puck has got the wrong mortal and sends him packing.
Act Two
The village children sing of the religious troubles that have plagued their country in recent times. Their faith has been subject to the whim of successive monarchs.
Meanwhile, Bottom is being entertained by the Fairies and Goblins whose life is so wonderful, he thinks, that he wants to return with them to Fairyland. This involves a journey across a rainbow bridge while the bells peal out.
Suddenly, as a new day dawns, the Prefects stop everyone in their tracks: Oberon releases Titania from the magic spell and Bottom is relieved of his ass-head. He wakes up as if from a dream.
It is the morning of the village fete. The children are surprised by the arrival of a troupe of strolling players who bring the news that the Armada has been defeated. Zachariah is disgruntled by the thought of any celebrations. One of the Players seems to recognize him.
The Players' show is about the Seven Ages of Man. It is old-fashioned and Bottom and his mates feel they could do better. [ - this scene may be cut]
To finish the story, Puck has one last trick up his sleeve: Queen Elizabeth and her Courtiers arrive on the scene. She is asked to intervene in the case of Hermia, the supposed spy. When the young girl is cross-examined it appears she was found several years ago on a beach following a shipwreck. The boat, The Titania, contained a husband, a wife and two baby daughters. The player, Isabella, reveals herself as the mother and Zachariah as the husband, so the family is reunited and Lysanda and Hermia discover they are sisters. What an astonishing turn of events!
The letter that incriminated Hermia is produced and the Queen recognizes the content as her one of her own speeches. Hermia is therefore proved innocent and Lysanda gets away with a ticking off.
Amidst general rejoicing, the youths perform Pyramus and Thisbe. These two lovers were kept apart by a wall. One night they arrange to meet in a moonlit graveyard but Thisbe is scared off by a lion. When Pyramus arrives, Thisbe's torn veil leads him to conclude the worst. He kills himself and when Thisbe returns she joins him in death.
It is the end of another day; the Fairies and Goblins come out again and join in the fun. Then the villagers go home - and the scholars of Gillum's School are left with Puck, their muse, to ponder what they've created. Perhaps they should send it to Will Shakespeare to see what he could make of it?
It's a summer evening about 400 years ago. The pupils and scholars of Gillum's School are resting. They dream up the idea of creating a play and Puck helps them to stage it, stepping in from time to time to sort things out when they get stuck. He also makes sure there is a part in it for him…
Act One
August 1588. The village children are anxious about the Spanish Armada and they pray for the safety of their families. They sing enviously of the entertainment to be had in London - particularly the theatres.
The Fairies and Goblins come out to sing and dance, but Oberon and Titania are quarrelling. Oberon tells Puck to fetch a magic flower whose juice will make Titania fall in love with the first creature she sees when she wakes up.
Oberon overhears an argument between Hermia and Lysanda, two village girls of opposing religious faiths. Lysanda finds a mysterious letter which sounds as though it's written by a spy and she decides to make use of it for her own cruel purposes. When Puck returns with the flower Oberon commands him to find Lysanda and teach her a lesson. When the Fairies sing Titania to sleep, Oberon streaks her eyes with the magic juice.
It is by now the dead of night, and some village youths arrive to rehearse a play. They don't get very far because Puck enters and, seeing Bottom in full flight, thinks this must be the nasty person he's looking for. He puts on him an ass's head. The other youths flee in terror. This commotion wakens Titania who immediately falls for Bottom. He is enchanted to be the object of such attention. They leave together.
The village children rush in with the news that Hermia has been arrested on suspicion of spying and the rumour spreads that Bottom has been transformed by witchcraft. What's going on? they ask.
Hermia enters, on her way to prison, to say her farewells. Oberon realises Puck has got the wrong mortal and sends him packing.
Act Two
The village children sing of the religious troubles that have plagued their country in recent times. Their faith has been subject to the whim of successive monarchs.
Meanwhile, Bottom is being entertained by the Fairies and Goblins whose life is so wonderful, he thinks, that he wants to return with them to Fairyland. This involves a journey across a rainbow bridge while the bells peal out.
Suddenly, as a new day dawns, the Prefects stop everyone in their tracks: Oberon releases Titania from the magic spell and Bottom is relieved of his ass-head. He wakes up as if from a dream.
It is the morning of the village fete. The children are surprised by the arrival of a troupe of strolling players who bring the news that the Armada has been defeated. Zachariah is disgruntled by the thought of any celebrations. One of the Players seems to recognize him.
The Players' show is about the Seven Ages of Man. It is old-fashioned and Bottom and his mates feel they could do better. [ - this scene may be cut]
To finish the story, Puck has one last trick up his sleeve: Queen Elizabeth and her Courtiers arrive on the scene. She is asked to intervene in the case of Hermia, the supposed spy. When the young girl is cross-examined it appears she was found several years ago on a beach following a shipwreck. The boat, The Titania, contained a husband, a wife and two baby daughters. The player, Isabella, reveals herself as the mother and Zachariah as the husband, so the family is reunited and Lysanda and Hermia discover they are sisters. What an astonishing turn of events!
The letter that incriminated Hermia is produced and the Queen recognizes the content as her one of her own speeches. Hermia is therefore proved innocent and Lysanda gets away with a ticking off.
Amidst general rejoicing, the youths perform Pyramus and Thisbe. These two lovers were kept apart by a wall. One night they arrange to meet in a moonlit graveyard but Thisbe is scared off by a lion. When Pyramus arrives, Thisbe's torn veil leads him to conclude the worst. He kills himself and when Thisbe returns she joins him in death.
It is the end of another day; the Fairies and Goblins come out again and join in the fun. Then the villagers go home - and the scholars of Gillum's School are left with Puck, their muse, to ponder what they've created. Perhaps they should send it to Will Shakespeare to see what he could make of it?
Press Release from Vernham Dean School 2001
THE DREAM THAT HATH NO BOTTOM Vernham Dean School is a small village school in North Hampshire. Wishing to celebrate the Millennium, its Headteacher, Pat Horne, successfully applied for a grant under the Awards for All scheme. Edward Lambert was commissioned to create a musical drama in collaboration with the children based on curriculum work in the school: he chose the current topic of the Tudors. Initially children brainstormed ideas for the plot, which gradually grew into a story based around Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which the older pupils were studying in English. At the same time the children generated musical ideas which the composer wove into fully-fledged songs with parts for all the children learning instruments as well as for percussionists that had no such experience. Further workshops were led by a professional writer, an opera singer, a vocal coach and a choreographer. The project threaded its way into every aspect of school life. In history the children studied the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Tudor times - a main theme for the play. They looked at clothing to dress the cast: every child - 107 of them - has a costume. ICT in almost every form imaginable has been used by the children - helping with the technical equipment, computers in word processing, digital camera work, videoing (and then evaluating and improving), ordinary camera work for recording process along the way. The final product, which lasts for over 100 minutes, incorporates the mock-opera Pyramus and Thisbe by John Frederick Lampe, written in 1745. It was sung by six Y6 boys. We performed the show on three occasions: Vernham Dean Village Hall Friday February 9 2001 at at 7pm Cricklade Theatre, Andover Monday 12 February 2001 6pm Tuesday 13th February 2001 at 7pm |
"I doubt whether any primary school in the country has attempted anything quite as ambitious as this. It is a two hour production, with fantastic costumes, which is part opera, part comedy and part Shakespeare. It is entirely original, well acted with enthusiasm, humour and professionalism. It also made full use of modern technology, with mini-discs, digital camera work and videoing for evaluating and improving performances. Aurelia and I enjoyed every minute of it."
Sir George Young Bt MP |
The Button Moulder
Opera in 2 acts for community performance. Libretto by the composer after Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. 1990 80’
Commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in association with Prince William School, Oundle, with funds made available by Coutts Career Consultants
The Button Moulder comes to collect old Peer Gynt's soul: playing for time, Peer reviews his life.We see him as a brazen youngster absconding with a young girl on her wedding day. He is almost torn to pieces by Trolls in the Hall of the Mountain King. He bids farewell to his dying mother and to Solveig, the girl who's devoted to him, and goes off to conquer the world. We see him as a wealthy middle-aged business man who exploits any situation to his advantage and narrowly escapes a plot against him. His ambitions to be Emperor lead him to the Madhouse where he presides over a scene of death and destruction which lays bare his soul. Back home, Solveig, now a blind old lady, still waits for him: and so does the Button Moulder....
Peer Gynt, with its mixture of reality and fantasy, is a work young people can appreciate on many different levels. It is notoriously hard to put on the stage ("Do it on the radio" says the heroine in Educating Rita) and Ibsen recognized the need for music to play an important role in underlining its mythical atmosphere. Here much of the play has been followed quite closely, although it has been cut to provide a simple dramatic shape and there has been some updating. The music, intended as an odyssey in itself, draws on a wide variety of styles ranging from medieval music to that of the present day, and from different parts of the world, and some of it originated from projects leading to the production.
Opera in 2 acts for community performance. Libretto by the composer after Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. 1990 80’
Commissioned by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in association with Prince William School, Oundle, with funds made available by Coutts Career Consultants
The Button Moulder comes to collect old Peer Gynt's soul: playing for time, Peer reviews his life.We see him as a brazen youngster absconding with a young girl on her wedding day. He is almost torn to pieces by Trolls in the Hall of the Mountain King. He bids farewell to his dying mother and to Solveig, the girl who's devoted to him, and goes off to conquer the world. We see him as a wealthy middle-aged business man who exploits any situation to his advantage and narrowly escapes a plot against him. His ambitions to be Emperor lead him to the Madhouse where he presides over a scene of death and destruction which lays bare his soul. Back home, Solveig, now a blind old lady, still waits for him: and so does the Button Moulder....
Peer Gynt, with its mixture of reality and fantasy, is a work young people can appreciate on many different levels. It is notoriously hard to put on the stage ("Do it on the radio" says the heroine in Educating Rita) and Ibsen recognized the need for music to play an important role in underlining its mythical atmosphere. Here much of the play has been followed quite closely, although it has been cut to provide a simple dramatic shape and there has been some updating. The music, intended as an odyssey in itself, draws on a wide variety of styles ranging from medieval music to that of the present day, and from different parts of the world, and some of it originated from projects leading to the production.
"...twists and turns of folk music, evocative yet never quite definable; there is the pounding pulse of rock, the melodic parallels and earthy rhythms of the Middle Ages..."
The Times
"Lambert has drawn on a variety of musical styles... there are twists and turns of folk music, evocative yet never quite definable; there is the pounding pulse of rock, the melodic parallels and earthy rhythms of the Middle Ages. There is a full battery of percussion and electronic keyboards... to say that the project is a far-reaching community effort is to give little idea of the flair and professionalism with which the cast carry off this fully-fledged opera... there are ritual dances, too, nearly always allied to the production's most memorable set pieces... well worth the booking."
Opera magazine
"Ibsen's everyman lends itself naturally to the persona of the boastful self-centered teenager. But Lambert's opera... turned out to be far from the narrow contemporary morality it so easily could have become... the opera's strength lay in the toughness and economy with which it used its disparate resources... the sung dialogue was lithe and muscular, floating free of accompaniments as rich and varied as Ibsen's verse. Duets and ensembles were uncompromisingly written, and there was as much work for a recorder beginner as for a violin virtuoso. [Dances] contributed to the work's own powerful pacing...the evening's undoubted coup de théåtre is the madhouse scene... a manic impressario/dictator puts his cast of drop-outs, intellectuals and artists through a series of turns as chilling in their movement as in their music."
The Press and Bulletin, Binghamton, USA
... a pretty impressive accomplishment...the entire cast seemed to pulsate...the asylum which had all the trappings of a lethal TV game show let students deal with topics that have some depth...opens up the world of opera to students. ..what was most enjoyable was watching young people take so enthusiastically to an admittedly difficult art form.
The Times
"Lambert has drawn on a variety of musical styles... there are twists and turns of folk music, evocative yet never quite definable; there is the pounding pulse of rock, the melodic parallels and earthy rhythms of the Middle Ages. There is a full battery of percussion and electronic keyboards... to say that the project is a far-reaching community effort is to give little idea of the flair and professionalism with which the cast carry off this fully-fledged opera... there are ritual dances, too, nearly always allied to the production's most memorable set pieces... well worth the booking."
Opera magazine
"Ibsen's everyman lends itself naturally to the persona of the boastful self-centered teenager. But Lambert's opera... turned out to be far from the narrow contemporary morality it so easily could have become... the opera's strength lay in the toughness and economy with which it used its disparate resources... the sung dialogue was lithe and muscular, floating free of accompaniments as rich and varied as Ibsen's verse. Duets and ensembles were uncompromisingly written, and there was as much work for a recorder beginner as for a violin virtuoso. [Dances] contributed to the work's own powerful pacing...the evening's undoubted coup de théåtre is the madhouse scene... a manic impressario/dictator puts his cast of drop-outs, intellectuals and artists through a series of turns as chilling in their movement as in their music."
The Press and Bulletin, Binghamton, USA
... a pretty impressive accomplishment...the entire cast seemed to pulsate...the asylum which had all the trappings of a lethal TV game show let students deal with topics that have some depth...opens up the world of opera to students. ..what was most enjoyable was watching young people take so enthusiastically to an admittedly difficult art form.
The Treasure and a Tale
tells the stories of Beowulf and the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon ship burial and its treasure at Sutton Hoo in 1939.
Suitable for school or community performance
Although conceived as musical theatre, the emphasis is on telling the Beowulf story through rhythmic recitation accompanied by drumming. With the exception of the Gleeman, who has a challenging solo part, the singing roles are introduced by way of reported speech and so may effectively be taken by everyone acting as Storytellers. By way of contrast, the scenes are separated by spoken interludes which tell of the finding of the treasure in Suffolk against the background of World War II, sketched briefly through the eyes of local children and an evacuee. There is, of course, no direct connection between Beowulf and the treasure from Sutton Hoo; yet they have in common the society that created them and each brings the other vividly to life.
tells the stories of Beowulf and the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon ship burial and its treasure at Sutton Hoo in 1939.
Suitable for school or community performance
Although conceived as musical theatre, the emphasis is on telling the Beowulf story through rhythmic recitation accompanied by drumming. With the exception of the Gleeman, who has a challenging solo part, the singing roles are introduced by way of reported speech and so may effectively be taken by everyone acting as Storytellers. By way of contrast, the scenes are separated by spoken interludes which tell of the finding of the treasure in Suffolk against the background of World War II, sketched briefly through the eyes of local children and an evacuee. There is, of course, no direct connection between Beowulf and the treasure from Sutton Hoo; yet they have in common the society that created them and each brings the other vividly to life.
This is the result of a project which took place under the auspices of the Royal Opera House and the British Museum in the Autumn and Winter of 1991 - 1992. Several schools in Suffolk came together in the Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, to perform this work which their pupils had helped to create. While some musicians constituted a symphonic youth orchestra, many others played percussion, keyboards, steel band, recorders, or easy string, wind or brass parts. The musical accompaniment of The Treasure and a Tale thus includes much that can be performed by all sorts of young players, beginners or advanced, and particularly musical patterns for metallophones and xylophones designed to be played from memory.
- A Gleeman introduces himself as a minstrel who entertained the courts of England with tales of heroism. Once he came to the court of Redwald at the royal palace of Rendlesham, and sang the story of Beowulf...
- The noble king Hrothgar has built a wondrous new mead-hall called Heorot. But his land is plagued by the monster Grendel. Hrothgar has summoned help from the hero, Beowulf, who duly arrives and takes charge.
- June 1939: In the countryside near Woodbridge in Suffolk, some children see a large hole being dug. Winnie recognizes Basil Brown, an archaeologist from Ipswich. The land belongs to Mrs Edith Pretty.
- Beowulf defeats Grendel through his amazing strength, only to find Grendel's she-mate, who lives at the bottom of a lake, an even more formidable foe. But just as the Thanes despair, Beowulf surfaces, victorious.
- July 1939: The archaeological dig has revealed the outlines of a huge ship and attracted the attention of experts from London and Cambridge.
- In Heorot a banquet is held in Beowulf's honour and he is presented with royal gifts. In response, he tells the assmbled company to enjoy themselves while they can. The Gleeman does his turn
- August 1939: An inquest is being held to determine ownership of the priceless treasure.
- Beowulf returns home, and king Hrothgar succombs to grief, buries the royal treasure and dies. A fiercesome dragon guards the treasure.
- Autumn 1939: It is wartime. The children show George, an evacuee from London, where the treasure was found. The inquest held Mrs Pretty to be its rightful owner, but she presented it to the nation. The site is now occupied by the army.
- The dragon has laid waste the land, and Beowulf, now an old king, is called upon to rescue his people. He kills the dragon, but not before its fearful venom has fatally wounded the hero. He bids his followers farewell.
- 1945: The war is ending. George has lost his father, and the children wonder about the futility of war, but also the heroism of those who give up their lives for the sake of their country.
- Beowulf is mourned and placed with his treasure in a mighty ship. 'Raise a lament again and again in sorrow for passing times'. The ship was hauled to high ground, and buried in a vast mound, making a fitting monument for such a noble and beloved king.
- And so the Gleeman finishes his story: it is now time to move on...