Jephte
Orchestrated by Hans Werner Henze
Year of composition 1976
Duration 30 minutes F
for Fausto
World premiere
World premiere 14. Juli 1976
London · Festival of the City of London
Collegium Musicum of London
Soprano Jane Manning
Contralto Sarah Walker
Tenor Philip Langridge
Bass Stephen Roberts
Chior master Laszlo Heltay
Conductor Hans Werner Henze
Comment
The instruments in this arrangement (in which the choral setting remains unchanged) are of Old Testament antiquity, their origins go back to ancient times and yet, because of the continual process of renewal and im- provement which they have undergone, they still remain the medium for the music of our time.
The sound world I have created with them, an evocation of biblical and mediterranean instruments, is designed to project the con- tents of Carissimi’s score into the world of our presentday sensibilities and to make the music tragedy of Jephta and his daughter palpable in its realism, its emotion and luminous energy.
Hans Werner Henze
Cast
Jephte | tenore |
figlia di Jephte | soprano |
Historicus I | contralto |
Historicus II | basso |
Eco I | soprano |
Eco II | soprano |
Tromba I | soprano |
Tromba II | soprano |
il soldato | basso |
coro misto a sei voci |
Ensemble
4 Flauti | 2° anche Ottavino 3° anche Ottavino e Flauto contralto 4° anche Flauto basso |
Percussione | Tomtom Boo-bam Timpani Glockenspiel Marimba Crotali [per 1] |
Arpa | |
Chitarra | |
Mandolino | |
Banjo tenore |