Orpheus
Commissioned by the Württembergisches Staatstheater, Stuttgart
Year of composition 1978
Revised version 1986
Duration 110 Minuten
Dedicated to the ballet company of the Wu?rttembergisches Staatstheater and to the choreographer William Forsythe
City of Positano Prize 1980
World premieres
World premiere 17. march 1979
Stuttgart · Württembergische Staatsoper
Choreography William Forsythe
Stage design Axel Manthey
Costume design Joachim Herzog
Conductor Woldemar Nelsson
World premiere of the vienna version (for small Instrumentation ) 20. june 1986
Wien · Staatsoper
Production and Choreography Ruth Berghaus
Stage design Hans Dieter Schaal
Costume design Marie Luise Strandt
Conductor Ulf Schirmer
Comment
In this work Edward Bond’s vision of the beauty and the horror of living are brought together in a drama for all mankind. Or- pheus provokes, unmasks and disobeys the Gods through his singing, and thereby frees man from the fear of death, from the loss of love, and from mortality.
An imortant impetus to this composition after repeated and particularly intense experiences of hearing Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” over many years was given in 1977 by the 2nd Cantiere in Montepulciano at which a production of “Orfeo” by Angelo Poliziano (a native of the town) was framed by a number of Orpheus pieces by classical and contemporary composers, including my own “Tirsi, Mopso, Aristeo”, a sonata for solo violin written at the end of 1976. At this Cantiere, Franco Serpa, an expert on ancient Greece, gave an impressive lecture on aspects of the Orphic tradition and told the listeners how the ideas and images of this tradition still effect the world of our imagination today, how they play a decisive role in our thoughts and feelings, and to what a large extent they form part of our culture.
Each of the “Arias of Orpheus” begins with the sound of the guitar. It is the clanging and whimpering sounds of the nerve fibres, kaleidoscopic colouring, darkness, shades, silver, weeping, hollow cries like those of nocturnal animals and the echoing of history that move me whenever I hear a guitar play.
Hans Werner Henze
Cast
Orpheus | ballerino | |
Eurydike | ballerina | |
Persephone | ballerina | |
Hades | ballerino | |
Apollo | ballerino | |
corpo di ballo | 3 judges chief guard guards sentinels country people mad people poor people crippled and raging people rich people girls women men the dead Orpheus’ friends monsters animals |
Instrumentation
Versione Viennese
2 Flauti | 1° anche Ottavino e Flauto contralto 2° anche Ottavino e Flauto basso con amplificatore |
3 Oboi | 1° anche Oboe d’amore 2° anche Corno inglese 3° anche Heckelphon |
2 Clarinetti | 1° anche Clarinetto piccolo 2° anche Clarinetto basso e Clarinetto contrabbasso |
1 Sassofono soprano | anche Sassofono contralto Sassofono tenore Sassofono baritono e Clarinetto basso |
2 Fagotti | 2° anche Controfagotto |
6 Corni | |
3 Trombe | |
3 Tromboni | |
1 Tuba bassa | |
Percussione I | Cimbali antichi Grancassa Tamburo piccolo 4 Timpani Claves Loo-jon Campane tubolari Sonagli a mano |
Percussione II | 5 Triangoli Cimbali antichi 4 Piatti sospesi 3 Tamtam 2 Lastre di metallo Flessatono Guiro Raganella |
Percussione III | Tamburino Tamburo piccolo Tomtom Boo-bams Sistri Eufonio Vibrafono 5 Campane da gregge |
Percussione IV | Tomtom Tescini cinese Flauto a culisse Marimba Glockenspiel |
Arpa | |
Celesta | |
Chitarra | |
Pianoforte | |
Clavicembalo | |
Organo | |
9 Violini | |
4 Viole | |
4 Violoncelli | |
3 Contrabbassi |
Sul palco (per danzatori)
3 Flauti dolci |
Sistra |
Hyoshigi |
Nacchere di danza |
Crotali |
Barile di sake (o Darabukka) |
Tamburo a raganella tibetano |
Fischi di giocattolo |
Fischi da richiamo di caccia |
Flessatoni |
Dietro la scena
1Oboe |
1 Corno inglese |
1 Sassofono soprano |
1 Fagotto |
2 Piatti sospesi piccoli |
3 Tamtam |
Cassa rullante |
2 Campane da chiesa |
Arpa |
Chitarra |
Sotto il palco
3 Tamtam | con microfoni di contatto |
Cassa rullante | |
Lastra dal tuono | |
Sirena bassa |