Rites of Passage (Sculthorpe): Difference between revisions
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'''''Rites of Passage''''' is a [[Musical theatre|music theatre]] work written by the [[Australia]]n composer [[Peter Sculthorpe]] in 1972-73. It is often categorised as an [[opera]], but it does not conform to the traditional concept of opera. It is written for dancers depicting the ritual of initiation of the [[Arrernte people]], an indigenous tribe; double SATB [[chorus]] singing words from [[Boethius]] and others; three percussionists, two tubas, piano (echoed), six cellos and four double basses;<ref name=arkiv>[http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Name/Peter-Sculthorpe/Composer/10983-1 ArkivMusic]</ref> but no parts for individual singers.<ref name=jstor>[http://www.jstor.org/pss/945736 jstor]</ref> Sculthorpe drew on the approach espoused by [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], in which dance, drama and music are not separated.<ref name=RH/> |
'''''Rites of Passage''''' is a [[Musical theatre|music theatre]] work written by the [[Australia]]n composer [[Peter Sculthorpe]] in 1972-73. It is often categorised as an [[opera]], but it does not conform to the traditional concept of opera. It is written for dancers depicting the ritual of initiation of the [[Arrernte people]], an indigenous tribe; double SATB [[chorus]] singing words from [[Boethius]] and others; three percussionists, two tubas, piano (echoed), six cellos and four double basses;<ref name=arkiv>[http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Name/Peter-Sculthorpe/Composer/10983-1 ArkivMusic]</ref> but no parts for individual singers.<ref name=jstor>[http://www.jstor.org/pss/945736 jstor]</ref> Sculthorpe drew on the approach espoused by [[Jean-Baptiste Lully]], in which dance, drama and music are not separated.<ref name=RH/> |
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Revision as of 20:46, 13 February 2011
Rites of Passage is a music theatre work written by the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe in 1972-73. It is often categorised as an opera, but it does not conform to the traditional concept of opera. It is written for dancers depicting the ritual of initiation of the Arrernte people, an indigenous tribe; double SATB chorus singing words from Boethius and others; three percussionists, two tubas, piano (echoed), six cellos and four double basses;[1] but no parts for individual singers.[2] Sculthorpe drew on the approach espoused by Jean-Baptiste Lully, in which dance, drama and music are not separated.[3]
It was commissioned by the Australian Opera for the opening of the Sydney Opera House in October 1973, but it was not ready on time and so Sergei Prokofiev's War and Peace was instead staged as the inaugural operatic production at the Opera House.
The delay was brought about partly by difficulties Sculthorpe experienced with the Opera House management, but most particularly in settling on a suitable libretto. He worked with seven writers[4] before finally deciding to write the libretto himself. He wrote most of the work in England, while he was Visiting Professor at the University of Sussex.[3]
The text uses words from Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy[2], and also incorporates aboriginal, Ghanaian, and Tibetan chants. The libretto is influenced by Arnold van Gennep's anthropological study of an individual's social transitions.[1] It is written in Latin and the Australian indigenous language Arrernte.[5] The music involves what Sculthorpe calls the Kepler motif, an alternation of the notes G and A-flat, which he has also employed in other works about the Earth.[6][7]
Rites of Passage was first performed at the Sydney Opera House on 27 September 1974. The Australian Opera Chorus, Australian Dance Theatre under their director Jaap Flier, and the Australian Elizabethan Trust Sydney Orchestra were all led by John Hopkins.[8][9] Sculthorpe was in attendance, and received both cheers and boos. The work itself received mixed reviews, headed by such disparate lines as "Boring Rites guilty of all that is wrong" and "New opera was great success".[10]
After its initial production, the work has been revived twice:
- 12 September 1975: at Dallas Brooks Hall, Melbourne, by the Melbourne Chorale and the Victorian College of the Arts Orchestra[11]
- 8 May 2009: as part of the Canberra International Music Festival and in honour of Sculthorpe's 80th birthday; at the Fitter's Workshop, Kingston, Canberra, with the ANU School of Music Contemporary Music Ensemble; the Oriana Chorale; Roland Peelman; Synergy Percussion with Michael Askill; and the involvement of the composer.[11] [12]
Excerpts from the work have been recorded. The Victorian College of the Arts Orchestra and the Melbourne Chorale Continuing Choir were conducted by John Hopkins.[13]
Sculthorpe's Lament (1976/91) borrowed material from Rites of Passage.[14]
Further reading
- Michael Hannan: Peter Sculthorpe (UQ Press, 1982)
References
- ^ a b ArkivMusic
- ^ a b jstor
- ^ a b Interview with Robin Hughes, 21 April 1998
- ^ Roger Covell, Review of Graeme Skinner's biography Peter Sculthorpe: The Making of an Australian Composer, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 November 2007
- ^ University of Sydney, Citation for admission to the degree of Doctor of Music (honoris causa), 3 June 2005
- ^ Faber Music, Peter Sculthorpe writes new work in aid of climate change
- ^ Brisbane Times, 29 October 2010
- ^ Sculthorpe Worklist
- ^ Australian Music Centre
- ^ Australian Biography: Peter Sculthorpe
- ^ a b Australian Music Centre
- ^ Resonate magazine
- ^ Dust in the Nostrils
- ^ Music Web International