Miracle in the Gorbals
Encyclopedia
Miracle in the Gorbals is a one-act ballet choreographed by Robert Helpmann
to a story by Michael Benthall
, with music by Arthur Bliss
. The setting is the 1940s slums in the Gorbals
area of Glasgow
. It became a staple of the Royal Ballet, performed each season from 1944 to 1950 and receiving a revival in 1958.
. The composer Arthur Bliss set to work on the score, with scenario and initial designs before him. The Royal Ballet performed the ballet every season from 1944 to 1950 and revived it in 1958, but it did not perform it in Glasgow itself when touring Scotland in 1945. They also performed the ballet in Paris.
Bliss wrote the music in 1943 after his return from the United States. He created a concert suite from the ballet music, choosing seven of the fifteen numbers in the ballet, as well as the overture (The Street, The Girl Suicide, The Young Lovers, The Stranger, Dance of Deliverance, Intermezzo, Finale: The Killing of the Stranger).
, who danced the lead role of the Stranger, and the music was conducted by Constant Lambert
. The first cast was:
The corps (residents of the Gorbals) included Julia Farron
, Moyra Fraser
, Gerd Larson, Gillian Lynne
and Stanley Holden
.
An old beggar and some children pass news around a gathering crowd; the official faces the audience. Two men carry in the body of the suicide. The official crosses her hands and crowd feel the certainty of her death. A stranger enters, the crowd parts and he is left with the suicide's body. After he bends over the body, the girl rises, and she slowly warms to re-birth and starts dancing. The stranger is acclaimed, but the official is disturbed, resentful of his loss of authority. The stranger blesses the crowd, and he leaves the scene with the revived girl.
The official sends a child to spy on the stranger, when the prostitute walks by. The official follows her up some stairs as she glories in her success. The people return to the street in excitement at the miracle. The official comes back down the stairs, and the two lovers say good-night. The urchin brings news back to the official, and the stranger is sent to the prostitute's room on a supposed mercy errand. The official poisons the thoughts of the people, predicting that the stranger will emerge from the prostitute's room. Although initially stirred, the crowd are silent when the stranger re-emerges; only the beggar is aware of the plot and retreats to a doorway. After the stranger has left, the prostitute appears in a more lyrical frame of mind, as if having visions. The official next summons a gang of thugs, who loiter in dark alleys. As the stranger comes back, he offers no resistance; they jostle him, slash him with knives and kick him to the ground, where the silence is broken by the sound of a distant ship siren. The official realises the horror of what he has done. The beggar goes to help the stranger, and he is joined by the prostitute and the suicide, before the two women leave the beggar alone with the stranger.
Robert Helpmann
Sir Robert Helpmann CBE was an Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer.-Early years:He was born Robert Murray Helpman in Mount Gambier, South Australia and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. From childhood, Helpman had a strong desire to be a dancer...
to a story by Michael Benthall
Michael Benthall
Michael Pickersgill Benthall was an English theatre director.As an undergraduate at Oxford University, Michael Benthall met Robert Helpmann, who had been fulfilling an invitation to dance at there...
, with music by Arthur Bliss
Arthur Bliss
Sir Arthur Edward Drummond Bliss, CH, KCVO was an English composer and conductor.Bliss's musical training was cut short by the First World War, in which he served with distinction in the army...
. The setting is the 1940s slums in the Gorbals
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
area of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. It became a staple of the Royal Ballet, performed each season from 1944 to 1950 and receiving a revival in 1958.
Background
The idea for the scenario for Miracle in the Gorbals came to Michael Benthall while he was working on a gun site in Glasgow. He worked on a detailed story and the characters, discussing the action with dancer and choreographer Robert Helpmann. The next collaborator to be identified was the designer, Edward BurraEdward Burra
Edward Burra was an English painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, best known for his depictions of the urban underworld, black culture and the Harlem scene of the 1930s....
. The composer Arthur Bliss set to work on the score, with scenario and initial designs before him. The Royal Ballet performed the ballet every season from 1944 to 1950 and revived it in 1958, but it did not perform it in Glasgow itself when touring Scotland in 1945. They also performed the ballet in Paris.
Bliss wrote the music in 1943 after his return from the United States. He created a concert suite from the ballet music, choosing seven of the fifteen numbers in the ballet, as well as the overture (The Street, The Girl Suicide, The Young Lovers, The Stranger, Dance of Deliverance, Intermezzo, Finale: The Killing of the Stranger).
First Performance
The ballet was first produced by the Sadler's Wells Ballet at the Prince's Theatre in London on Thursday, October 26th,1944. The choreography was by Robert HelpmannRobert Helpmann
Sir Robert Helpmann CBE was an Australian dancer, actor, theatre director and choreographer.-Early years:He was born Robert Murray Helpman in Mount Gambier, South Australia and also boarded at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. From childhood, Helpman had a strong desire to be a dancer...
, who danced the lead role of the Stranger, and the music was conducted by Constant Lambert
Constant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert was a British composer and conductor.-Early life:Lambert, the son of Russian-born Australian painter George Lambert, was educated at Christ's Hospital and the Royal College of Music...
. The first cast was:
- Pauline Clayden (The Suicide)
- Moira ShearerMoira ShearerMoira Shearer, Lady Kennedy , was an internationally famous Scottish ballet dancer and actress.-Early life:She was born Moira Shearer King in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, the daughter of actor Harold V. King...
and Alexis Rassine (The Lovers) - Leslie EdwardsLeslie EdwardsLeslie Edwards was a British ballet dancer and ballet master. He was one of the final links with Ninette de Valois's original pre-war Vic-Wells Ballet...
(A Beggar) - Gordon Hamilton (A Street Urchin)
- David Paltenghi (The Official)
- Celia FrancaCelia FrancaCelia Franca, was the founder of The National Ballet of Canada and its artistic director for 24 years ....
(The Prostitute) - Robert Helpmann (The Stranger)
The corps (residents of the Gorbals) included Julia Farron
Julia Farron
Julia Farron , is a retired English ballerina, most noted as one of the earliest and all time youngest members of The Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.- Overview :...
, Moyra Fraser
Moyra Fraser
Moyra Fraser was an Australian-born British actress and ballet dancer, who is best known for playing Penny in the long-running sitcom As Time Goes By. Her sister was the actress Shelagh Fraser...
, Gerd Larson, Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
and Stanley Holden
Stanley Holden
Stanley Holden, born Stanley Herbert Waller, was a British American ballet dancer and choreographer.Born in London, he joined the Royal Ballet in 1944 and won notice for performing numerous character roles, especially "Widow Simone" in the 1960 production of La fille mal gardée by Frederick Ashton...
.
Synopsis
The front cloth shows a rainswept ship in a dry dock with vast cranes in the background. The first scene in the slum is set in the afternoon, with a pub 'The Shamrock' on the left and on the right a fish and chip shop 'Mac's'; tenements crowd in on either side. Urchins are playing, but they run off when scolded by a minister. Evening approaches, and the prostitute comes out, and young men follow her around. The official and the prostitute meet; he turns away and she goes into a doorway with a young man. A girl enters, but goes off after seeing a group of drunks. Two lovers come on and dance; the prostitute emerges and tries to entice the man, but the re-appearance of the official foils her.An old beggar and some children pass news around a gathering crowd; the official faces the audience. Two men carry in the body of the suicide. The official crosses her hands and crowd feel the certainty of her death. A stranger enters, the crowd parts and he is left with the suicide's body. After he bends over the body, the girl rises, and she slowly warms to re-birth and starts dancing. The stranger is acclaimed, but the official is disturbed, resentful of his loss of authority. The stranger blesses the crowd, and he leaves the scene with the revived girl.
The official sends a child to spy on the stranger, when the prostitute walks by. The official follows her up some stairs as she glories in her success. The people return to the street in excitement at the miracle. The official comes back down the stairs, and the two lovers say good-night. The urchin brings news back to the official, and the stranger is sent to the prostitute's room on a supposed mercy errand. The official poisons the thoughts of the people, predicting that the stranger will emerge from the prostitute's room. Although initially stirred, the crowd are silent when the stranger re-emerges; only the beggar is aware of the plot and retreats to a doorway. After the stranger has left, the prostitute appears in a more lyrical frame of mind, as if having visions. The official next summons a gang of thugs, who loiter in dark alleys. As the stranger comes back, he offers no resistance; they jostle him, slash him with knives and kick him to the ground, where the silence is broken by the sound of a distant ship siren. The official realises the horror of what he has done. The beggar goes to help the stranger, and he is joined by the prostitute and the suicide, before the two women leave the beggar alone with the stranger.
Recordings
- Bournemouth Symphony OrchestraBournemouth Symphony OrchestraThe Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....
/ Paavo BerglundPaavo BerglundPaavo Allan Engelbert Berglund is a Finnish conductor.Born in Helsinki, Berglund studied the violin as a child, and played an instrument made by his grandfather. By age 15, he had decided on music as his career, and by 18 was playing in restaurants...
1976 (EMI) - ten movements from the ballet - Queensland Symphony OrchestraQueensland Symphony OrchestraThe Queensland Symphony Orchestra is an Australian orchestra, based principally in Brisbane in the state of Queensland.The QSO played its first concert on 26 March 1947, with the orchestra consisting of 45 musicians, conducted by Percy Code. John Farnsworth Hall was recruited from the Sydney...
/ Christopher Lyndon-Gee 1999 (Naxos) - complete ballet