Riders to the Sea (opera)
Encyclopedia
Riders to the Sea is a short one-act opera
by Ralph Vaughan Williams
, based on the eponymous play
by the Irish author John Millington Synge
. The composer completed the score in 1927, but it was not premiered until 1 December 1937, at the Royal College of Music
, London
. The opera did not enter the repertoire of Sadler's Wells until 1953.
Vaughan Williams set Synge's text essentially intact, with only a small number of changes. Whilst the vocal score had been in print since 1936, the full orchestral score was not published until 1973. The work is generally regarded as Vaughan Williams's most successful opera, although the composer Edmund Rubbra
has characterized this work as less an opera than a "spoken drama raised in emotional power and expressiveness to the nth degree". Hugh Ottaway and Michael Kennedy
have each commented on musical connections between the opera and Vaughan Williams's later Symphony No. 6
. Caireann Shannon has noted that Vaughan Williams deliberately avoided use of folksong in the music, and instead relied on the rhythms inherent in Synge's text for the composition.
At the start of the opera, her daughters Nora and Cathleen receive word that a body that may be their brother Michael, Maurya's fifth son, has washed up on shore in Donegal, far to the north. The sixth and last son, Bartley, is planning to go to Galway fair to sell horses. Maurya is fearful of the sea winds and pleas with Bartley to stay. But Bartley insists on going and will ride "on the red mare with the grey pony behind him". Maurya predicts that by nightfall she will have no living sons, and her daughters chide her for sending Bartley off with an ill word. Maurya goes after Bartley to bless his voyage. Nora and Cathleen receive clothing from the drowned corpse that confirms it as their brother. Maurya returns home, claiming to have seen the ghost of Michael riding behind Bartley and begins lamenting the loss of the men in her family to the sea. Nora then sees villagers carrying a load, which turns out to be the corpse of Bartley, who has fallen off his horse into the sea and drowned. The opera closes with Maurya's lament:
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
, based on the eponymous play
Riders to the Sea
Riders to the Sea is a play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge. It was first performed on February 25, 1904 at the Molesworth Hall, Dublin by the Irish National Theater Society. A one-act tragedy, the play is set in the Aran Islands, and like all of Synge's plays it is noted for...
by the Irish author John Millington Synge
John Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre...
. The composer completed the score in 1927, but it was not premiered until 1 December 1937, at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The opera did not enter the repertoire of Sadler's Wells until 1953.
Vaughan Williams set Synge's text essentially intact, with only a small number of changes. Whilst the vocal score had been in print since 1936, the full orchestral score was not published until 1973. The work is generally regarded as Vaughan Williams's most successful opera, although the composer Edmund Rubbra
Edmund Rubbra
Edmund Rubbra was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his fame in the mid-20th century. The most famous of his pieces are his eleven...
has characterized this work as less an opera than a "spoken drama raised in emotional power and expressiveness to the nth degree". Hugh Ottaway and Michael Kennedy
Michael Kennedy (music critic)
Dr. George Michael Sinclair Kennedy CBE is an English biographer, journalist and writer on classical music. He joined the Daily Telegraph at the age of 15 in 1941, and began writing music criticism for it in 1948...
have each commented on musical connections between the opera and Vaughan Williams's later Symphony No. 6
Symphony No. 6 (Vaughan Williams)
Ralph Vaughan Williams's Symphony in E minor, published as Symphony No. 6, was composed in 1946–47, during and immediately after World War II. Dedicated to Michael Mullinar, it was first performed by Sir Adrian Boult and the BBC Symphony Orchestra on April 21, 1948. Within a year it had received...
. Caireann Shannon has noted that Vaughan Williams deliberately avoided use of folksong in the music, and instead relied on the rhythms inherent in Synge's text for the composition.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 1 December 1937 (Conductor: – ) |
|---|---|---|
| Bartley | baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Alan Coed |
| Cathleen | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Janet Smith-Miller |
| Maurya | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Olive Hall |
| Nora | soprano | Marjorie Steventon |
| The woman | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Grace Wilkinson |
Synopsis
Before the opera has begun, Maurya, an elderly Irishwoman, has lost her husband, father-in-law, and four of her six sons at sea.At the start of the opera, her daughters Nora and Cathleen receive word that a body that may be their brother Michael, Maurya's fifth son, has washed up on shore in Donegal, far to the north. The sixth and last son, Bartley, is planning to go to Galway fair to sell horses. Maurya is fearful of the sea winds and pleas with Bartley to stay. But Bartley insists on going and will ride "on the red mare with the grey pony behind him". Maurya predicts that by nightfall she will have no living sons, and her daughters chide her for sending Bartley off with an ill word. Maurya goes after Bartley to bless his voyage. Nora and Cathleen receive clothing from the drowned corpse that confirms it as their brother. Maurya returns home, claiming to have seen the ghost of Michael riding behind Bartley and begins lamenting the loss of the men in her family to the sea. Nora then sees villagers carrying a load, which turns out to be the corpse of Bartley, who has fallen off his horse into the sea and drowned. The opera closes with Maurya's lament:
They are all gone now, and there isn't anything more the sea can do to me.
Selected recordings
- EMI Classics CDM7647302 (CD reissue of the first recording): Norma Burrowes, Margaret Price, Helen Watts, Benjamin Luxon, Pauline Stevens; Ambrosian Singers; Orchestra Nova; Meredith DaviesMeredith Davies (conductor)Meredith Davies CBE was a British conductor, renowned for his advocacy of English music by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius and Ralph Vaughan Williams....
, conductor - Chandos CHAN 9392: Linda Finnie, Ingrid Attrot, Lynne Dawson, Karl Morgan Daymond, Pamela Helen Stephen; Sinfonia Chorus; Northern SinfoniaNorthern SinfoniaThe Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, based initially in Newcastle upon Tyne, and currently in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave the bulk of its concerts at the City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne. Since 2004, the orchestra has been resident at The...
; Richard HickoxRichard HickoxRichard Sidney Hickox CBE was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.-Early life:Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family...
, conductor - Kultur D4390 (DVD reissue of the 1988 Kultur VHS recording D20475): Sarah Walker, Yvonne Brennan, Kathleen Tynan, Hugh Mackey, Mary Sheridan de Bruin, Martin Murphy; Radio Telefís Éireann Chamber Choir and Concert Orchestra; Bryden Thomson, conductor