Taverner (opera)
Encyclopedia
Taverner is an opera
with music and libretto by Peter Maxwell Davies
. It is based on the life of the 16th century English composer John Taverner
, but in what Davies himself acknowledged was a non-realistic treatment. The gestation for the opera dated as far back as 1956 during Davies's years in Manchester
, and continued when he went to Princeton University
in 1962. Davies produced several instrumental works related to the opera during this gestation period, including the Points and Dances from 'Taverner and the Second Fantasia on John Taverner's "In Nomine". Davies had completed the opera in 1968, but lost parts of the score in a fire at his Dorset
cottage in 1969, which necessitated recomposition.
Davies uses Taverner's In Nomine as a musical motif in the composition. Stephen Arnold has written a detailed analysis of the music of the opera and of Davies's use of parody. The American composer John Harbison
has published an analysis of the opera (working from the vocal score), contemporary with its first performances. Gabriel Josipovici has commented on the historical events that inspired the opera and on the libretto itself.
The opera was first performed at Covent Garden
, London
on 12 July 1972, with Edward Downes
conducting, Michael Geliot as director and Ralph Koltai as designer.
premiere was in March 1986 at the Opera Company of Boston
, under the direction of Sarah Caldwell
.
Taverner is put on trial before the White Abbot on charges of heresy. Testimony comes from his father and his mistress, as well as a priest and a choirboy. Taverner is found guilty, but the Cardinal pardons him, noting the composer's usefulness and naiveté.
Scene 2
Taverner's fate is mirrored in the chorus of monks as he ponders his conscience.
Scene 3
The King‡ discusses his intended divorce with the Cardinal‡‡, with interruptions from the jester.
Scene 4
The court jester proves to be Death in disguise. A metaphorical battle for Taverner's soul then occurs, with his father and mistress in opposition to the jester/Death. The jester/Death prevails, and Taverner has become a religious fanatic.
Taverner has become an instrument of royal religious policy, having abandoned his earlier Catholic faith for the new Protestant religion, in the wake of the Reformation. He presides over the conviction of the White Abbot on charges of heresy, with the same witnesses as in Act I, Scene 1.
Scene 2
Discussion of the break with the Catholic Church and the founding of the Church of England takes place between the King, the Archbishop of Canterbury (formerly the Cardinal)‡‡‡, and the jester/Death. The King speaks of his plan to annex the monasteries.
Scene 3
The monks are at their devotions. Soldiers, under orders from Taverner, take the monks prisoner.
Scene 4
The people praise Taverner and his brutal methods of justice. The White Abbot goes to his execution, under escort from Taverner.
‡ Patently King Henry VIII
, but not named as such in the libretto.
‡‡ Cardinal Wolsey, but again not identified as such in the libretto.
‡‡‡ Thomas Cranmer
, played by the same soloist as Wolsey.
(Jester). BBC Symphony Orchestra
, Fretwork
, His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts, and London Voices, conducted by Oliver Knussen
. Taken from a 1996 BBC studio recording.
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...
with music and libretto by Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
. It is based on the life of the 16th century English composer John Taverner
John Taverner
John Taverner was an English composer and organist, regarded as the most important English composer of his era.- Career :...
, but in what Davies himself acknowledged was a non-realistic treatment. The gestation for the opera dated as far back as 1956 during Davies's years in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and continued when he went to Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1962. Davies produced several instrumental works related to the opera during this gestation period, including the Points and Dances from 'Taverner and the Second Fantasia on John Taverner's "In Nomine". Davies had completed the opera in 1968, but lost parts of the score in a fire at his Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
cottage in 1969, which necessitated recomposition.
Davies uses Taverner's In Nomine as a musical motif in the composition. Stephen Arnold has written a detailed analysis of the music of the opera and of Davies's use of parody. The American composer John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
has published an analysis of the opera (working from the vocal score), contemporary with its first performances. Gabriel Josipovici has commented on the historical events that inspired the opera and on the libretto itself.
The opera was first performed at Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, 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...
on 12 July 1972, with Edward Downes
Edward Downes
Sir Edward Thomas "Ted" Downes, CBE was an English conductor, specialising in opera.He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his long working relationship with the BBC Philharmonic and for working with the Netherlands...
conducting, Michael Geliot as director and Ralph Koltai as designer.
Performance history
The USUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
premiere was in March 1986 at the Opera Company of Boston
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the...
, under the direction of Sarah Caldwell
Sarah Caldwell
Sarah Caldwell was a notable American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director of opera.- Life :Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was a child prodigy and gave public performances on the violin by the time she was ten years old...
.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 12 July 1972 (Conductor:Edward Downes Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas "Ted" Downes, CBE was an English conductor, specialising in opera.He was associated with the Royal Opera House from 1952, and with Opera Australia from 1970. He was also well known for his long working relationship with the BBC Philharmonic and for working with the Netherlands... ) |
|---|---|---|
| Taverner | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Ragnar Ulfung Ragnar Ulfung Ragnar Sigurd Ulfung is a Norwegian operatic tenor. Described in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians as "a brilliant actor with an incisive voice", he was particularly known for his portrayals of Herod and Mime . He is also an opera director... |
| Rose Parrowe | 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... |
Gillian Knight Gillian Knight Gillian Knight is an English singer and actress, known for her performances in the contralto roles of the Savoy Operas. After six years starring in these roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, beginning in 1959, Knight began a grand opera career.Knight joined Sadler's Wells Opera in 1968... |
| Death | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Benjamin Luxon Benjamin Luxon Benjamin Matthew Luxon CBE is a retired British baritone.-Biography:He studied with Walter Grünner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and established an international reputation as a singer when he won a third prize at the 1961 ARD International Music Competition in Munich... |
| Abbot | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Raimund Herincx Raimund Herincx Raimund Frederick Herincx is a British operatic bass baritone. Throughout a varied international career, Herincx performed in most of the world's great opera houses and with many of the world's leading symphony orchestras, having been in demand in international opera and in the choral and... |
| King | bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Noel Mangin |
| Cardinal | John Lanigan | |
| Priest | countertenor Countertenor A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble... |
James Bowman |
Act 1
Scene 1Taverner is put on trial before the White Abbot on charges of heresy. Testimony comes from his father and his mistress, as well as a priest and a choirboy. Taverner is found guilty, but the Cardinal pardons him, noting the composer's usefulness and naiveté.
Scene 2
Taverner's fate is mirrored in the chorus of monks as he ponders his conscience.
Scene 3
The King‡ discusses his intended divorce with the Cardinal‡‡, with interruptions from the jester.
Scene 4
The court jester proves to be Death in disguise. A metaphorical battle for Taverner's soul then occurs, with his father and mistress in opposition to the jester/Death. The jester/Death prevails, and Taverner has become a religious fanatic.
Act 2
Scene 1Taverner has become an instrument of royal religious policy, having abandoned his earlier Catholic faith for the new Protestant religion, in the wake of the Reformation. He presides over the conviction of the White Abbot on charges of heresy, with the same witnesses as in Act I, Scene 1.
Scene 2
Discussion of the break with the Catholic Church and the founding of the Church of England takes place between the King, the Archbishop of Canterbury (formerly the Cardinal)‡‡‡, and the jester/Death. The King speaks of his plan to annex the monasteries.
Scene 3
The monks are at their devotions. Soldiers, under orders from Taverner, take the monks prisoner.
Scene 4
The people praise Taverner and his brutal methods of justice. The White Abbot goes to his execution, under escort from Taverner.
‡ Patently King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, but not named as such in the libretto.
‡‡ Cardinal Wolsey, but again not identified as such in the libretto.
‡‡‡ Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
, played by the same soloist as Wolsey.
Recordings
NMC D157 (2 CDs). Cast Includes Martyn Hill (John Taverner) and David Wilson-JohnsonDavid Wilson-Johnson
David Wilson-Johnson is a British operatic and concert baritone.-Career:David Wilson-Johnson studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine's College, Cambridge...
(Jester). BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
, Fretwork
Fretwork (music group)
Fretwork is a consort of viols based in England, United Kingdom. Formed in 1986, the group consisted of six players, while it is currently five viols...
, His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts, and London Voices, conducted by Oliver Knussen
Oliver Knussen
Oliver Knussen CBE is a British composer and conductor.-Biography:Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. Oliver Knussen studied composition with John Lambert, between 1963 and 1969 and also received...
. Taken from a 1996 BBC studio recording.