The Bell Tower is a chamber opera in one act by Ernst Krenek

Ernst Krenek

Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...

, his opus 153. The English libretto by the composer was inspired by the novella by Herman Melville

Herman Melville

Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....

, the events only mysteriously hinted at in the story becoming a point of departure for the explicit dramatic action of Krenek's piece. It was commissioned by the Fromm Foundation and written in 1955-6, receiving its premiere March 17, 1957 at the University of Illinois (recorded on CRS 5).

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, (Conductor: )
Bannadonna	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...
Giovanni	bass
Una	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...