Bantock, Granville

The Seal Woman (1924)

Duration: 113 minutes
A Celtic Folk Opera in two acts

Libretto by the composer and Marjorie Kennedy Fraser (E)

Scoring
2S,2M,2A,T,Bar,2B,child mime fl.corA.cl-hn-timp-harp-strings.
Abbreviations (PDF).

Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the world.

World Premiere
9/27/1924
Birmingham
Company: Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Roles

THE CAILLEACH, an old Crone	Contralto
THE SEAL-WOMAN	Mezzo Soprano
THE SEAL-SISTER	Soprano
THE ISLESMAN	Tenor
FIRST FISHER	Baritone
SECOND FISHER	Bass
THE WATER-KELPIE	Bass
MORAG, child of the Seal-Woman	Silent role
THREE SWAN MAIDENS	Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Contralto

Time and Place
An uninhabited islet in the Western Isles of the Scottish Hebrides

Synopsis

An old crone or 'Cailleach' sings of local legends of seals that turn into mortal women. The voices of a Seal-Woman and her Seal-Sister are heard. Fishermen approach the island. The Isleman recalls a Seal-Woman he has seen before, and when she and her sister appear he keeps hold of their sea-robes – without which they cannot reassume their marine form – and will only return those of the sister. He declares his love for the Seal-Woman, and she agrees to go with him. Seven years later, the Seal-Woman has borne his child, Morag. The Cailleach visits them, and while she sleeps three prophetic swans arrive and predict that the Seal-Woman will be free only when her daughter discovers the sea-robe hidden in a peat stack. Morag finds it and brings it to her mother. As the Isleman returns he watches as his wife flings herself from the cliff into the sea. He and his daughter listen to the Seal-Woman singing as she swims away.

Moods
Poetic, Romantic, Tragic

Subjects
Environment, Magic/Mystery, Mythology, Relationships, Literary