Music Text
Libretto by the composer, based on the story “Susannah and the Elders” from the Apocrypha (E,G)
Scoring
Major roles: S,T,BBar; minor roles: 2S,M,A,3T,2Bar; chorus; dancers
2(II=picc).2(II=corA).2(II=bcl).2(II=dbn)-4.2.3.1-timp.perc:SD/cyms/
gong/xyl-cel-harp-strings
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes
for the world.
Opera
For full details on this stagework, including synopsis and roles, please visit our Opera section.
World Premiere
24/02/1956
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Lynn Orr, director / Florida State University / Karl Kuersteiner
Press Quotes
“Composed 50 years ago at the height of the McCarthy persecutions, it is a flawlessly effective melodrama focused on an innocent woman victimised by a narrow Evangelical community in rural Tennessee. …it speaks straight to the heart through music of uninhibited tonal simplicity and Pucciniesque fervour.”
Daily Telegraph
