Expand
  • Find us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • View Our YouTube Channel
  • Listen on Spotify
  • View our scores on nkoda

English Deutsch
Music Text

Libretto by the composer (E)

Scoring

S,M,T,Bar,BBar; chorus
1(=picc).1(=corA).1(=bcl).1-1.1.1.0-timp.perc(1):SD/cyms/glsp/BD/
xyl/TD/tgl/gong-harp-strings(or 1.1.1.1.1)

Abbreviations (PDF)

Publisher

Boosey & Hawkes

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

Availability

World Premiere
12/2/1963
Raleigh, North Carolina
Edgar R. Loessin, director
Conductor: Julius Rudel
Company: East Carolina Opera Workshop

Roles

JENNY MACDOUGALD Soprano
LACHLAN SINCLAIR Tenor
DOUGALD MACDOUGALD Bass Baritone
SPOKESMAN Baritone
MOLLIE SINCLAIR Mezzo-Soprano
Kinsmen Mixed Chorus
Brigade of Men Silent
Slaves Male Chorus
Time and Place

Mid 18th century, a plantation on the Cape Fear River in colonial North Carolina

Synopsis

Setting: Colonial North Carolina, mid-18th century

It is the 60th birthday of Dougald MacDougald, once a Scottish laird in his home country and now a man of rank and privilege in colonial North Carolina. Although he has been in the colonies many years, his heart remains in his homeland: he is loyal to King George III and flies the Union Jack.

Outside their home, MacDougald’s daughter, Jenny, banters with Lachlan Sinclair, who wants to marry her. They joke about the rancor between Dougald and Lachlan’s mother, Mollie, who is preparing to lead a march protesting King George’s Stamp Act.

Dougald’s kinsmen come to offer birthday greetings, and as they dance the Highland fling in his honor, Mollie and her protestors arrive to ask Dougald and the kinsmen to join the march. Dougald is angry, but Mollie explains that British warships are in the harbor at that very moment to enforce the Stamp Act and reminds Dougald why he left Scotland in the first place.

The kinsmen ask Dougald whether they should join the march, assuring him they will obey his instructions. Saying he needs to think, Dougald goes into the house. Mollie follows and, through the closed door, opens her heart to him. She tells him she also aches for their homeland but that they cannot go back nor can they straddle two cultures. When Dougald comes outside again, he manages to admit that Mollie is right. He renounces his privileges as laird and encourages his kinsmen to do as they think best regarding the protest. He lowers the Union Jack, and in its place, he raises a pirate’s flag as a rebuke to the British Crown.

Moods

Dramatic

Subjects
Recommended Recording
cd_cover

Patricia Neway, Norman Treigle, Anne Hearne Moss, William Newberry, Jerold Teachey, East Carolina College School of Music Chorus, East Carolina College School of Music Orchestra, Julius Rudel
Video Artists International VAIA1172

Click here to purchase this CD from Amazon

Links

Stay updated on the latest composer news and publications