The Voyage
Opera in three acts, prologue and epilogue for orchestra, chorus and soloists
155′
Music by Philip Glass.
Libretto by David Henry Hwang based on a story by Philip Glass.
CAST:
2S, 2Mz, T, B-Bar, 2B; SATB chorus 2.pic.2.2.bcl.2/ 4.3.2btbn.1/ timp. 4 perc (timp, SD, TD, BD, glsp, tgl, maracas, chimes, tpl.bl, wdbl, tamb, cym, finger cyms, cast, tam-t, cel)/ hp/ epf/ str
COMMISSION:
Commissioned by the Metropoliatan Opera
PREMIERE:
October 12, 1992 at the Metropolitan Opera, in commemoration of the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of America
NOTES:
The Voyage is an allegory about the spirit of exploration and the dislocation that must occur whenever different cultures clash. What drives people to travel, what are they looking for? Characters from the past and the future give different answers – also the scientist who travels across the universe without ever leaving his wheel chair. Christopher Columbus, stands for all those eternal travelers – Ulysses, Noah, Flaying Dutchman – doomed or destined, alone with his idea on a boat; he is a stand -in for all voyagers, for all those compelled to explore, to question.
PUBLISHER:
Dunvagen Music Publishers
Mechanical Ballet from "The Voyage" at Wise Music Classical
The Voyage on Orange Mountain Music