A four act opera for soloists, mixed choir and chamber orchestra
Commissioned in 1989 by Pacific Lutheran University for its Centennial
Celebration and premiered there in February 1991.
Duration: 2hrs.
NOTES
Songs from the Cedar House is a mytho-historical telling
of the relations between Native Peoples and White settlers in the Pacific Northwest.
Beginning with a creation prologue told in mythological imagery, the story
progresses from the first visits to the area by Whites in the 1790's up to
the present day. History and myth are freely mixed by both cultures until
the final act, when it becomes clear that the futures of both may depend on
their ability to recognize the truths of both. Texts are both fictional and
historical, with the latter drawn from the recorded words of such famous figures
as Chief Seattle, Governor Isaac Stevens, Chief Leschi and Doc Maynard.
Back to Opera
|
