Tovey's 'The Bride of Dionysus'
A dream come true
Peter R. Shore
See also
Sir
Donald Francis Tovey (1875–1940) by Peter R. Shore
TOVEY's THE BRIDE OF DIONYSUS
Synopsis
with musical examples
Donald Francis Tovey (1875- 1940), Reid Professor and Dean of
the Faculty of Music at Edinburgh University from 1914 until
his death, was my paternal grandmother's first cousin. Although
Tovey is best known for his Essays in Musical Analysis he was
a noted concert pianist and also composed symphonic as well
as chamber music. Among his work is an opera called The Bride
of Dionysus to a libretto by Robert Calverley Trevelyan.
The opera was produced by the Edinburgh Opera Company in 1929
and again in 1932 and conducted by the composer himself. Having
read a biography of Tovey in 1990 (by Mary Grierson, published
in 1952 by OUP) my curiosity about the opera got the better
of me and after some detective work I traced the vocal score
and the full orchestral score (all 750 pages of it!) to the
Reid Music Library at Edinburgh University. The full score has
never been published and the opera has never been performed
again since 1932. In 1936 Fritz Busch wrote from Glyndebourne
asking for a pianoforte score of The Bride with which
he was already familiar. Tovey had hopes that his opera would
be performed at Glyndebourne and to this end he wrote in the
same year a letter to John Christie, the founder of Glyndebourne,
who was a personal friend. It was decided, however, that the
opera was too large for the stage requirements and too long.
Three years later in 1939, after some reconstruction of the
stage at Glyndebourne the matter was considered again, and it
was decided that the opera should be given in 1940. But with
the coming of the Second World War and Tovey's death in 1940
the project was laid to one side, never to be revived.
As I began to play laboriously through the piano/vocal score,
the piano part was written for a concert pianist which Tovey
was, I couldn't help wondering why this beautiful music had
been allowed to disappear without trace, gathering dust on the
shelves of a library.
I visited the Reid Music Library in Edinburgh to see what material,
apart from the printed piano/vocal score exited. The full handwritten
orchestral score existed as well as the hand-copied parts. But
in the biography Tovey had complained that so much of the orchestral
rehearsals had been taken up by correcting all the mistakes
in the parts. I looked through the parts and found this to be
true. So I decided the first thing to do was to transcribe everything
onto the computer using a MIDI keyboard and notation program.
Little did I know when I started transcribing the material that
it would take me ten years to complete it. I still had a full-time
job and growing family. The advantage of transcribing the opera
onto the computer using the Coda Finale notation program is
that one is able to listen and playback the material to check
for mistakes. I was to discover later that many mistakes remained
even after this process. The other advantage is that the computer
does all the work extracting the parts from the full score.
Although there is plenty of work left fixing the layout as well
as planning suitable page turns and other necessary copyist
jobs. So now I had a full score and a complete set of parts
all neatly printed out and a pretty good idea what the opera
sounded like. What next?
I realised very early on that the chances of getting a performance
of an opera which was nearly four hours long by a virtually
unknown composer were nil. I began compiling a concert performance
of approximately an hour in length, reasoning that this would
stand a much better chance. This work was put back on the shelf
while I went through the same process with Tovey's Symphony
which had never been published either.
Martin Anderson and Toccata Classics came to the rescue and
in 2005 the Symphony was recorded in Malmö, Sweden with the
Malmö Opera Orchestra conducted by George Vass (a complete
description of this recording from the producer's point
of view can be found on the MusicWeb - also
recording review).
The next project George and I tackled was Tovey's Cello Concerto
which was dedicated to and given its first performance in 1935
by Tovey's old friend Pablo Casals with Tovey conducting. The
concerto was broadcast from a concert in the Queen's Hall, London
in November 1937 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Sir Adrian Boult who thought highly of it. The broadcast was
recorded onto acetate disks, put onto a shelf and forgotten
about. They were discovered in 1975 when the BBC were planning
a programme on the centenary of Tovey's birth. But in the meantime
a green mould had grown on the disks and after cleaning the
disks could only be played once in order to transfer the material
onto tape. The result was of depressingly poor quality but moments
of Casals magic are still discernible. Our recording took place
in May 2006 in the Ulster Hall, Belfast with the Ulster Orchestra
with the cellist Alice Neary as soloist. Alice's husband David
Adams was the leader of the orchestra (more of David later).
We were very fortunate to have the services of recording producer
Michael Ponder who brought his years of recording experience
as well as being an excellent string player himself. We utilised
the BBC's recording facilities in the Ulster Hall as well as
their senior music engineer, John Benson. This recording was
released on the Toccata Classics label in the same year. review
It began to dawn on me that there was now a real possibility
of recording my concert version of Tovey's opera. I began discussing
this with George Vass (I could not imagine anybody else conducting
it!) and we began going through the whole opera to decide what
could be used and remain true to the plot.
The reader may be wondering why I didn't contemplate recording
the whole opera. I do not have the financial resources to record
all of it and thought that the recording we were planning was
better than nothing at all. I am prepared to be criticised for
this and offer no apology. If anyone else wishes to record (or
perform) the whole opera I am only too glad and have a full
orchestral score and a complete set of parts which they are
welcome to use.
We decided to return to Belfast and the Ulster Orchestra who
had done such a magnificent job on the cello concerto recording.
So they were contacted and recording dates were planned for
the end of May 2009. The next problem was finding the soloists.
I had heard the soprano Sally Silver, originally from South
Africa, sing several years previously and decided she was the
voice of Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos. Sally was approached
and agreed to sing the role. George had worked previously with
the mezzo-soprano Yvonne Fontane who has received international
acclaim for her interpretation of Carmen and is artistic
director of amongst others the Lakeland Opera. Yvonne would
sing the role of Phaedra the younger sister of Ariadne. Robert
Johnston, the tenor and Michael Bundy, the baritone who are
both members of the BBC singers have worked with George on many
occasions and have a great deal of operatic experience. Robert
would sing the role of Theseus and Michael would sing the roles
of both King Minos and Dionysus.
The chorus is an integral part of the opera so the next problem
was finding a suitable choir. We contemplated bringing a choir
with us but decided that this was financially impossible. I
had heard both positive and negative reports of the Belfast
Philharmonic Choir. But their choir-master Christopher Bell
is well known for achieving great results. Michael Ponder was
asked back as recording producer. John Benson unfortunately
had a prior engagement but we decided to use the BBC's facilities
together with senior sound engineer Davy Neill assisted by Alex
Forsyth. Our chief engineer would be Anthony Philpot. Tony Philpot
had a long career as a senior sound supervisor at BBC TV but
has been a freelance engineer for several years. He is a church
organist and has been for over thirty years. Tony and I were
at school together and although we have kept in touch over the
years have only recently been working together. So now the team
was complete.
The soloists, George, a rehearsal pianist and I had a run-through
of the opera at a rehearsal room in London two months prior
to the recording. I then flew to Belfast to complete negotiations
with David Byers the chief executive officer of the Ulster Orchestra
and meet Davy Neill to discuss the technical requirements. Davy
was happy to have Tony Philpot at the controls and knew him
by reputation. I went along to the second rehearsal of the choir
and realised that although they had a long way to go they were
very keen to be a part of the recording and that they were in
the very capable hands of Christopher Bell.
A project of this magnitude has basically three phases. Pre-production,
production and post-production. The logistics involved require
a great deal of planning and the more thorough one is in planning
the less likelihood of problems arising and costing both time
and money. But problems are unavoidable!
We would require six three-hour sessions at least to record
all we needed and because the choir had day jobs they would
only be available at the weekend. So we started on Thursday
28th May 2009. The morning was taken up by the engineers
rigging a large quantity of microphones. The orchestral staff
were putting out all the chairs and music stands and Paul Mckinley
the orchestral librarian was busy putting all the orchestral
parts in the right place. The Ulster Hall had recently been
renovated and the paint was hardly dry. When recording the Cello
Concerto we had used the BBC control room in the Ulster Hall
but the new control room would not be ready for the opera and
so we had to use the BBC's sound truck which was parked in the
road outside the hall. An optical fibre cable with all the microphones
signals trailed through the hall and through a window to the
truck outside. The technical team managed to squeeze into the
truck with Tony at the controls of the mixing desk, Davy monitoring
everything and keeping a record of all the takes, Michael producing
and Alex making sure all the computer systems were functioning
correctly and that the material was being properly stored on
hard disks. I had decided that each microphone should be recorded
on a separate track ie multitracked. The BBC engineers are very
used to producing a stereo 2-track signal for live broadcasting
but multitracking everything gave us the option of adjusting
levels on each channel during the mixing and editing process
giving us the best possible final result.
We started recording on the Thursday afternoon with Robert
and Sally's arias and their duet. Tony quickly got a good stereo
balance which was recorded on two tracks of the multitrack and
would provide a good reference as we recorded the rest of the
opera. We reckoned on recording between 15 and 20 minutes worth
of material at each session and by the end of the session we
had recorded all the material planned.
The Friday morning session was purely orchestral and opened
with the Prelude of the opera. I had already heard this when
I recorded Tovey's Symphony in Malmö in a broadcast studio which
only just accommodated the Malmö Opera Orchestra. What a difference
hearing it again in the wonderful open acoustic of the Ulster
Hall! David Adams the orchestral leader played the solo violin
part at the end of the Prelude so beautifully and with such
feeling. Then came the orchestral opening to Act 2 which is
full of pomp and circumstance which melts away to piano in the
strings as the curtain rises to reveal the Labyrinth bathed
in moonlight where dark deeds are about to take place. Robert
and Yvonne added their parts to the next orchestral interlude
which is the death of the Minotaur. This is pure film music
and we hear Theseus running through the Labyrinth and meeting
up with the Minotaur, half bull, half man. They start fighting
and the Minotaur is fatally wounded and falls down the stairs.
Distant trumpets are heard warning Theseus of the approaching
Cretan guards and he makes his escape through the Labyrinth
to meet up with the Athenian captives who have also escaped
and are waiting for him by the shore. ”Hail friends, slain is
the Minotaur!” Theseus cries out and they make their escape
by boat from Crete.
The afternoon session was devoted to Phaedra's aria, the longest
and most difficult one in the opera. The role of Phaedra was
written for a contralto but I thought a mezzo-soprano would
give a much better result and Yvonne Fontane proved me right.
The escapees have arrived on the island of Naxos including Ariadne,
Phaedra and Theseus. Theseus is still in love with Ariadne and
Act 3 opens with Phaedra standing by a small fire using her
witchcraft to bewitch Theseus and entice him away from Ariadne.
The aria is very chromatic with many key changes and whole scales
and borders in places on the atonal with sweeping harp glissandi
to illustrate the flickering flames of the fire. Phaedra reaches
the climax of her aria with the words ”He is mine!” and Yvonne
thundered out her top A. I was sitting on the stage opposite
her and that moment the hairs on the back of my neck stood up
and I felt a tingling all down my spine. That's what music can
do for you!
Saturday morning and the whole ensemble was gathered to record
Act 1, Scene 1 of the opera. The four soloists at the front
and the 100 strong choir who were seated behind the orchestra
in the galleries on either side of the organ. The morning session
went well and we completed the choral sections in Act 2 before
breaking for lunch. George and I had been to the last rehearsal
of the choir on the Wednesday evening and knew that we had nothing
to worry about. They had been well rehearsed by Christopher
Bell and were so enthusiastic about doing the sessions at the
weekend with the orchestra. I reminded them that we were recording
an opera and not an oratorio and I expected plenty of expression
from them. I was not disappointed!
After lunch we said goodbye to Robert and Yvonne who had completed
their parts and I was sorry to see them go as they had given
me such wonderful performances. In the afternoon we moved onto
Act 3 Scene 9. Michael Bundy now changed roles and instead of
the irascible King Minos he took on the mantle of the serene
god Dionysus. Tovey states in the score that Dionysus is the
majestic God shown on a Greek Vase, not the Bacchus of Titan.
The session went well and we took a break just before the Piu
Largamente which leads into the Finale. After the break
disaster struck! I explained at the beginning of this article
about the process of transcribing the handwritten score onto
the computer and extracting the parts. However hard one tries
and however many pairs of eyes scrutinize every page and every
part mistakes get through. Horn parts are different for historical
reasons. Before the invention of the valve in the early years
of the nineteenth century brass players, with the exception
of the trombone could only play notes of the harmonic series.
When the rest of the orchestra changed key the horn player had
to add an additional length of tubing called a crook and play
a different harmonic series to match. There was no key signature
in the horn parts only an indication to change to another crook.
When valves were introduced the horn parts retained the tradition
of having no key signature but as the player had more access
to more notes accidentals (sharps and flats) were added in front
of the notes that required them. In extracting the horn parts
of the Finale from the score the computer had left out the accidentals
and in the rush to get the parts ready I did not notice they
were missing. As we began recording the Finale a lot of very
wrong notes started come out of the horn section. Everything
ground to a halt and the leader of the horn section stood up
angrily complaining about the unprofessional behaviour of the
copyist. I replied that I took full responsibility for the mistakes
as I had done the copying and was prepared to 'face the music'.
The session came to an abrupt halt and everybody packed up and
went home. I left the hall deeply depressed and went into the
sound truck to apologise to everybody there and was on the point
of calling the whole thing off when my friend Tony Philpot took
me on one side and told me not to worry that everything would
be sorted out and we would pick up where we had left off the
following morning. George had immediately gone to talk to the
horn section to perform a public relations job on my behalf.
I returned to the hall and went up to David Adams the leader
to apologise to him. David told me to bring the horn parts and
the handwritten score and that we would sit down there and then
and correct the parts together. This is not the job of the orchestra
leader, but David is such a nice person and dedicated musician
and, as this was to be his last recording session with the Ulster
Orchestra before he took up his post as leader of the Welsh
National Opera Orchestra, he wanted it to be a success. So we
sat on the stage for next two hours and wrote in all the missing
accidentals. I then went back to the hotel which fortunately
was just across the road from the Ulster Hall and spent the
rest of the evening checking the horn parts for the whole of
the Finale.
The morning session on the Sunday was to be our last as the
hall was booked for another event in the afternoon starting
at 4 pm and the engineers and orchestral staff needed the time
to dismantle everything. I approached the horn section with
some trepidation but after checking the parts they said they
were happy to get on with the recording. I went down to the
front of the stage and sat down behind the soloist, George raised
his baton and we were off. Michael Bundy now in the guise of
Dionysus sang ”O thou pure soul, thou chosen shrine of justice
and love”, with his magnificently rich baritone voice echoing
round the hall. The choir came in with their big final chorus
”blessed art thou o bride divine”. This was their big moment
and they did not waste it and sang with such gusto. Tovey shows
his mastery of counterpoint by bringing in many of the themes
and motives which have been heard previously in the opera passing
them back and forth between orchestra and chorus with a fugue
thrown in for good measure. The orchestra builds up to a powerful
fortissimo tutti backed up by everything in the percussion department
and as the choir intone their final notes they are joined by
Ariadne's voice ringing out above them. She continues her final
aria with a rich orchestral accompaniment climbing first to
a top B flat, then a top A and finally a perfect top C which
resounds round the hall and is answered by a top C from the
trumpet. She ends her aria with the words ”with the fullness
of thy godhead made whole” and the orchestra builds up to a
final fortissimo tutti dying away as the solo violin plays the
same solo from the Prelude and the opera finishes on a D major
chord in same key as it started.
My dream had come true! Words failed me and I was completely
overcome.
Of course there was still the editing and post-production work
to be done but we were extremely lucky that Michael Dutton of
Dutton Vocalion and his A & R consultant Lewis Foreman had
agreed to release the opera on the Dutton Epoch label which
specialises in British classical music. Its out and now available
in the shops and on the Internet. I am so grateful to all those
who made my dream come true and I am well aware that without
the help of so many talented and enthusiastic people none of
this would ever have been possible. I can see Tovey sitting
on his little white cloud with a big smile across his face.
To him music was his life, his all and his compositions mattered
to him.
© Peter R. Shore 2009
photographs by Peter R. Shore
The recording - Ulster Orchestra/George Vass - Excerpts from
Tovey’s The Bride of Dionysus CDLX
7241
see also
Sir
Donald Francis Tovey (1875–1940) by Peter R. Shore
TOVEY's THE BRIDE OF DIONYSUS Synopsis
with musical examples
http://www.donaldtovey.com/
