Written 1962 Language English | First performance 14 June 1962 | |
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Awards Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition Similar Perséphone, Mavra, Renard, The Nightingale, Oedipus rex | ||
The Flood: A musical play (1962) is a short biblical drama by Igor Stravinsky on the allegory of Noah, originally written as a work for television. It contains singing, spoken dialogue, and ballet sequences. It is in Stravinsky's late, serial style.
Contents
The work was premiered in the United States on the CBS Television Network on 14 June 1962, a production conducted by Robert Craft and choreographed by George Balanchine. Dramatic actors participating in the work included Laurence Harvey (Narrator), Sebastian Cabot (Noah), and Elsa Lanchester (Noah's Wife, which Lanchester played with a Cockney accent). Robert Craft also conducted the first staged performance, in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1962, and again in Hamburg on 30 April 1963.
Text
The narrative of The Flood juxtaposes the story of the Creation with that of Noah. The text was compiled by Robert Craft using material from Genesis and the York and Chester cycles of mystery plays. Excerpts from the Te Deum are sung by the chorus.
Scoring
The work is scored for tenor soloist (Lucifer/Satan), two bass soloists (God), several spoken parts (a narrator, Satan, Eve, Noah, a caller, Noah's wife, son of Noah), chorus (SAT) and a large orchestra of 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 cors anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, xylorimba, 3 tom-toms, harp, celesta, piano and strings.
The Flood was published in 1963 by Boosey & Hawkes.
Movements
The work is in seven parts: