| The Tender Land | |
|---|---|
| Opera byAaron Copland | |
| Librettist | Horace Everett |
| Language | English |
| Premiere | |
The Tender Land is anopera with music byAaron Copland and libretto by Horace Everett, a pseudonym used by Erik Johns, a dancer and Copland's former lover.[1]
The opera tells of a farm family in theMidwest of the United States. Copland was inspired to write this opera after viewing the Depression-era photographs ofWalker Evans and readingJames Agee'sLet Us Now Praise Famous Men.[2] He wrote the work between 1952 and 1954 for theNBC Television Opera Workshop, with the intention of its being presented on television. However, the television producers rejected the opera.[3]
Eventually, the work had its premiere on April 1, 1954 at theNew York City Opera, withThomas Schippers as the conductor,Jerome Robbins as the director, and a cast including the youngNorman Treigle. It was poorly received, with criticism focused on the weaknesses of the opera's characters and the storyline.[4] Later analysis by Christopher Patton stated that one underlying cause of the opera's failure at the premiere was the contrast between writing for the intimate medium of television, the originally intended medium of the work, versus the more public and larger-scale setting of an opera house.[5]
Patton has also noted the influence of Erik Johns' interest in theVedanta branch ofHinduism in the libretto.[6] Johns later said:[7]
Yes, [eastern spirituality] certainly had an impact onThe Tender Land. For example, in Ma Moss's last aria: "Ends don't end when we have thought them ended." That idea of no real end, it's just a change. That had to do with Vedantic teachings, and the sense of no finality, no end of time, the passage of time is rather an illusion.
Copland and Johns made revisions to the opera,[8] expanding Act 2 for performances at Tanglewood in August 1954, and making further adjustments for Oberlin College in 1955.[9] With the composer's consent, Murry Sidlin re-scored the work with reduced forces - the same scoring as the original 13 instrument version ofAppalachian Spring - for a production in New Haven in 1987, a staging that ran for more than 50 performances. Sidlin also added two of Copland'sOld American Songs to the central party scene.[10]
On July 28, 1965, the composer conducted a concert version of his work, as part of the French-American Festival, with theNew York Philharmonic. In the cast wereJoy Clements,Claramae Turner,Richard Cassilly,Norman Treigle, andRichard Fredricks. Three days later,Columbia recorded an abridged version of the opera, again conducted by Copland, at theManhattan Center, with the same cast. In 2000,Sony released the historic performance on compact disc.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast,[11] April 1, 1954 (Conductor:Thomas Schippers) |
|---|---|---|
| Laurie Moss,young girl graduating from high school | soprano | Rosemary Carlos |
| Martin,itinerant worker | tenor | Jon Crain |
| Grandpa Moss | bass | Norman Treigle |
| Ma Moss | contralto | Jean Handzlik |
| Beth Moss,Laurie's sister | soprano | Adele Newton |
| Top,itinerant worker | baritone | Andrew Gainey |
| Mr. Splinters,postman | tenor | Michael Pollock |
| Mrs. Splinters | mezzo-soprano | Mary Kreste |
| Mr. Jenks | baritone | Thomas Powell |
| Mrs. Jenks | soprano | Teresa Gannon |
The setting is the 1930s in the mid-western United States, at the time of thespring harvest and also of high school graduation.
Laurie, the high-school senior daughter of the Moss family, is on the brink of graduating from high school. At the start of the opera, Beth, Laurie's sister, is dancing by herself, and Ma Moss, Laurie and Beth's mother, is sewing. The postman, Mr. Splinters, delivers a package with Laurie's graduation dress. He also brings gossip about a neighbor's daughter being frightened by two strangers to the area. Ma Moss and Grandpa Moss are worried about this. Two itinerant workers, Top and Martin, arrive on the scene. After initial suspicion, Grandpa Moss agrees to hire Top and Martin to help out with the harvest. Laurie and Martin meet, and feel sympathy for each other. Top asks for Martin's help later in getting Grandpa Moss drunk at the party that night.
The party to celebrate Laurie's graduation is going on. Everyone has eaten well, and Laurie acknowledges the guests' well wishes to her. The dance begins. Ma Moss thinks that Top and Martin are the two strangers reported to be causing trouble in the area, and tells Mr. Splinters, who goes to tell the local sheriff. As the dance proceeds, Grandpa Moss becomes more drunk. Laurie and Martin are now in love, and they kiss at one moment. Grandpa Moss sees this and becomes angry. Top tells Martin that they should leave, but the sheriff arrives with the news that the two strangers causing the local disturbances have been caught. Even though Top and Martin have been proven innocent, Grandpa Moss says that they have to leave in the morning.
Later that night, Laurie and Martin dream of eloping. However, Martin changes his mind, with the counsel of Top in the background advising that such a situation would cause great trouble for them all. During the night, while Laurie is packing, Top and Martin secretly leave. Laurie is left alone, but then suddenly resolves to leave home and make her own way in the world. Ma Moss and Beth try to change Laurie's mind, but she is determined to move on. Ma Moss accepts this eventually. The opera ends as Laurie leaves, with Beth dancing by herself as she did at the beginning, now the sole hope for future generations of the family and for the farm.
"The Promise of Living" is best known, often performed as a separate choral anthem.
An orchestral suite based on the opera was compiled by Copland in 1958.[12] In 1996, Murry Sidlin created a new suite, which, like his version of the opera, uses reduced scoring (for soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble).[13]
Copland reused the revivalist song "Zion's Walls" from his second set ofOld American Songs inThe Tender Land.[14]
The first UK production in just under twenty years was staged atUpstairs at the Gatehouse in August 2009, directed byKatherine Hare, conducted by Leigh Thompson and produced by Racky Plews for MadCow Theatre Company.
In Spring 2000, The City of London Sinfonia led by Richard Hickox presented a concert version of The Tender Land at the Barbican.[18]
Northwestern University produced the opera at Cahn Auditorium inEvanston, Illinois on May 18, 19, 20 and 21, 2017. The program credited Boosey & Hawkes. The program stated that Copland had been in residence at Northwestern from February 17 to March 2, 1958 giving "lectures on music and composing". There had been a production conducted by Copland with the Northwestern University Music School on February 28, 1958, also at Cahn Auditorium.[19]
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