Peter Maxwell Davies (born 1934) - The Lighthouse (Part 1)

Recorded live on 12th March 2009.
Duration: 27 minutes - Act 1 / 47 minutes - Act 2
About 'The Lighthouse' by Peter Maxwell Davies
The original inspiration of this work came from reading Craig Mair's book on the Stevenson family of Edinburgh. This family, apart from producing the famous author Robert Louis, produced several generations of lighthouse and harbour engineers. In December 1900 the lighthouse and harbour supply ship Hesperus based in Stromness, Orkney, went on its routine tour of duty to the Flannan Isles light in the Outer Hebrides. The lighthouse was empty - all three beds and the table looked as if they had been left in a hurry, and the lamp, though out, was in perfect working order, but the men had disappeared into thin air.
There have been many speculations as to how and why the three keepers disappeared. This opera does not offer a solution to the mystery, but indicates what might be possible under the tense circumstances of three men being marooned in a storm-bound lighthouse long after the time they expected to be relieved.
The work consists of a prologue and one act. The Prologue presents the Court of Inquiry in Edinburgh into the disappearance of the keepers. The three protagonists play the part of the three officers of the lighthouse ship, the action moving between the courtroom, the ship, and the lighthouse itself, and the inquiry is conducted by the horn of the orchestra, to whose wordless questions the protagonists answer, making the questions retrospectively clear. The Court reaches an open verdict. At the end of the Prologue the three officers together tell us that the lighthouse is now automatic and the building is abandoned and sealed up, while the lighthouse itself flashes its automatic signal to a rhythm which is reflected in the orchestra.
CAST
James Oxley (tenor) - Sandy
Damian Thantrey (baritone) - Blazes
Jonathan Best (bass-baritone) - Arthur
Etienne Siebens - conductor
Elaine Tyler-Hall - director
Aaron Marsden - designer
Marc Rosette - lighting designer
PSAPPHA ENSEMBLE
Conrad Marshall - flute/piccolo
Dov Goldberg - clarinet/bass clarinet
Rebecca Goldberg - french horn
Tracey Redfern - trumpet
Phil Goodwin - trombone
Richard Casey - piano/celesta
Tom McKinney - guitar/banjo
Tim Williams - percussion
David Routledge - violin
David Aspin - viola
Jennifer Langridge - cello
Daniel Whibley - double bass

[@angusmcrandy]

The opera opens with a prologue in which three officers (tenor, baritone and bass) address a board of inquiry. They relate their voyage to the dark lighthouse and the discovery that the crew was missing, but become increasingly nervous answering the questions put to them by the orchestra's French horn and begin to contradict each other on details. Nevertheless, an open verdict is recorded and the trio sing of the ghost's modern robot replacement.
The lantern comes up to full brightness and the second half, subtitled "The Cry of the Beast", opens in the lighthouse. Arthur (bass) is leading grace and Blazes (baritone) is complaining of the food and the overdue relief crew, while Sandy (tenor) tries to keep peace between the two. He proposes a game of crib, and the sanctimonious Arthur leaves to light the lantern, issuing dire predictions as the offstage Voice of the Cards. He returns just as a fight breaks out over a card palmed by Blazes. Sandy proposes they pass the time with songs "lest we end up like beasts in a cage, eating each other". Blazes agrees: "...then we shall see who is king, who devil, and who the fool amongst us." He sings first, with "When I was a kid our street had a gang". Accompanied by 'bones, fiddle, and banjo, it relates a murder committed by Blazes, for which his father was arrested and hanged.
Sandy takes his turn with a sentimental love ballad accompanied by cello and piano. The three stanzas turn into a less innocent catch when taken up by the other two: "...O, that you held me...by the cock...I come...crowing loud...I am aroused". Arthur counters with a Salvation Army song on The Golden Calf (brass, clarinet and tambourine) in which he seems personally to glory in the smiting of the Levites. With dismay the three notice the fog coming in - the horn must now be started, summoning first the Blazes' ghosts, then Sandy's memories of his sister and a schoolmate. To Arthur, the horn summons the Golden Calf which he sees moving across the waters to claim them. "The only cure is to kill the beast!" he cries, enlisting the others to arm themselves and advance, singing a De profundis, into the night, toward its dazzling bright eye.
When the music calms, the light is seen to belong to the relief ship and the three relief officers are visible. "We had to defend ourselves, by God!" They agree on their story and tidy up quickly.

[@drnickyp]

Max's Magnum Opus! :)