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Lindsay has composed a number of operatic works. Tulsa is the most imoportant of these. Tulsa A Bagpipe Opera in Three Acts Libretto in Scots by Dr Tom Hubbard Music by Dr Lindsay Davidson The story of Rev. Dr Charles Kerr and
his part in the 1921 Tulsa Race War.
Click here to download information pack in word Click here to download information pack as pdf Duration 1 hour 30 minutes plus break.. Orchestration 2222 433 timp 2 harps perc (optional) highland bagpipes, borderpipes in A, smallpipes in A, strings 8 soloists plus choir Chamber version instrumentation: Oboe, 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba, timpani, roto toms, bass drum, susp. cymbals (1 percussionist), highland bagpipes, A smallpipes, Bb smallpipes, A borderpipes, strings (43321) When The Much Honoured Baron of Ardgowan asked for this I had no reservations. However, an opera is a big challenge. The first task was to figure out what a Bagpipe Opera might be. Finally I came up with this: An opera in which all of the musical material is derived from the musical language of the pipes, as opposed to an opera which uses bagpipes extensively. Having said that, bagpipes are used quite often, and critically there are two piobaireachds embedded in the score, one of which is obvious, the other less so. The musical language of the pipes is extended somewhat to give fuller possibilities for the orchestra and so one may describe the harmony as 'alternative pentatonic' - five fifths piled on top of each other, with one or more dimunitions to control and vary tension in the sound, progressing modally and modulating freely. This language is contrasted with much more conventional 18th century harmony to mark out the two main groups of characters - those who are conducting the race war, and those who are opposed. Of course, at times the two languages mix and here lies the musical subtext. Synopsis by librettist Tom Hubbard Tulsa The work opens with a song in a negro spiritual style, followed by the projection of a racist headline in Tulsa’s local newspaper. The editor, Richard Lloyd-Jones, struts in front of the image. Act One proper opens in the manse of the Rev. Charles Kerr; he and his wife Anna sing of their courting days in a beautiful American landscape, and he expresses his pride in his Scottish ancestry. A darker note enters as they consider their struggle to obtain a new church building and the narrow-mindedness of the prominent white citizens of Tulsa. Charles thunders against those who invoke Scottish Highland tradition to legitimise the Ku Klux Klan and other unsavoury Southern customs. There is a grimly comic intrusion of Filmer M. Kludd, one of the elders of Charles’s church and an ingratiating social climber. This is followed by the entrance of the pastor who serves the parish of Greenwood, Tulsa’s African-American neighbourhood. He announces that a young black man has been falsely accused of assaulting a young white woman and has been taken to the county gaol, and requests Charles’s help in ensuring that justice will prevail. Please click here to listen to an extract (MP3 format) from Act 1 performed by Celtic Triangle, Katarzyna Wiwer-Monita (soprano), Irena Czubek-Davidson, Lindsay Davidson (smallpipes). Anna here portrays a picture of the idealism with which settlers came to America and Oklahoma and is joined by Charles (here replaced by smallpipes) for an idyllic duet... For the singers out there, please note that the original pitch of this is a whole tone lower than the sample, which has been specially arranged to include smallpipes (which can only play in one key) where they do not play in this section of the opera. The composition of The World's First Bagpipe Opera, "TULSA', about Dr. Kerr's actions in the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot has been widely commented upon in the general British press: •See 'History's Secret' by Catherine Deveney in the 10th February 2002 issue of Scotland on Sunday at http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/spectrum.cfm?id=153422002 •'Scottish Composer Breaks New Ground' in 28th April 2003 issue of The Guardian at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,944708,00.html •'Oklahoma! How the World's First-ever Bagpipe Opera will be set in America: Story of US race riots to be backed by skirl of pipes', 27 April 2003 issue of The Sunday Herald at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20030427/ai_n12582853 Likewise, composition of this opera has received favourable comment by the Presbyterian Church of the USA: •'Tulsa - Like you've Never Heard it Before", May/June 2003 issue of 'Perspectives' at http://www.pcusa.org/oga/perspectives/mayjune03/tulsa.htm •'A Scot Presbyterian Minister-Hero', 10th April 2002 issue of 'Witherspoon on the Web' at http://www.witherspoonsociety.org/scot_in_tulsa.htm •'My grandfather was Dr. Charles W. Kerr', archive May 2003 issue of 'Perspective' at http://www.pcusa.org/oga/perspectives/archive/may03.htm Disclaimer The dramatic action of this Libretto is a fictional interpretation based upon the spirit of the actions taken by Dr. Charles W. Kerr in the 1921 Tulsa Race War ... the length and detail of which had to be abridged and re-interpreted in the libretto for practical artistic reasons. For a fuller account and testimony of Rev Dr Kerr please go to the dedicated page on the Baron of Ardgowan's website: www.kerr-of-ardgowan.com/Christian-Testimony.html --------------------------------------------------- Lindsay's other operatic scenes or full scale works include: The Sink - a 15 minute sampler of Tulsa, written in the same language (musical and spoken) with Tom Hubbard. Orchesrations available upon request and made according to avaiolable forces. The Swats o' Barleyboozle - libretto by Lillias Scott Forbes. An experimental opera using manntaireachd compositional technique. Score can be bought from Amazon. Cockroaches - text by S I Witkiewcz (aka 'Witkacy'). A short operatic scene (10 minutes) composed in a sonoristic manner using manntaireachd compositional technique. The New Deliverance - for very large orchestra. Full scale opera to a text by Witkacy, composed unsing manntaireachd compositionl technique. |
Contact details: skype: lindsay.davidson1973 lindsaydavidson@lindsaydavidson.co.uk |