Abstracts
Abstract
The “opera fantasy” Oppenheimer by Istvan Anhalt (1919–2012) survives as a draft libretto and 1,100 pages of musical sketches, on which the composer concentrated from mid-1988 to late 1991, partly with the collaboration of the playwright John Murrell. Prolonged negotiations with the Canadian Opera Company eventually collapsed and the work was abandoned. Using prior research by Peter Laki and archival documents (especially the composer’s previously inaccessible “diary” of the opera’s progress), this article traces Oppenheimer’s compositional development and the COC production talks, compares it to the 2005 opera Doctor Atomic by John Adams and Peter Sellars (both works deal with J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in creating the first atomic bomb), and speculates on possible affinities between the existing sketches and other Anhalt compositions of the same period.
Résumé
Une version de travail du livret d’opéra pour l’opéra-fantasie Oppenheimer d’Istvan Anhalt (1919–2012) est conservée ainsi que 1 100 pages d’esquisses musicales (Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, Fonds Anhalt, MUS 164). Le compositeur a travaillé principalement sur cette oeuvre de mi-1987 à fin 1991, parfois avec la collaboration du dramaturge John Murrell. De longues négociations avec la Canadian Opera Company ont finalement mené à un échec et le projet a été abandonné. Sur la base des recherches de Peter Laki et des documents d’archives (en particulier le journal de projet du compositeur, jusqu’à maintenant inaccessible), cet article retrace le développement compositionnel d’Oppenheimer ainsi que les négociations avec la COC, en comparaison avec l’opéra de John Adams et Peter Sellars, Doctor Atomic (2005), les deux opéras traitant du rôle du physicien J. Robert Oppenheimer dans le développement de la bombe atomique en 1945. L’examen des esquisses amène également à considérer les affinités entre elles et avec d’autres oeuvres d’Anhalt de la même période.
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Appendices
Biographical note
John Beckwith retired in 1990 after thirty-eight years with the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. His more than 150 compositions include four operas and works for orchestra, chorus, and chamber and solo media. He is the author of In Search of Alberto Guerrero (2006) and Unheard Of: Memoirs of a Canadian Composer (2012), and contributed to two volumes on the music of Istvan Anhalt, a lifelong colleague and friend. He received the 2014 MusCan/SOCAN Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Research in Canadian Music.
Bibliography
- Anhalt, Istvan. 2001. “An Operatic Triptych in Multiple Texts,” in Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory, ed. Robin Elliott and Gordon E. Smith, 369–99. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
- Anhalt, Istvan. 1988–91. Oppenheimer diary, file E.17, box 32, Istvan Anhalt Fonds, MUS 164, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
- Anhalt, Istvan. 1990. Oppenheimer, draft libretto, version 7, file D1.90, box 60, MUS 164, Istvan Anhalt Fonds, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa.
- Beckwith, John, 2011. “Istvan Anhalt: A Character Sketch.” In Centre and Periphery, Roots and Exile, ed. Friedemann Sallis, Robin Elliott, and Kenneth DeLong, 29–35. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
- Bird, Kai, and Martin J. Sherwin. 2005. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. New York: Vintage Books.
- Chiasson-Taylor, Rachel. 2011. “Le Fonds Istvan Anhalt (MUS 164) à Bibliothèque et Archives Canada.” In Centre and Periphery, Roots and Exile, ed. Friedemann Sallis, Robin Elliott, and Kenneth DeLong, 199–215. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
- Elliott, Robin, and Gordon E. Smith, eds. 2001. Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
- Gillmor, Alan, ed., 2007. Eagle Minds: Selected Correspondence of Istvan Anhalt and George Rochberg. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
- Laki, Peter. 2009. “Two Operatic Oppenheimers.” Unpublished.
- Murrell, John. 1990. “Oppenheimer and the Others” (preliminary structural outline), file 6.5, John Murrell Fonds, University of Calgary Library, Calgary.
- Smith, Gordon E. 2006. “From New France to a ‘Millennial Mall’: Identity Paradigms in Istvan Anhalt’s Operas.” American Music 24 (2): 172–93.
- Straus, Joseph N. 2008. “A Revisionist History of Twelve-Tone Serialism in American Music.” Journal of the Society for American Music 2 (3): 208–09.