The Cenci
Music drama in eight scenes, 1952

Vocal score:  'pencil sketches completed 29 May 1952, ink copy completed 24 July 1952'.
Full score dated: 1 Sep 1952 (overture), 29 Sep 1952 (scene 1), 11 Oct 1952 (scene 2), 4 Dec 1952 (scene 4)

Count Francesco Cenci (bar) Olimpio, Marzio (assassins) (ten, bass)
Giacomo, Bernardo (his sons) (ten, bar) Andrea (servant to Cenci)
Cardinal Camillo (ten) Beatrice (Cenci's daughter) (sop)
Prince Colonna (bass) Guests at the feast
Orsino (a prelate) (ten) Judges at the court
Savella (the Pope's legate) (bar)
Lucretia (wife of Cenci and stepmother to his children) (alto)

4 flutes (1 also picc), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons (1 also contra), 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 2×3 timpani, bass drum, 3 side drums, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, castanets, tam-tam, bells, xylophone, glockenspiel, celesta, 2 harps, strings

100 minutes

Text: The Cenci (1819), Percy Bysshe Shelley, abridged by the composer


Overture   [262 bars] (13:45)
Scene 1 [Shelley: Act 1, scene 1]:  An apartment in the Cenci palace, Rome  
[180 bars] (8:40)
Scene 2 [Shelley: Act 1, scene 2]:  A garden of the Cenci palace, Rome 
[142 bars] (7:40)
Scene 3 [Shelley: Act 1, scene 3]:  A magnificent hall in the Cenci palace, Rome:  A banquet 
[218 bars] (10:20)
Scene 4 [Shelley: Act 4, scene 1]:  An apartment in the Castle of Petrella (among the Apulian Appenines)
[263 bars] (13:00)
Scene 5 [Shelley: Act 4, scenes 2-4]:  Before the Castle of Petrella
  [303 bars] (15:45)
Scene 6 [Shelley: Act 5, scene 1]:  An apartment in Orsino's palace, Rome 
[110 bars] (6:10)
Scene 7 [Shelley: Act 5, scene 2]:  The Hall of Justice, Rome 
[173 bars] (9:45)
Scene 8 [Shelley: Act 5, scene 4]:  A hall of the prison  
[286 bars] (14:50)

Total [1937 bars] (99:55)

Timings from complete performance 12 December 1997

United Music Publishers Limited

 

Derived works

Preludio tragico  for orchestra - the overture to the opera (14´) [a] 13:37
Flourish  for 4 trumpets
Fanfare  for brass and percussion - from Scene 3 (Banqueting scene)  [arr MacDonald]  (
´)
Fanfare  for brass and percussion - from Scene 7 (Hall of Justice)  [arr MacDonald]

[a] Walker

 

Articles

The Cenci from within - Martin Anderson
Fearful and monstrous - Martin Anderson
My experiences of conducting The Cenci - James Kelleher
The fanfares - Malcolm MacDonald
details MM's arrangement of the two Fanfares
Two interpretations of The Cenci (1) - William Newman
Two interpretations of The Cenci (2) - William Newman
Two interpretations of The Cenci (3) - William Newman
Two interpretations of The Cenci (4) - William Newman
Two interpretations of The Cenci (5) - William Newman
5 part series contrasting and comparing the settings of Shelley's poem by Brian and Bertold Goldschmidt (Beatrice Cenci)

 

Performances

Complete opera

12 December 1997 [first concert performance] . Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
sponsored by the Havergal Brian Society
Helen Field (sop) Beatrice Cenci
David Wilson-Johnson (bar) Count Cenci
Inga Jonsdottir (alto) Lucretia
Stuart Kale (ten) Cardinal Camillo/An officer
Justin Lavender (ten) Orsino/Bernardo
Jeffrey Carl (bar) Giacomo/Savella/1st judge/2nd judge
Nicholas Buxton (ten) Marzio/3rd guest/A cardinal
Devon Harrison (bass) Olimpio/Colonna/A guest
Serena Kay (sop) 1st guest/2nd guest
The Millennium Sinfonia, conductor
James Kelleher

Derived works

Preludio tragico
24 September 1976 [first performance/live BBC Radio 3 broadcast] . invitation concert at Alexandra Palace, London
New Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor Harry Newstone

Fanfare from scene 3  [arr wind and percussion by Malcolm Macdonald]
4 October 1974 [first performance] (performed twice)
University of Illinois Wind Ensemble, conductor Robert Gray

Fanfare from scene 7
18 November 1980 . St John's Smith Square
Kensington Symphony Orchestra, conductor Leslie Head

 

Commercial recordings

Derived works

Fanfare from scene 3 [arr MacDonald]
London (Decca)

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, conductor Howard Snell

Preludio tragico

25/26 June 2009, City Halls, Glasgow / Toccata Classics

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conductor Garry Walker

Toccata Classics TOCC 0113

 

See also Discography

 


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