Prometheus unbound

lyric drama, 2 acts, 1937-44†

LOST –

Vocal score: Prologue commenced 10 November 1937 and completed 28 November 1937
Act I, pencil rough sketches completed Christmas Eve 1938, inked in and actually completed (VS) 22 March 1939.
Act II commenced March 31 1939, broken off 26 August 1939; resumed 27 November 1941, pencil sketches completed May 1942, ink copying completed (VS) June 24 1942.
Full score finished September 1944

7 soprano, 3 mezzo, 5 alto, 5 tenor, 2 baritone, 3 bass soloists (doublings are possible)
2 SATB choruses, SAATB semichorus, SSAA semichorus
large orchestra

Act I [1687 bars], 131:00 – 148pp of VS
Act II [1649 bars], 117:00 – 127pp of VS

Text: parts 1 and 2 set complete, Percy Bysshe Shelley

Vocal score unpublished

Derived works

• Chorus [from Prometheus unbound Chorus from Act I] [song] [unaccompanied]
• Three semichoruses [from Prometheus unbound Act II scene 2] [song] [1,3 unacc; 2 acc fl, hp] – 15´

Performances

Three semichoruses [from Prometheus unbound Act II scene 2] [song] [1,3 unacc; 2 acc fl, hp] – 15´
25 June 1983 (Nos 1 and 3 only) [first performance] Sixth Festival of British Music . South Hill Park, Bracknell
Tudor Singers, conductor Michael Smedley
Three semichoruses [from Prometheus unbound Act II scene 2] [song] [1,3 unacc; 2 acc fl, hp] – 15´
27 March 2002 [first performance of Act II semichorus 2] St Paul’s . Knightsbridge . London
26 May 2002 BBC Radio 3
Sioned Williams (harp), ? (flute), BBC Singers, conductor Dominic Wheeler
Chorus [from Prometheus unbound Chorus from Act I] [song] [unaccompanied]
27 March 2002 [first performance] St Paul’s . Knightsbridge . London
BBC Radio 3, repeated 26 May 2002
BBC Singers, conductor Dominic Wheeler