Marriages

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="044fd5a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Paul Barker: Composer</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Paul Barker: Composer"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Marriages</B>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Phantastes"><U>Phantastes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pillow Song"><U>Pillow Song</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="La Malinche"><U>La Malinche</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Albergo Empedocles"><U>Albergo Empedocles</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Sorceress Tale"><U>The Sorceress' Tale</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dirty Tricks"><U>Dirty Tricks</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mechanical Operation of the Spirit"><U>The Mechanical Operation of the Spirit</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stone Angels"><U>Stone Angels</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Songs Between Words"><U>Songs Between Words</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nye Tand, Eh?"><U>Nye Tand, Eh?</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="045d2b03.jpg"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Opera by Paul Barker </B></div> <div> <B>after the novel by </B></div> <div> <B>Doris Lessing</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Doris Lessing's powerful, mystical parable is concerned with the breaking of boundaries between vastly differing societies separated by physical Zones. It focuses on Alith, Queen of Zone 3 and Ben Ata, King of Zone 4. Their enforced marriage brings about fundamental changes in attitude to relationships between men and women, adulthood and childhood, war and peace.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Paul Barker's translation of this onto the musical stage won both the acclaim of audiences and critics at its premiere in 1985, and was subsequently awarded two prizes. The score explores many corresponding musical and theatrical devices: Eastern and Western influences; childlike simplicity and sophisicated complexity; dramatic reality and mystical allusion.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Awarded British Music Society Prize for Contemporary Opera, 1985 </B></div> <div> <B>Highly Commended by the International Carl-Maria-von-Weber Competition (Staatsoper, Dresden, 1986)</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <I>The Marriages Betwe</I></div> <div> <I>The Marriages Between Zones 3, 4 & 5</I></div> <div> <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Programme Notes"><U><I>GO TO PROGRAMME NOTES</I></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <I> <embed src="HTMLobj-131/OPENINGA.MP3" autostart="false" width="145" height="70">    </I><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#990000" FACE="Arial" ><I>listen to the opening of the opera:</I></FONT></div> <div> <I> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="605" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 113 ><NOBR><div> <B>"Rumours are the begetters of gossip. </B></div> <div> <B>Even more are they the begetters of song. </B></div> <div> <B>We, the story tellers and song makers of Zone Three, </B></div> <div> <B>profess that even before this Marriage took place, </B></div> <div> <B>the answers to our problems </B></div> <div> <B>were to be found in the songs and poems of our land."</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></I></div> <div> <IMG SRC="06059b90.jpg" border=0 width="345" height="441" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> PRESS COMMENTS</div> <div> <I>Mr Barker commands that most elusive and important quality needed for music of the stage - forward movement - indeed, I wager that we shall be hearing more from Paul, Barker.</I></div> <div> FINANCIAL TIMES</div> <bR> <div> <I>His musical language hovers in an attractive zone somewhere between tonality and atonality; his vocal lines are testing as they are rewarding, and his writing for chamber orchestra is consistently inventive. </I></div> <div> OPERA</div> <bR> <div>  <a href="HTMLobj-586/marriageslib.doc"><u>Download Libretto Here</u> </a>  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>