Gloriana Op.53 was completed by Benjamin
Britten during 1952 and the early part of the following year. This was the
composer’s eighth opera. It was commissioned by Covent Garden as a part
of the celebrations for the coronation of the present Queen, Elizabeth II and
was dedicated to her ‘by gracious permission.’ The libretto was devised by the
Anglo-African poet and novelist William Plomer (1903-1973) and is based on the
‘Bloomsbury Group’ author Lytton Strachey’s Elizabeth and Essex which
had been published in 1928. Britten has remarked that he and Plomer were most
inspired by the relationship between ‘the two protagonists’ and the strong
supporting roles of Cecil and Walter Raleigh.
Her Majesty attended the first
performance at Covent Garden on 8th June 1953, six days after
the coronation. Unfortunately, the Queen is said to have been unimpressed
by the opera. The critical response is still subject to much debate; however
there were few positive reviews for this work. The eclectic mix of prose and
verse, sung and spoken text, archaic and modern English were seen as part of
the problem. However, in a contemporary letter to The Times, Antony Lewis, of
the Barber Institute of fine Arts at Birmingham University wrote that ‘...page
after page of music of superb richness and invention testifies to ...excellence
of the composer’s creative powers...’ He concludes by suggestion that it is
‘exhilarating thee hear a score that unfolds with such masterly
confidence...Gloriana is indeed a worthy execution of the royal command.’
The Soliloquy and Prayer follows the scene where Essex has
sung two lute songs to divert the queen. However Essex wants permission to sail
to Ireland to suppress a rebellion in Tyrone. The Queen refuses and sends him
away. The act ends with her praying that she ‘may rule and protect my people in
peace’. Elizabeth is torn between love and duty. The queen kneels and prays to
God for the strength and the grace to fulfil the high office to which she has
been called.
Listen to the Soliloquy and Prayer on YouTube with
Leontyne Price.
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