"Curlew River - A Parable for Church Performance" (Op. 71) is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. The work is based on the Japanese noh-play "Sumidagawa" of Juro Motomasa (1395-1431), which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the far east in 1956.
The Libretto is by William Plomer, who translated the original Japanese setting to a Christian parable set in early medieval times by the (fictional) Curlew River, in the fenlands of East Anglia. The story deals with a theme common to much of Britten's vocal music: the loss of innocence.
The story is told through four main characters: the Abbot (a Bass, who acts as a narrator), the Madwoman (Tenor), the Ferryman (Baritone) and the Traveller (Baritone). A chorus is provided by eight Pilgrims (three Tenors, three Baritones and two Basses).
Synopsis
The Madwoman and Traveller wish to cross the Curlew River on the Ferryman's boat. After briefly introducing themselves, the Madwoman explains her quest: she is searching for her child who has been missing for a year. Though the Ferryman is initially reluctant to carry the Madwoman, the other characters take pity on her and persuade the Ferryman to give her passage. As he is carrying the Madwoman and the Traveller across the river, he tells the story of a boy who, one year ago, arrived in the area with a cruel master. The boy was sick, and was left by the river by his master. Though the boy was looked after by the local people, he died. The Ferryman recounts the boy's words, I know I am dying... Please bury me here, by the path to this chapel. Then, if travellers from my dear country pass this way, their shadows will fall on my grave, and plant a yew tree in memory of me. The river people believe that the boy's grave is sacred, that some special grace is there, To heal the sick in body and in soul.
As the Ferryman tells his story, it becomes clear that the boy who died one year ago is the child of the Madwoman. Freed of her madness by this knowledge, she joins the rest of the cast in praying at the boy's graveside. At this point, the spirit of the boy (a treble) is seen, who reassures his mother (Go your way in peace, mother. The dead shall rise again, And in that blessed day, We shall meet in heav'n), and the opera concludes.
Music
The singers are accompanied by a small group of instrumentalists, dressed as lay brothers. The work is scored for:
- Flute (doubling Piccolo)
- Horn
- Viola
- Double Bass
- Harp
- Percussion (5 small untuned drums, 5 small bells, 1 large tuned gong)
- Chamber Organ
Unusually, there is no conductor in the work: instead, the instrumental performers lead among themselves, the places at which instrument is to lead being marked in the score. The lack of a conductor allows Britten to dispense with a universal tempo, the performers often instead playing in two or more separate groups at separate tempi. This leads to another unusual notational device, the 'Curlew sign', which is used to 'resynchronise' previously separate groups of musicians by instructing one to sustain or repeat notes 'ad lib' until a given point has been reached in the music of another group.
As in many of Britten's other operas, individual instruments are used to symbolise particular characters. In Curlew River, the flute and horn are used most clearly for this purpose, symbolising the Madwoman and Ferryman respectively. With such a small orchestra, Britten does not use the 'sound worlds' that are clearly demonstrated in his War Requiem and Midsummer Nights Dream, nor the dramatic change in orchestral timbre (with the entry of the celeste) that accompanies the appearances of Quint and Tadzio in Turn of the Screw and Death in Venice respectively.
