The Operas of

Ronald Perera

ECS Publishing :: Music Associates of New York :: Pear Tree Press Music Publishers

“Ronald Perera is among the finest living combiners of words and music.”—John Story, Fanfare

Jane Bryden in The Yellow Wallpaper. Photo by Steve Petegorsky

RONALD PERERA’S (b. Boston, 1941) compositions include operas, song cycles, chamber, choral and orchestral works, and several works for instruments or voices with electronic sounds. He is perhaps best known for his settings of texts by authors as diverse as Dickinson, Joyce, Grass, Sappho, Cummings, Shakespeare, Francis of Assisi, Melville, Ferlinghetti, and Updike. Several major pieces are represented on compact disc. Reviewing CRI CD 796 for Fanfare magazine, critic John Story writes, “Three Poems of Günter Grass is, quite simply, one of the most haunting works of the last 25 years.” Reviewing The Outermost House on Albany Troy 314 he writes, “When he is on form, Ronald Perera is among the finest living combiners of words and music. . . . The music is simply lovely.”

Perera studied composition with Leon Kirchner at Harvard and electronic music with Gottfried Michael Koenig at the University of Utrecht. He also worked independently with Randall Thompson in choral music and with Mario Davidovsky in electronic music. He has received awards or fellowships from Harvard University, the Paderewski Fund, the Goethe Institute, the MacDowell Colony, the Artists Foundation of Massachusetts, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Bogliasco Foundation, Meet the Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts and ASCAP. In 1975 he co-edited The Development and Practice of Electronic Music for Prentice-Hall. His music is published by E.C. Schirmer (ECS Publishing), Boosey and Hawkes, Music Associates of New York, and Pear Tree Press Music Publishers, and is recorded principally on the CRI, Opus One, Albany, and Navona labels.

His String Quartet, commissioned by the South Mountain Association, was premiered by the Muir Quartet in 2004. His children’s opera, The Araboolies of Liberty Street, commissioned by the Manhattan School of Music, was premiered in New York in 2002. Michigan Opera Theater gave many in-school performances of the opera during the 2005-06 and 2013-2014 seasons. His cantata, The Golden Door, based on Ellis Island archives, was premiered in New York by the New Amsterdam Singers in 1999. His choral work Why I Wake Early, on poems of Mary Oliver, was co-commissioned and premiered by the Chatham Chorale on Cape Cod in 2007 and by the New Amsterdam Singers in New York in 2008. It was recorded by Boston’s Coro Allegro in 2012. His two-act opera, S., which is based on the novel by John Updike, received a fully staged workshop performance in Northampton, MA in 1995. In 1989 his two-act opera, The Yellow

About the Composer

Wallpaper, with libretto adapted from the Charlotte Perkins Gilman novella by Constance Congdon, premiered in Northampton. It received its New York premiere at the Manhattan School of Music in 1992 and was produced (Act 1) at the University of New Hampshire in 2003. The complete opera was produced by the Chicago College of Performing Arts in 2006.

His vocal chamber work Crossing the Meridian, commissioned by Boston Musica Viva, has been performed by Gerard Schwarz at Merkin Hall, by the Lontano Ensemble in London, and by the Eastman Musica Nova in Rochester and the Twentieth Century Consort in Washington. Some other significant performances include Bright Angels at the Almeida Festival, London (1986), Chamber Concerto at the 1984 Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, Tolling at Alice Tully Hall (1980) and at the 12th Concours International de Musique Electroacous-tique at Bourges (1984), Three Poems of Günter Grass at the 1976 Holland Festival, in Berlin on the Boston Musica Viva’s European tour and at the Aspen Music Festival, and Reverbera-tions at the 1974 Avignon Festival. His Mass for chorus and orchestra, which premiered in 1973 at the Washington National Cathedral, received its New York premiere in a new version with two-piano accompaniment in 1994 with the New York Virtuoso Singers. The Outermost House was premiered on Cape Cod in 1991 by the Chatham Chorale. It was first performed in New York in 1994 by the New Amsterdam Singers. Visions received its premiere with the Boston Musica Viva in 1997. Music for Flute and Orchestra has had performances by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony (1997) and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (1999).

His music has been performed by such artists as Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Sanford Sylvan, John Aler, Elsa Charlston, Leonard Raver, Scott Nikrenz, Samuel Sanders, Roman Totenberg, Jane Bryden, Karen Smith Emerson, Marni Nixon, James Maddalena, Douglas Perry, Jon Hum-phrey, and Linda Hirst and under the direction of conductors including Gerard Schwarz, Har-old Rosenbaum, Richard Dufallo, David Gilbert, Edwin London, Theodore Antoniou, Richard Pittman, David Stock, Christopher Kendall, Amy Kaiser, Odaline de la Martinez, Paul Calla-way, Clara Longstreth, Wayne Abercrombie, and David Hodgkins.

Perera taught at Syracuse University, Dartmouth College and, from 1971 until 2002, at Smith College, where he held the Elsie Irwin Sweeney Chair in Music. Information about Ronald Perera may be obtained from his website, www.ronaldperera.com.

An Opera in Two ActsBased on a novel by John Updike, S. is set in present-day Boston and Boston’s North Shore, in Florida, in England and Holland, at an ashram in Arizona, and on an island in the Bahamas. It follows Sarah Worth, a wealthy doctor’s wife and a loving mother, as she flees her suburban life to join her guru, a charismatic Hindu religious leader known as the Arhat, at his ashram in Arizona. A hilarious romp through 80s American culture. Contemporary tonal music with Indian raga elements.

Opera Cast:Sarah Worth an upper-class WASP in her mid-forties (Lyric soprano)Charles Worth Sarah’s husband, a doctor (Lyric baritone)Pearl Sarah and Charles’ college-age daughter (Coloratura soprano)The Arhat a founder of Ashram Arhat, Forrest, AZ (Lyric tenor)Durga chief administrator of the ashram (Dramatic mezzo-soprano)Alinga a staff member at the ashram (Lyric soprano)Gilman Charles’ lawyer (Bass-baritone)Mother Sarah’s mother, a widow retired in Florida (Lyric mezzo soprano)Midge Sarah’s best friend on the North Shore (Soprano)Miles Murrow a TV talk show host (Sprechstimme role)Swiss Banker (French speaking role)Ducky Bradford Charles’ investment advisor, doubling Dr. Podhoretz, Sarah’s dentist (Tenor)Sheriff Yardley Sheriff of Dorado County, AZ, doubling Dr. Epstein, Sarah’s psychiatrist (Bass)

Chorus:(minimum about 24, evenly distributed SATB); travelers, sannyasins, local people, TV crew, IRS agents and others (including a few small designated solo parts such as Fritz, Rancher, Navajo Man, Minister, etc).

Instrumentation:2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo and alto flute), 2 oboes (2nd doubling E.H.), 2 clarinets (2nd doubling alto sax, bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, harp, percussion (2 players), sitar (may be performed on synthesizer), optional tambura, strings. Alternative chamber version: 2 pianos (2nd doubling synthesizer), optional tambura, percussion (2 players).

S.

Perera’s music, memorable mainly for its texture and style, does beautifully in setting mood, defining character, underlining humor, and distinguishing the sounds of two worlds.

—The Valley Advocate

Detail Summary

Libretto: Constance Congdon

Original conception/artistic collaboration:

Mark Harrison

Composed: 1995

Duration: 2 hrs., 25 min.

Publisher ECS Publishing

Catalog Number: 5751

The Operas of Ronald Perera

A Chamber Opera in Two ActsThe Yellow Wallpaper is based on a Charlotte Perkins Gilman short story that was first published in New England Magazine in 1892. Set in a New England summer house in 1899, it describes the fate of Charlotte, a young wife and mother suffering from postpartum depression whose treatment—strict bed rest and a total absence of mental stimulation—leads to her emotional and intellectual decline. A contemporary tonal score with folk inflections.

Opera Cast:Nell a young girl, Realtor’s daughter (Soprano)Emily a young girl, Realtor’s daughter (Soprano)Ed an older workman (Bass)Len a younger workman (Tenor)Realtor a widower, father of Nell and Emily (Tenor)John a doctor, married to Charlotte (Baritone)Jennie John’s sister (soprano)Charlotte married to John, has “neurasthenia” (Soprano)Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell historical figure (Male voice*)Woman in the Wall (Soprano**)Mary Ed’s wife, the baby’s nurse (contralto)Women’s Chorus (SSA, at least 6-9 singers)Drunken Clarinetist (male)

* This role involves almost exclusively a heightened speech (“Sprechstimme”) for which only rhythms andrelative pitch are notated.

** A member of the Women’s Chorus

Instrumentation:Flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute), oboe, clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), bassoon, horn, trumpet, harp, piano (doubling celesta or, optionally, synthesizer), percussion (one player), string quintet (or small string orchestra)

The Yellow Wallpaper

Perera’s music is well-made, tuneful, gratifyingto voices and resourcefully orchestrated for 14 players. The opera is ingeniously organized, from the point of view of color, variety, thematicinterrelationship and development.

—Boston GlobeThe libretto (by Constance Congdon) is aningenious opening out of the highly interiornovella, and it’s musically and visually opulent.

—Village Voice

Detail Summary

Based on the novella by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Libretto: Constance Congdon

Original conception/artistic collaboration:

Mark Harrison

Composed: 1989

Duration: 1 hr., 45 min.

Publisher: Music Associates of New York

An Opera in One ActBased on the book by Sam Swope, with a libretto by Constance Congdon, The Araboolies is designed for performance in schools where virtually no production facilities may be available. A humorous treatment of the themes of tolerance and diversity, as the kids of Liberty Street make it possible for an exotic new family to move into their conformist neighborhood, ruled over by the mean General and Mrs. Pinch. Performed by both adults and children, the opera is intended for use by opera outreach or young audience development programs for children in grades 4-8 and their families. The style is contemporary tonal musical theatre.

Opera Cast:General Pinch TenorMrs. Pinch SopranoJoy, a young teenage girl SopranoBoboolie, a young teenage boy Soprano, trouser roleMomoolie Araboolie Mezzo-sopranoPopoolie Araboolie BaritoneKid’s Chorus Treble voices, 6-8 minimum

Instrumentation:piano, 1 percussion (trap set, various small hand percussion instruments)

The Araboolies of Liberty Street

Detail Summary

Based on the book by Sam Swope

Libretto: Constance Congdon

Composed: 2001

Duration: approx. 45 min.

Publisher: Pear Tree PressMusic Publishers

Catalog No.: PTM 601

“The New York premiere of Ronald Perera’s The Yellow Wallpaper was presented . . . in a noteworthy production . . . . MSM’s production made a persuasive case for the opera . . . . The principal singers [were] uniformly commendable.”

—Opera News

Mr. Perera. . . provided a pretty, eclectic score, full of melodies and skillfully orchestrated.

—The New York Times

The music is pleasing, often with a melodic line for each line of conversa-tion—which gives a modern effect—rather than a melody sustained for an aria.

—Associated Press

Perera’s music captures the odd drama of the story, and makes some very beautiful sounds along the way. The “chamber” orchestra is rather large, particularly in the percussion, but the scoring is of a rare transparency. Perera also writes vocal lines flattering to singers, and he knows how to compose ensembles of all sizes—a new musical voice worth hearing again.

—New York Daily News

Praise for Ronald Perera’s The Yellow Wallpaper

Visit Ronald Perera’s website at www.ronaldperera.com foraudio excerpts, score excerpts, reviews and recordings of his music

May 2014

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Pear Tree Press Music Publishers (Winter)703 Fairway VillageLeeds, MA 01053Phone: (413) 727-8614Email: peartreemusic@ronaldperera.com

Pear Tree Press Music Publishers (Summer)P.O. Box 397Yarmouth Port, MA 02675Phone: (508) 744-7335Email: peartreemusic@ronaldperera.com

Sole Distributor for Pear Tree Press Music Publishers:Subito Music Corporation60 Depot St.Verona, NJ 07044Phone: (973) 857-3440Email: mail@subitomusic.com