''The Children's Bach'', Op. 74, is a

chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a Chamber music, chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas ...

by the Australian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Andrew Schultz Andrew Schultz (born 18 August 1960 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian classical composer. He has, since 2008, lived in Sydney, New South Wales. He studied at the Universities of Queensland and Pennsylvania and at King's College Lond ...

to a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by Glenn Perry, based on the 1984 novella of the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

Helen Garner Helen Garner (née Ford, born 7 November 1942) is an Australian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist. Garner's debut novel, first novel, ''Monkey Grip (novel), Monkey Grip'', published in 1977, immediately established her ...

. The work was commissioned by the Melbourne-based group

Chamber Made Chamber Made, formerly known as Chamber Made Opera, is an Australian arts organisation based in Melbourne, creating work operating at the intersections of music, sound and contemporary performance. Formed in 1988 by theatre director and libretti ...

and their artistic director Douglas Horton with the aid of an

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

Project

Fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

; it premiered for a run of 15 performances at the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD ...

Merlyn Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. ...

on 20 June 2008. The opera was performed and recorded at the 2019

Canberra International Music Festival The Canberra International Music Festival is a music festival based in Canberra, Australia. It was founded by Ursula Callus (1939–2001), former President of Pro Musica Incorporated. The first Festival was originally called the Canberra Int ...

, conducted by Roland Peelman. The Lyric Opera of Melbourne and

Theatre Works Theatre Works is a theatre venue, presenter and producer of independent theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne. Theatre Works was founded as Theatreworks, a theatre company, in 1980 by a group of young graduates from the Victorian College of the Arts ...

gave the work its second full staging in August/September 2024."Lyric Opera of Melbourne: ''The Children’s Bach''"
''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

'', 7 September 2024

Roles

The work is of 80 minutes duration and is scored for a cast of six, and six instrumentalists (

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Synopsis

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Childrens Bach, The Operas English-language operas 2008 operas Operas set in Australia Operas based on novels Music commissioned by ensembles or performers