Keith Gates: Music
The Hollow
based on The Hollow of the Three Hills by Nathaniel Hawthorne
book by Susan Estelle Kelso
Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, conductor
- (modem) (broadband) I am a stranger in this land
- (modem) (broadband) Be wary of wishes
- (modem) (broadband) End of scene 2, all of scene 3
- (modem) (broadband) One voice more
- Jeff Bell-Hanson, Susan Kelso, and Keith
- Michele Martin and Pam Cates in The Hollow
- The Hollow
The Hollow
An Opera in One Act
Music by Keith Gates
Libretto by Susan Kelso
Jeff Bell-Hanson, conductor
The opera was originally inspired by the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, The Hollow of the Three Hills (1836). For the modern mind, the opera manifests the timeless burden of memory and guilt, the complexities of human estrangement from the powerful cycles of our natural world.
In a magical hollow, surrounded by three hills and encompassing the past and present, two people meet. The distraught Lady seeks the aid of the mysterious Woman to discover the fates of those with whom she is "intimately bound, and from whom [she is] cut off forever." With the Woman's aid, the Lady sees in turn, visions of her parents, husband, and daughter.
Scene One: The Incantation
The Woman is summoned to the hollow and celebrates the harmony and peaceful beauty of nature at twilight. The Lady arrives, fearful of the meeting but driven by her need to know about those she left behind. Although the Woman disapproves of her wish, she tells the Lady that it will be granted. With the aid of the Woman and the magical pool, the Lady's visions appear.
Scene Two: The Parents
The Lady's first vision is of Father and Mother. They both describe the suffering inflicted by their daughter's behavior. The Lady protests, angry that they condemn her for the outcome of their lives. She denounces their accusations, and they fade into the wind, speaking of some new sorrow that the Lady is unable to hear.
Scene Three: The Husband
After the Woman describes the power of water and magic of the pool, the Lady has her second vision. Her Husband is in a mental asylum, going from one inmate to another to tell his story and to find understanding. the Catatonic remains locked in her world of "mama," the Paranoid desperately searches for unseen dangers, the Twig wonders what she is--twig or water plant, and the Warrior longs for a heroic fight and the conquest of a dragon. The Husband proclaims his righteous jealousy and his wife's disloyalty. The Lady tries to defend herself from the accusing voice, but is shattered by his censure and shocked by his deterioration.
Scene Four: The Daughter
The Woman reminds the Lady that our lives parallel the cycles of the moon and warns her not to search her shadows further. But the Lady must hear one voice more; her third vision is of her small daughter. With this mournful revelation and with the voice of her Husband still echoing from the asylum, the Lady is overcome by sorrow and dies. As the Woman observes the strangeness of humans, she calls forth peaceful darkness.
Woman...............................Michele Martin, mezzo-soprano
Lady...................................Pam Cates, soprano
Father................................Michael Sober, baritone
Mother...............................Elaine Glenn, soprano
Husband.............................Ron Brumley, tenor
Twig, Mourner, Wind..........Anita McDonald Platt, soprano
Catatonic, Mourner, Wind..Melissa Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Paranoid, Mourner, Wind...Gerard Bulber, tenor
Warrior, Mourner, Wind.....Rory Partin, baritone
Minister..............................Ross Allured, bass
An Opera in One Act
Music by Keith Gates
Libretto by Susan Kelso
Jeff Bell-Hanson, conductor
The opera was originally inspired by the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, The Hollow of the Three Hills (1836). For the modern mind, the opera manifests the timeless burden of memory and guilt, the complexities of human estrangement from the powerful cycles of our natural world.
In a magical hollow, surrounded by three hills and encompassing the past and present, two people meet. The distraught Lady seeks the aid of the mysterious Woman to discover the fates of those with whom she is "intimately bound, and from whom [she is] cut off forever." With the Woman's aid, the Lady sees in turn, visions of her parents, husband, and daughter.
Scene One: The Incantation
The Woman is summoned to the hollow and celebrates the harmony and peaceful beauty of nature at twilight. The Lady arrives, fearful of the meeting but driven by her need to know about those she left behind. Although the Woman disapproves of her wish, she tells the Lady that it will be granted. With the aid of the Woman and the magical pool, the Lady's visions appear.
Scene Two: The Parents
The Lady's first vision is of Father and Mother. They both describe the suffering inflicted by their daughter's behavior. The Lady protests, angry that they condemn her for the outcome of their lives. She denounces their accusations, and they fade into the wind, speaking of some new sorrow that the Lady is unable to hear.
Scene Three: The Husband
After the Woman describes the power of water and magic of the pool, the Lady has her second vision. Her Husband is in a mental asylum, going from one inmate to another to tell his story and to find understanding. the Catatonic remains locked in her world of "mama," the Paranoid desperately searches for unseen dangers, the Twig wonders what she is--twig or water plant, and the Warrior longs for a heroic fight and the conquest of a dragon. The Husband proclaims his righteous jealousy and his wife's disloyalty. The Lady tries to defend herself from the accusing voice, but is shattered by his censure and shocked by his deterioration.
Scene Four: The Daughter
The Woman reminds the Lady that our lives parallel the cycles of the moon and warns her not to search her shadows further. But the Lady must hear one voice more; her third vision is of her small daughter. With this mournful revelation and with the voice of her Husband still echoing from the asylum, the Lady is overcome by sorrow and dies. As the Woman observes the strangeness of humans, she calls forth peaceful darkness.
Woman...............................Michele Martin, mezzo-soprano
Lady...................................Pam Cates, soprano
Father................................Michael Sober, baritone
Mother...............................Elaine Glenn, soprano
Husband.............................Ron Brumley, tenor
Twig, Mourner, Wind..........Anita McDonald Platt, soprano
Catatonic, Mourner, Wind..Melissa Johnson, mezzo-soprano
Paranoid, Mourner, Wind...Gerard Bulber, tenor
Warrior, Mourner, Wind.....Rory Partin, baritone
Minister..............................Ross Allured, bass