The Washington Savoyards brings Scott Joplin’s 1910 opera Treemonisha back to Washington for the first time since it was performed during the Kennedy Center’s celebration of the Bicentennial in 1976. This rarely performed opera—which was never performed during Joplin’s lifetime—is a superb piece of American operatic literature which draws on African American traditions for both its story and its music, but is also deeply influenced by classical opera. Joplin posthumously received the Pulitzer Prize 1976 for his contributions to American music .
The story : The Washington Savoyards production sets this opera in a Louisiana bayou. Treemonisha is an educated young African American woman who denounces the superstitutions of her community. In retaliation, local conjurers kidnap her and take her into a swamp teeming with animals. Remus, her beau, rescues her at the last moment and they return home. A champion now of the community, Treemonisha triumphantly espouses education as the key to African American success.
Why Treemonisha and the Washington Savoyards : Since moving to the Atlas Performing Arts Center in 2006, the Washington Savoyards has broadened its repertory to include musical theatre and light opera as well as its traditional repertory of Gilbert and Sullivan. At the Atlas, it has performed Kiss Me, Kate, The Merry Widow, Babes in Toyland, Man of La Mancha, and The Music Man as well as acclaimed productions of The Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe. Its mission to make musical theatre and light opera accessible to a broad audience is mirrored in its non-traditional casting and showcasing of Washington area artists, musicians, directors, designers, and theatre technicians. Treemonisha will share in this mission and will have a diverse cast. Treemonisha is a too little-known treasure of the rich American cultural tradition—created by one of the great masters of the American cultural tradition.
Treemonisha will be attractive to audiences: it is by Scott Joplin, it tells an African American and an American story, it lauds education, the music is elegantly stirring, and there are roles for every age group that will delight every age group—the swamp animals and alligators will be great fun for children of all ages.
Artistic Director N. Thomas Pedersen was involved with initial productions of Treemonisha in the early 1970s and has long wanted to bring it to the stage again. The Intersections Festival provides the ideal setting for this to happen. The opera presents excellent opportunities for partnerships with not only our colleagues among the Atlas Arts Partners but also for reaching more deeply into the Washington area’s diverse artistic communities. For the Washington Savoyards, it is the perfect vehicle to demonstrate the Company’s deep commitment to casting that is ethnically and generationally diverse and to the belief that education and knowledge are keys to superb productions and to life. |
ABOUT TREEMONISHA by T.J. Anderson, orchestrator of Treemonisha
written in recognition of the Washington Savoyards production
We stand on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Scott Joplin opera, Treemonisha. What meaning does this work have for the current generation and what is its importance in the history of American opera? In our epistemological concerns, what questions arise? Does the work promulgate enduring values? Does it promote pride in heritage? Does it serve as a reminder, lest we forget the experience of slavery? I would say the answer to these questions is a resounding, yes.
In 1911, Scott Joplin wrote Treemonisha and paid to have it published. Its polarity of thought, assimilated black identity, and the influence of classic European opera of the eighteenth century are distinctive. The overture, arias, recitatives, and small orchestra are all there. The story and the libretto are products of his imagination. This opera was an aesthetic calculation of the American musical experience and the cultural adaptation of his personal expression. Joplin takes the high road of transcendental values. His emphasis on education is reflected in the establishment of several African American universities (not colleges) after the Civil War. Lincoln, Shaw, Johnson C. Smith, Howard, and Langston University are examples.
The opera takes place just after the Civil War in the south. Monisha and Ned find a baby under a tree. They decide to name her Treemonisha. The child is sent away for an education and later returns to a community riddled with superstition and witchcraft. Treemonisha tries to teach her people the value of education and after a struggle with these forces of witchcraft she becomes their leader. All the villains of superstition are forgiven. Joplin tried to stage the opera without success during his lifetime. His inability to find financial backing may have been based on the determination not to recognize his opera as an American opera; an unwillingness to give it proper status.
On January 28, 1972 the first performance of Treemonisha was held in Atlanta, the culminating event of a week long celebration by the African American Workshop under the direction of Wendell Whalum, Richard Long, and me. The opera was sponsored through a grant through Norman Lloyd from the Rockefeller Foundation. Treemonisha's remaining piano-vocal score was called to my attention by William Bolcom. Joplin's orchestration was lost. With slight assistance from me, this distinguished composer edited the piano-vocal score. Later, I orchestrated the opera.
The premiere performance featured the conductor, Robert Shaw; stage director and choreographer, Katherine Dunham; singers Alpha Floyd, Seth McCoy, Simon Estes, Laura English, Louise Parker, Joseph Bias, Uzee Brown; musicians from the Atlanta Symphony; and singers from the Atlanta University complex.
What are my reflections of that night in Atlanta's Symphony Hall thirty-eight years ago? My first thought was for Scott Joplin who did not live to see the large standing ovation with people screaming and dancing in the aisles. He was not there for the many curtain calls. I remember my seven-year-old daughter, Anita, on the shoulders of the Chicago sculptor, Richard Hunt, going wild in celebration. That evening was an extraordinary achievement for American opera.
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T.J. Anderson has written symphonies, chamber music, vocal music, and pieces for band, including Slavery Documents and Spirit Songs, the latter commissioned by Yo Yo Ma. He is known for his orchestration of Scott Joplin's opera, Treemonisha, which premiered in 1972. One of the leading composers of his generation, Anderson retired from Tufts University in 1990 as Austin Fletcher Professor of Music Emeritus. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2005, he has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Djerassi Foundation, the National Humanities Center, and the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy. Other honors include honorary membership in Phi Beta Kappa and a John Simon Guggenheim fellowship. He served as Composer-in-Residence for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Shaw and founded the National Association for the Study and Performance of African American Music. He was also honored by the American Music Center and was named to the MENC Hall of Fame.
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