Jonathan Dove
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Dove is a British
composer
of opera
, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera
and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmingham Opera Company
), including in 1990 a famous 18-player two-evening adaptation of Wagner's
Der Ring des Nibelungen
for CBTO. He was Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival from 2001 to 2006.
Other works
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera
English Touring Opera
English Touring Opera is an opera company in the United Kingdom. From 1979 to 1992 it was known as Opera 80.- About the company :Opera 80 was founded in 1979 by the Arts Council of Great Britain as the successor to Opera For All; in 1992 the company changed its name to English Touring Opera...
and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birmingham Opera Company
Birmingham Opera Company
Birmingham Opera Company is a professional opera company based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, that specialises in innovative and avant-garde productions of the operatic repertoire, often in unusual venues....
), including in 1990 a famous 18-player two-evening adaptation of Wagner's
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
for CBTO. He was Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival from 2001 to 2006.
Recent/current work
- Airport Scenes, an orchestral suite from the airport-comedy opera FlightFlight (opera)Flight is an English opera in three acts, with music by Jonathan Dove and libretto by April De Angelis. The work was commissioned by Glyndebourne Opera and premiered on 24 September 1998 by Glyndebourne Touring Opera...
, was premiered by the University of Warwick Symphony OrchestraUniversity of Warwick Symphony OrchestraThe University of Warwick Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in the University of Warwick music centre in West Midlands, England and is composed mainly of university students, together with some staff and members of the local community....
on March 7, 2006. - The Enchanted PigThe Enchanted PigThe Enchanted Pig is a Romanian fairy tale, collected in Rumanische Märchen and also by Petre Ispirescu in Legende sau basmele românilor. Andrew Lang included it in The Red Fairy Book.It is Aarne-Thompson type 425A, the search for the lost husband...
, libretto by Alasdair MiddletonAlasdair MiddletonAlasdair Middleton is a British playwright and opera librettist. He also teaches the Junior Classes at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.- Opera libretti :*Everything Money Can Buy *Out Of The Ordinary...
, was premièred at the Young Vic, London in December 2006 and toured parts of the UK in early 2006 - The Adventures of PinocchioThe Adventures of Pinocchio (opera)The Adventures of Pinocchio is a 2007 opera in two acts by Jonathan Dove with a libretto by Alasdair Middleton based on the novel by Carlo Collodi...
, libretto by Alasdair MiddletonAlasdair MiddletonAlasdair Middleton is a British playwright and opera librettist. He also teaches the Junior Classes at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.- Opera libretti :*Everything Money Can Buy *Out Of The Ordinary...
, was commissioned by Opera NorthOpera NorthOpera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
and Sadler's Wells TheatreSadler's Wells TheatreSadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
, and premièred at the Grand Theatre LeedsGrand Theatre LeedsThe Grand Theatre is a theatre and Opera house in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was designed by James Robinson Watson, chief assistant in the office of Leeds-based architect George Corson, and opened on 18 November 1878...
on 21 December 2007. The US première was performed by the Minnesota Opera on February 28, 2009, in St. Paul, MN. A performance of which was dedicated to his godson Finnestere Macfarland - The London Premier of Flight was performed by British Youth OperaBritish Youth OperaSince it was founded in 1987, British Youth Opera has enabled over a thousand singers, instrumentalists, conductors, directors and production staff to gain experience through its annual September performances and workshop and masterclass series....
in September 2008 - Swanhunter, a chamber operaChamber operaChamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
based on the LemminkäinenLemminkäinenLemminkäinen or Lemminki is a prominent figure in Finnish mythology. He is one of the Heroes of the Kalevala, where his character is a composition of several separate heroes of oral poetry. He is usually depicted as young and good looking, with wavy blonde hair.The original, mythological...
legend, was premiered by Opera North in late 2009. - Mansfield ParkMansfield Park (opera)This article is about the Jonathan Dove opera. For the Jane Austen novel see: Mansfield Park. For other works with this title see: Mansfield Park ...
, a chamber operaChamber operaChamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
based on the Jane AustenJane AustenJane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
novel of the same name, will be premiered by Heritage Opera in Summer 2011.
Selected works
Operas- Hastings Spring (community opera) (1990)
- Pig (chamber opera) (1992)
- Siren Song (opera) (1994)
- FlightFlight (opera)Flight is an English opera in three acts, with music by Jonathan Dove and libretto by April De Angelis. The work was commissioned by Glyndebourne Opera and premiered on 24 September 1998 by Glyndebourne Touring Opera...
(1998) - Tobias and the AngelTobias and the Angel (Jonathan Dove)Tobias and the Angel is a community opera by Jonathan Dove, with a libretto by David Lan. The story is based on the Book of Tobit from the Biblical Apocrypha....
(church opera), to a libretto by David LanDavid LanDavid Lan is an English playwright, filmmaker and theatre director.Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1952, he emigrated to London in 1972. Since 2000 he has been artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London's South Bank.-Career:...
(1999) - The Palace in the Sky (community opera) (2000)
- L'altra Euridice (2002)
- When She Died... (Death of a Princess) (television opera, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
) (2002) - Man on the MoonMan on the Moon (opera)Man on the Moon is a 2006 television opera in one act by Jonathan Dove with a libretto by Nicholas Wright. It relates the story of the Apollo 11 moon landing on 20 July 1969 and the subsequent problems experienced by Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon.The opera, about 50 minutes long,...
(television opera, about Buzz AldrinBuzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
, second man to walk on the moon, and the effects the experience had on him and his marriage) (2006) - Hear Our Voice (community opera) in partnership with Matthew KingMatthew King (composer)Matthew King is a British composer and pianist. His works include opera, piano and chamber music, choral and orchestral pieces.-Career:...
(2006), libretto by Tertia Sefton-Green. http://www.hmdt.org.uk/inschool_hearourvoice_1.html
Other works
- The Passing of the Year (song cycle for double chorus and piano) (2000) 20th-century
- The Magic Flute Dances (flute concerto) (2000)
- Stargazer (a trombone concerto written for Ian BousfieldIan BousfieldIan Bousfield is Principal Trombone with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, having formerly held the same positions with the London Symphony Orchestra and Hallé Orchestra.- Early life and education :...
) - Köthener Messe, for choir and chamber ensemble
- Out of Winter (song-cycle)
- Seek Him that maketh the Seven Stars
- His Dark Materials Part I & II (incidental music) (2003)
- On Spital Fields (community cantata) (2005)
- Hojoki - "An Account of my Hut" (Counter-Tenor and Orchestra)
- I am the day (Religious - SATB)
- Ecce Beatam Lucem (composed for Ralph AllwoodRalph AllwoodRalph Allwood was the Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College in the UK until September 2011. He is a British conductor and has set up many musical events, including the Eton Choral Courses of which there are now seven a year....
and the 1997 EtonEton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
Choral Course)