By:

• Tony Ryan

Duration:

1h 00' 00"

Instrumentation:

soprano, 2 mezzos, tenor, baritone; orch: 1111;1111;1perc; strs (11111)

Programme Note

A comic opera in one act which was professionally staged in 1996.

It played to enthusiastic audiences and reviewers, including Timothy Jones who commented that it was: “lean, witty and self-contained – wonderfully rhythmic, but spiky and astringent as the need arose”. Ian Dando’s review concluded: “Honest music with its sleeves rolled up”, while John Pattinson’s noted: “His orchestral resourcefulness is considerable and The Musicians of Bremen teems with interesting and colourful ideas all of which seemed to work like a charm. Ryan has developed a happy knack of being able to write effectively for voices or instruments”. Elric Hooper’s review included the following: “Christchurch … contains some of NZ’s best kept artistic secrets. One of them is Tony Ryan.”

Text Note:

Libretto by Tony Ryan after Grimm

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences:

• German
• Fairytale / folktale