The Flood (Stravinsky)

1962 musical stage production by Igor Stravinsky

The Flood

A musical play by Igor Stravinsky

Stravinsky in 1962

Librettist| Robert Craft
Language| English
Based on| Noah and the Flood, mystery plays
Premiere|

1962 (1962)

Santa Fe Opera

The Flood: A musical play (1962) is a short biblical drama by Igor Stravinsky on the story of Noah and the flood, originally conceived as a work for television. It contains singing, spoken dialogue, and ballet sequences. It is in Stravinsky's late, serial style.

The work was premiered in the United States on the CBS Television Network on 14 June 1962, a production conducted by Robert Craft and choreographed by George Balanchine. Dramatic actors participating in the work included Laurence Harvey (narrator), Sebastian Cabot (Noah), and Elsa Lanchester (Noah's wife, which Lanchester played with a Cockney accent). Robert Craft also conducted the first staged performance, by the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico in 1962,[1] and again in Hamburg on 30 April 1963.

## Text[edit]

The narrative of The Flood juxtaposes the story of the Creation with that of Noah. The text was compiled by Robert Craft using material from Genesis and the York and Chester cycles of mystery plays. Excerpts from the Te Deum are sung by the chorus.

## Scoring[edit]

The work is scored for tenor soloist (Lucifer/Satan), two bass soloists (God), several spoken parts (a narrator, Satan, Eve, Noah, a caller, Noah's wife, son of Noah), chorus (SAT) and a large orchestra of 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), alto flute, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones (1st doubling alto trombone), tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, xylorimba, 3 tom-toms, harp, celesta, piano and strings.

The Flood was published in 1963 by Boosey & Hawkes.

## Structure[edit]

The work is in seven parts:

1. Prelude
2. Melodrama
3. The building of the Ark (choreography)
4. The catalogue of the animals
5. The comedy (Noah and his wife)
6. The Flood (choreography)
7. The covenant of the rainbow

## Recordings[edit]

* The original cast recording, with Robert Craft conducting (in the composer's presence) the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, recorded in 1962 for Columbia Masterworks Records, released on CD by Sony Classical Records (SM2K 46300)
* Oliver Knussen conducting the London Sinfonietta on Deutsche Grammophon (DG 447 068–2, released 1995)

## References[edit]

1. ^ Walsh, Stephen (2008). Stravinsky: The Second Exile: France and America, 1934-1971. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 459\. ISBN 9780520256156.

### Cited sources[edit]

* Phillip Ramey: Liner notes to Igor Stravinsky Edition, vol. X: Oratorio and Melodrama (Sony Classical SM2K 46300)
* Boosey & Hawkes' information about the score. Retrieved August 16, 2007
* Holman, J. K. (ed.) 2007. Wagner Moments: A Celebration of Favorite Wagner Experiences. New York: Amadeus Press. ISBN 978-1-57467-159-9. Snippet view on Google books at books.google.com.
* Kuster, Andrew, Analysis of The Flood. Retrieved 5 May 2009.

## Further reading[edit]

* Payne, Anthony (Autumn 1964). "Stravinsky's 'The Flood'". Tempo. Cambridge University Press (70): 2–8. JSTOR 943932.
* Straus, Joseph. N. 2001. Stravinsky's Late MusicCambridge Studies in Music Theory and Analysis. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-60288-2 (cloth); ISBN 0-521-60288-2 (pbk).
* Stravinsky, Igor, and Robert Craft. 1962. Expositions and Developments. Garden City, NY: Doubleday; London: Faber and Faber. Reprinted, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1981. ISBN 0-520-04403-7.
* van den Toorn, Peter C. 1983. The Music of Igor Stravinsky. Composers of the Twentieth Century. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02693-5.
* White, Eric Walter. 1979. Stravinsky: The Composer and His Works, second edition. Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03985-8.

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Igor Stravinsky

List of compositions
Discography

Operas and
musical dramas|

* The Nightingale
* Renard
* The Soldier's Tale
* Mavra
* Oedipus rex
* Perséphone
* The Rake's Progress
* The Flood

Ballets|

* The Firebird
* Petrushka
* The Rite of Spring (discography)
* Les noces
* Pulcinella
* Apollo
* The Fairy's Kiss
* Jeu de cartes
* Danses concertantes
* Scènes de ballet
* Orpheus
* Agon

Symphonies|

* Symphony in E♭
* Symphony of Psalms
* Symphony in C
* Symphony in Three Movements

Orchestral music|

* Scherzo fantastique
* Fireworks
* Funeral Song
* Four Études
* The Song of the Nightingale
* Circus Polka
* Ode
* Scherzo à la russe
* Greeting Prelude
* Movements for Piano and Orchestra
* Variations: Aldous Huxley in memoriam
* Canon on a Russian Popular Tune

Concertos|

* Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments
* Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra
* Violin Concerto in D
* Concerto in E♭ ("Dumbarton Oaks")
* Ebony Concerto
* Concerto in D

Solo
vocal|

* Pastorale
* Pribaoutki
* Berceuses du chat
* Abraham and Isaac
* Elegy for J.F.K.
* "The Owl and the Pussy Cat"

Choral|

* Zvezdoliki
* Ave Maria
* Babel
* Mass
* Cantata
* Canticum Sacrum
* Threni
* A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer
* Requiem Canticles

Piano and
pianola|

* "Tarantella"
* Scherzo
* Piano Sonata in F♯ minor
* Four Études
* "Valse des fleurs"
* Three Easy Pieces
* Five Easy Pieces
* Étude for Pianola
* Piano-Rag-Music
* Les cinq doigts
* Three Movements from Petrushka
* Piano Sonata
* Serenade in A
* Concerto for Two Pianos
* Tango
* Sonata for Two Pianos
* Two Sketches for a Sonata

Chamber
music|

* Three Pieces for String Quartet
* Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet
* Lied ohne Name
* Octet
* Duo Concertant
* Elegy
* Septet
* Epitaphium
* Double Canon (in Memoriam Raoul Dufy)

Other|

* Symphonies of Wind Instruments
* Fanfare for a New Theatre

Arrangements|

* Bluebird Pas de Deux (from Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty)
* Monumentum pro Gesualdo

Family|

| Parents|

* Fyodor Stravinsky (father)

|

Wives|

* Yekaterina Nosenko (first)
* Vera Sudeikina (second)

Children|

* Soulima Stravinsky
* Théodore Strawinsky

Amanuensis|

* Robert Craft

Named for Stravinsky|

* 4382 Stravinsky
* Igor Stravinsky (river cruise ship)
* Stravinsky (crater)
* Stravinsky Fountain
* Stravinsky Inlet

Related|

* Earnest Andersson
* Ernest Ansermet
* George Balanchine
* Ballets Russes
* Nadia Boulanger
* Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (film)
* Jean Cocteau
* Sergei Diaghilev
* Samuel Dushkin
* Arthur Lourié
* Monday Evening Concerts
* New York City Ballet
* Pierre Monteux
* Neoclassicism
* Petrushka chord
* Psalms chord
* Charles Ferdinand Ramuz
* Werner Reinhart
* Serialism

* Category
* Audio

* v
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Ballets by George Balanchine

* A la Françaix
* A Midsummer Night's Dream
* Agon
* Allegro Brillante
* Apollo
* Le baiser de la fée
* Le Bal
* Ballade
* Ballo della Regina
* Bayou
* Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
* Bourrée fantasque
* Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet
* Bugaku
* Chaconne
* Le chant du rossignol
* Circus Polka
* Clarinade
* Concertino
* Concerto Barocco
* Coppélia
* Cortège Hongrois
* Divertimento Brillante
* Divertimento from "Le Baiser De La Fée"
* Divertimento No. 15
* Don Quixote
* Donizetti Variations
* Duo Concertant
* Élégie
* L'enfant et les sortilèges
* Episodes
* Etude for Piano
* The Firebird
* The Four Temperaments
* Garland Dance
* Gounod Symphony
* Haieff Divertimento
* Harlequinade
* Hungarian Gypsy Airs
* Ivesiana
* Jeu de cartes
* Jewels
* Kammermusik No. 2
* Liebeslieder Walzer
* Meditation
* Metamorphoses
* Metastaseis and Pithoprakta
* Monumentum pro Gesualdo
* Movements for Piano and Orchestra
* Mozartiana
* Noah and the Flood
* The Nutcracker
* Orpheus
* Pas de Dix
* Pas de Trois (Glinka)
* Pas de Trois (Minkus)
* Pavane
* Prodigal Son
* Pulcinella
* Ragtime I
* Ragtime II
* Raymonda Variations
* Requiem Canticles
* Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze
* Scherzo à la Russe
* Scotch Symphony
* Serenade
* The Seven Deadly Sins
* Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
* La Sonnambula
* Sonatine
* La source
* Square Dance
* Stars and Stripes
* The Steadfast Tin Soldier
* Stravinsky Violin Concerto
* Swan Lake
* Sylvia Pas de Deux
* Symphonie Concertante
* Symphony in C
* Symphony in Three Movements
* Tango
* Tarantella
* Theme and Variations
* Le Tombeau de Couperin
* Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
* Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2
* Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
* Tzigane
* Union Jack
* La Valse
* Valse-Fantaisie
* Variations
* Variations for Orchestra
* Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir
* Vienna Waltzes
* Walpurgisnacht Ballet
* Western Symphony
* Who Cares?
* Zenobia

List of ballets by George Balanchine

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Noah's Ark

Theology|

| Source|

* Genesis flood narrative in the Book of Genesis

|

Characters|

* Noah
* Shem
* Ham
* Japheth
* Wives aboard Noah's Ark

Related|

* Book of Noah
* Generations of Noah
* Gopher wood
* Noah's wine
* Seven Laws of Noah

Media|

| Television|

* Captain Noah and His Magical Ark (1967)
* "Noah's Ark" (1992)
* Noah's Island (1997)
* Noah's Ark (1999)
* VeggieTales: Noah's Ark (2015)
* The Ark (2015)

|

Film|

* Noah's Ark (1928)
* Father Noah's Ark (1933)
* The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966)
* O Trapalhão na Arca de Noé (1983)
* La Biblia en pasta (1984)
* Angel's Egg (1985)
* Stowaways on the Ark (1988)
* Genesis: The Creation and the Flood (1994)
* Noah (1998)
* Fantasia 2000 (1999)
* Raining Cats and Frogs (2003)
* Noah's Ark (2007)
* Evan Almighty (2007)
* 40 Days and Nights (2012)
* Noah (2014)
* Ooops! Noah Is Gone... (2015)
* The Ark and the Aardvark (TBA)

Stage|

* The Flowering Peach (1954 play)
* Two by Two (1970 musical)

Opera|

* Il diluvio universale (1830)
* Le Déluge (1875)
* Noé (1885)
* Noye's Fludde (1958)
* The Flood (1962)

Paintings|

* Scenes from the Life of Noah (1436-1440)
* Noah's Ark (17th century)
* The Return of the Dove to the Ark (1851)
* After the Deluge (1891)

Songs|

* Die Sintflut
* "The Unicorn" (1968)
* "Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo" (1970)
* "The Prophet's Song" (1975)
* "Animals" (1980)
* "Forever Not Yours" (2002)

Games|

* Noah's Ark (1992)
* Super 3D Noah's Ark (1994)

Literature|

* Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake (1948)
* The Moon in the Cloud (1969)
* Noah's Ark (1977)
* Not Wanted on the Voyage (1984)
* Noah's Brother (1985)
* Many Waters (1986)
* Noah's Ark (2002)
* Not the End of the World (2004)

Other cultures|

* Flood myth
* Sumerian creation myth
* Gilgamesh flood myth
* Ancient Greek flood myths
* Finnish flood myth
* Great Flood of China
* Mesoamerican flood myths
* Cessair
* Bergelmir
* Noah in Islam
* Noah in rabbinic literature
* Peluda

Science|

* Black Sea deluge hypothesis
* Flood geology
* Searches for Noah's Ark
* In Search of Noah's Ark
* Mountains of Ararat
* Mount Ararat
* Mount Judi
* Mosque of Ibn Tulun
* Ararat anomaly
* Durupınar site

Related|

* Noah's Ark replicas and derivatives
* Boner's Ark
* Noah's Ark silver coins

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