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''The Pilgrim's Progress'' is an opera by Ralph Vaughan Williams, based on John Bunyan's allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress''. The composer himself described the work as a 'Morality' rather than an opera. Nonetheless, he intended the work to be performed on stage, rather than in a church or cathedral. Vaughan Williams himself prepared the libretto, with interpolations from the Bible and also text from his second wife, Ursula Wood. His changes to the story included altering the name of the central character from 'Christian' to 'Pilgrim', so as to universalise the spiritual message. The musical gestation of this opera was protracted, and was reflected in a number of musical projects in Vaughan Williams' life. For example, his earlier one-act opera ''The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains'' from 1921 was incorporated into Act 4, Scene 2 of the later opera. His Symphony No. 5 also made use of themes originally conceived for his John Bunyan project.〔Hugh Ottaway, "Vaughan Williams: Symphony in D and ''The Pilgrim's Progress''. A Comparative Note". ''The Musical Times '', 94(1328), 456–458 (1953).〕 He wrote a 1940 motet on Mr. Valiant-for-Truth's speech for mixed chorus. The BBC commissioned Vaughan Williams for incidental music for a 1942 radio dramatisation of ''The Pilgrim's Progress''. Herbert Murrill has characterised the opera as "summarizing in three hours virtually the whole creative output of a great composer".〔Herbert Murrill, "Vaughan Williams's Pilgrim". ''Music & Letters'', 32(4), 324–327 (1951).〕 The opera contains 41 individual singing roles. The first performance was at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 26 April 1951.〔(Hubert Foss, Review of ''The Pilgrim's Progress''. ''Musical Times'', June 1951. )〕 The conductor was Leonard Hancock, whom Vaughan Williams had personally chosen to conduct the premiere,〔(Alan Blyth, "Music, maestro, please" (Obituary for Leonard Hancock). ''The Guardian'', 2 April 1999. )〕 and the director Nevill Coghill. ==Roles and first singers== * Arnold Matters (Pilgrim) * Inia Te Wiata (John Bunyan) * Edgar Evans ( The Interpreter; A Celestial Messenger) * Bryan Drake (Watchful, the porter) * Norman Walker (Evangelist) * Iris Kells (A Woodcutter's Boy) * Parry Jones (Mister By-Ends) * Jean Watson (Madam By-Ends) * Monica Sinclair (A Heavenly Being)〔(Alan Blyth, Obituary for Monica Sinclair. ''The Guardian'', 15 May 2002. )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Pilgrim's Progress (opera)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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