Down in the Valley (1948)

Folk-opera in one act.
Libretto by Arnold Sundgaard.

Synopsis
Song List
Performance Information
Principal Productions
Recordings

Photo of

Cover painting for vocal score.

Synopsis

Jennie Parsons's true love is young Brack Weaver. However, the older Thomas Bouché--who has the upper hand in business dealings with Jennie's father--wants to claim her for himself. The conflict comes to a head at a dance, when a fight breaks out and Brack kills Bouché. Brack is condemned for murder; on the night before his execution, he escapes to spend his last hours with Jennie. Told in flashback form, the action begins in the jail the night before the execution.

Song list

Down in the Valley
Where Is the One Who Will Mourn Me When I'm Gone?
Brack Weaver, My True Love
The Lonesome Dove
The Little Black Train
Hop Up, My Ladies
Hoe-Down
Down in the Valley

Performance Information

Cast: Singing roles -- Brack Weaver (tenor or high baritone), Jennie Parsons (lyric soprano), Thomas Bouché (bass), Leader/Preacher (baritone), SATB chorus.
Speaking roles -- Guard, Peters, Jennie's Father, two men, two women
Orchestra: 2.1.2.1.1 alto sax. 1 ten. sax; 2.2.2.0; guitar, piano, timp & perc; strings without violas.
Duration: 35 minutes
Published Editions: piano-vocal score, G. Schirmer
Performance Rights and Rentals: All territories: SCHRM

Guide to orchestration, territory abbreviations, and publishers' symbols.

Principal productions

July 15, 1948, Bloomington, Indiana University, Hans Busch, dir., Ernst Hoffmann, cond.
July 1952, Provincetown, NY, Provincetown Playhouse, Tony Randall, dir.
early 1960, Hannover, Staatstheater, Hartmut Goebel, dir., Walter Born, cond. (in German, with Die sieben Todsünden)
1984, U.S., PBS Television, Frank Cvitanovich, dir., Carl Davis, cond. (filmed in England by the Moving Picture Company)
September 16, 1995, Kansas City, Lyric Opera, Francis Cullinan, dir., Russell Patterson, cond.

Recordings

Capriccio CD 60 020-1	Fredonia Chamber Singers, Kammerchor der Universität Dortmund, Orchester Campus Cantat 90, Willi Gundlach, cond.
Sepia CD 1052	Marion Bell, William McGraw, Kenneth Smith, Peter Herman Adler (cond.), cast of NBC-Television broadcast of 1950 (CD re-issue)
Decca LP DL 4239	Alfred Drake, Jane Wilson, Norman Atkins, Maurice Levine, cond. (recording supervised by Kurt Weill)
RCA LP LPV-503	Marion Bell, William McGraw, Kenneth Smith, Peter Herman Adler (cond.), cast of NBC-Television broadcast of 1950