"Raven: A Saga in Nine Fragments" [Joe St.Johanser]

"Raven: A Saga in Nine Fragments" [Joe St.Johanser]

First line of lyrics: "Croak, croak, croak"

St.Johanser, Joe; music (British, born 1941)

Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)

2006

Woking, Surrey: Robosoft Music Productions Limited

genre: chamber opera/ballet

solo: soprano|mezzo-soprano|baritone

instrumentation: flute|oboe|bassoon|contrabassoon|harp|string quartet

initial sharps/flats: four flats

initial time signature: 4/4

origin: United Kingdom

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "A Bird's-Eye View"

Notes about the text: This work is a setting of stanzas 1-5, 7, and 9-11 only.

Composition history: Composer Joe St.Johanser commented that "Raven" was conceived as a companion piece for his setting of "Goblin Market" so that together they could make a complete program of suitable length for an evening performance (private correspondence with Mary Arseneau, 19 Jan. 2017). Both "Goblin Market" and "Raven" are meant to be performed as ballets.

Tempo markings: "Adagio"; quarter note = 80

Performance instructions: For dancers, soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone and 8-piece chamber orchestra.

Recordings: "Setting of the Christina Rossetti poem - Raven - Ballet Fragments One and Two." Performance by Azita Kazem, soprano, Olivia Shrive, mezzo, Paul Charrier, baritone, Ensemble Lumiere, Francis Griffin, conductor, Emma Williams, flute, Emma Feilding, oboe, Siona Crosdale, contra bassoon, Helen Tunstall, harp, Tom Gould, violin 1, Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin 2, Oliver Wilson, viola, Oliver Coates, cello. YouTube, uploaded by Joe St.Johanser, 10 Nov. 2010, https://youtu.be/2gr0cWnB5OM.
"Setting of the Christina Rossetti poem - Raven - Ballet Fragments Three, Four and Five." YouTube, https://youtu.be/z95sol7WiEw.
"Raven - Ballet Fragments Six, Seven ,Eight and Nine." YouTube, https://youtu.be/MBFrs9qfPuE.

Format 1: musical score

46 pages; performance time about 16 minutes.

Other data reference(s): "List of Published Musical Compositions." Joe St.Johanser, http://www.joestjohanser.co.uk/listofworks.htm. Accessed 18 Jan 2017.
"Songs with Chamber Orchestra." Joe St.Johanser, http://www.joestjohanser.co.uk/chamber.htm, Accessed 8 May 2023.

Cataloguer: Mary Arseneau and Roxanne Lafleur, University of Ottawa

Musical score: Joe St.Johanser

Opus: 16

Record: CRM-birdseye-stjohanser

File(s): CRM-birdseye-stjohanser.pdf

"© Robosoft Music 2006." All rights reserved. The score appears on this website by kind permission of the composer, Joe. St.Johanser.

The Christina Rossetti in Music project website is hosted in Canada at the University of Ottawa Library, and we aim to comply with Canadian copyright laws. If you believe we have violated Canadian copyright law, please contact us at christinarossettimusic@uottawa.ca. The Christina Rossetti in Music project is strictly not for profit and intended for research and educational purposes only.