{"id":12311,"date":"2014-05-23T01:50:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T01:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eoisabi.org\/?p=12311"},"modified":"2020-04-11T18:09:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T18:09:00","slug":"the-tender-land-a-copland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishroam.com\/?p=12311","title":{"rendered":"The Tender Land [A Copland]"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Tender Land<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is an\u00a0opera\u00a0with music by\u00a0Aaron Copland<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 (1900-1990) and libretto by Horace Everett, a pseudonym for\u00a0Erik Johns. The opera tells of a farm family in the\u00a0Midwest\u00a0of the\u00a0United States. Copland was inspired to write this opera after viewing the Depression-era photographs of\u00a0Walker Evans<\/a>\u00a0and reading\u00a0James Agee<\/a>‘s\u00a0Let Us Now Praise Famous Men<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0He wrote the work between 1952 and 1954 for the NBC Television Opera Workshop, with the intention of its being presented on television. However, the television producers rejected the opera. Eventually, the work had its premiere on April 1, 1954 at the\u00a0New York City Opera, with\u00a0Thomas Schippers\u00a0as the conductor,\u00a0Jerome Robbins\u00a0as the director, and a cast including the young\u00a0Norman Treigle.<\/p>\n

The opera was poorly received at its premiere. Contemporary criticism commented on the weaknesses of the opera’s characters and the storyline.\u00a0Later analysis by Christopher Patton stated that one underlying cause of the opera’s failure at the premiere was the contrast between writing for the intimate medium of television, the originally intended medium of the work, versus the more public and larger-scale setting of an opera house. An orchestral suite based on the opera was later compiled by Copland in 1958.\u00a0Copland and Johns later made revisions to the opera.<\/p>\n

\u00a4 \u00a0Synopsis<\/strong><\/p>\n

The setting is the 1930s in the midwestern United States, at the time of the spring harvest and also of high school graduation.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2192\u00a0 Act I<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Laurie, the high-school senior daughter of the Moss family, is on the brink of graduating high school. At the start of the opera, Beth, Laurie’s sister, is dancing by herself, and Ma Moss, Laurie and Beth’s mother, is sewing. The postman, Mr. Splinters, delivers a package with Laurie’s graduation dress. He also brings gossip about a neighbour’s daughter being frightened by two strangers to the area. Ma Moss and Grandpa Moss are worried about this. Two itinerant workers, Top and Martin, arrive on the scene. After initial suspicion, Grandpa Moss agrees to hire Top and Martin to help out with the harvest. Laurie and Martin meet, and feel sympathy for each other. Top asks for Martin’s help later in getting Grandpa Moss drunk at the party that night.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2192\u00a0 \u00a0Act II<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The party to celebrate Laurie’s graduation is going on. Everyone has eaten well, and Laurie acknowledges the guests’ well wishes to her. The dance begins. Ma Moss thinks that Top and Martin are the two strangers reported to be causing trouble in the area, and tells Mr. Splinters, who goes to tell the local sheriff. As the dance proceeds, Grandpa Moss becomes more drunk. Laurie and Martin are now in love, and they kiss at one moment. Grandpa Moss sees this and becomes angry. Top tells Martin that they should leave, but the sheriff arrives with the news that the two strangers causing the local disturbances have been caught. Even though Top and Martin have been proven innocent, Grandpa Moss says that they have to leave in the morning.<\/p>\n

Later that night, Laurie and Martin dream of eloping. However, Martin changes his mind, with the counsel of Top in the background advising that such a situation would cause great trouble for them all. During the night, while Laurie is packing, Top and Martin secretly leave. Laurie is left alone, but then suddenly resolves to leave home and make her own way in the world. Ma Moss and Beth try to change Laurie’s mind, but she is determined to move on. Ma Moss accepts this eventually. The opera ends as Laurie leaves, with Beth dancing by herself as she did at the beginning.<\/p>\n

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\n\u2665 \u00a0Laurie’s aria<\/a> \u2193 \u00a0Love duet \u00a0[Scene 3]<\/p>\n