Noye's Fludde (Middle English for Noah's Flood) is a one-act opera by the British composer Benjamin Britten, intended primarily for amateur performers, particularly children. First performed on 18 June 1958 at that year's Aldeburgh Festival, it is based on the 15th-century Chester "mystery" or "miracle" play which recounts the Book of Genesis story of Noah's Ark. Britten specified that the opera should be staged in churches or large halls, not in a theatre.
By the mid-1950s Britten had established himself as a major composer, both of operas and of works for mixed professional and amateur forces – his mini-opera The Little Sweep (1949) was written for young audiences, and used child performers. He had previously adapted text from the Chester play cycle in his 1952 Canticle II, which retells the story of Abraham and Isaac. Noye's Fludde was composed as a project for television; to the Chester text Britten added three congregational hymns, the Greek prayer Kyrie eleison as a children's chant, and an Alleluia chorus. A large children's chorus represents the pairs of animals who march into and out of the ark, and proceedings are directed by the spoken Voice of God. Of the solo sung roles, only the parts of Noye (Noah) and his wife were written to be sung by professionals; the remaining roles are for child and adolescent performers. A small professional ensemble underpins the mainly amateur orchestra which contains numerous unconventional instruments to provide particular musical effects; bugle fanfares for the animals, handbell chimes for the rainbow, and various improvisations to replicate musically the sounds of a storm.
At its premiere Noye's Fludde was acclaimed by critics and public alike, both for the inspiration of the music and the brilliance of the design and production. The opera's American premiere took place in New York in March 1959, and its first German performance occurred at Ettal in May of that year. Since then it has been staged worldwide; the performance in Beijing in October 2012 organised by the KT Wong Foundation was the first in China of any Britten opera. The occasion of Britten's centenary in 2013 led to numerous productions at music festivals, both in the UK and abroad.
Background Chester mystery plays
English mystery or "miracle" plays were dramatised Bible stories, by ancient tradition performed on Church feast days in town squares and market places by members of the town's craft guilds. They covered the full range of the narrative and metaphor in the Christian Bible, from the fall of Lucifer to the Last Judgement. From the many play cycles that originated in the late Middle Ages, the Chester cycle is one of four that have survived into the 21st century. The texts, by an unidentified writer, were revised during the late 15th century into a format similar to that of contemporary French passion plays, and were published in 1890, in Alfred W. Pollard's English Miracle Plays, Moralities, and Interludes.
The story of Noah and the flood, the third play in the Chester cycle, was originally performed by the city's Guild of the Drawers of Dee, otherwise known as the water-carriers. A feature of this play, observed by the historian Rosemary Woolf, is the depiction of Noah's wife, and by implication women generally, as disobedient, obdurate and finally abusive, in contrast to the "grave and obedient" Noah and his patient sons.
By the latter part of the 16th-century Reformation, the Church had grown less tolerant of mystery plays. A performance in Chester in 1575 is the last recorded from the city until the 20th century, when the Chester cycle was revived under the supervision of Christopher Ede, as part of the city's Festival of Britain celebrations in June 1951. This production was received enthusiastically, and was repeated the following year; thereafter it became a regular feature and tourist attraction.
Inception By the late 1940s Benjamin Britten had established himself as a leading composer of English opera, with several major works to his credit. In 1947 he suggested to his librettist Eric Crozier that they should create a children's opera, based on a bible story. Crozier gave Britten a copy of Pollard's book, as a possible source of material. Nothing came of this project immediately; instead, Britten and Crozier wrote the cantata Saint Nicolas (1948), the first of several works in which Britten combined skilled performers with amateurs. The cantata involves at least two children's choirs, and incorporates two congregational hymns sung by the audience. Britten also used this fusion of professional with amateur forces in The Little Sweep (1949), which forms the second part of his entertainment for children, Let's Make an Opera, that he devised with Crozier. Again, child singers (also doubling as actors) were used, and the audience sings choruses at appropriate points.; and In 1952, although Britten's collaboration with Crozier had ended, he used the Chester plays book as the source text for his Canticle II, based on the story of Abraham and Isaac.
In April 1957 Boris Ford, Head of Schools Broadcasting at Associated Rediffusion (A-R), wrote to Britten, proposing a series of half-hour programmes. These would show Britten composing and rehearsing a work through to its performance, and would provide children with "an intimate piece of musical education, by ... watching a piece of music take shape and in some degree growing with it". Britten was initially cautious. He found the idea interesting, but he warned Ford that he was currently occupied with travel and had limited time for writing. He was also anxious not to cover the same ground as he had with Let's Make an Opera.Letter dated 15 April 1957, quoted in However, he agreed to meet Ford to discuss the project further. On 11 July they met in London, together with Britten's musical assistant Imogen Holst. Britten told Ford that he had "for some months or a year vaguely been thinking of doing something with the [Chester] miracle plays", and agreed to write an opera for A-R's 1958 summer term of school programmes. The subject would be Noah and the flood, based on the Chester text. Later, Ford and his script editor, Martin Worth, travelled to Aldeburgh, and with Britten looked at possible churches for the performance. St Bartholomew's Church, Orford, was chosen as, unlike most other churches in East Suffolk, its pews were not fixed, thus offering a more flexible performing space.
Roles +RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 18 June 1958(Conductor: Charles Mackerras)The Voice of Godspoken roleTrevor AnthonyNoyebass-baritoneOwen BranniganMrs NoyecontraltoGladys ParrSemtrebleThomas BevanHamtrebleMarcus NormanJaffetttenor or trebleMichael CrawfordMrs Semgirl sopranoJanette MillerMrs Hamgirl sopranoKatherine DysonMrs Jaffettgirl sopranoMarilyn BakerMrs Noye's Gossipsgirl sopranosPenelope Allen, Doreen Metcalfe,Dawn Mendham, Beverley NewmanThe Ravensilent roleDavid BedwellThe Dovesilent roleMaria SpallChildren's chorus of animals and birds; congregation
Synopsis
After the opening congregational hymn "Lord Jesus, think on me", the spoken Voice of God addresses Noye, announcing the forthcoming destruction of the sinful world. God tells Noye to build an ark ("a shippe") that will provide salvation for him and his family. Noye agrees, and calls on the people and his family to help. His sons and their wives enter with tools and materials and begin work, while Mrs Noye and her Gossips (close friends) mock the project.
When the ark is completed, Noye tries to persuade his wife to enter: "Wyffe, in this vessel we shall be kepte", but she refuses, and they quarrel. The Voice of God foretells forty days and forty nights of rain, and instructs Noye to fill the ark with animals of every kind. The animals enter the ark in pairs, while Noye's sons and their wives provide a commentary. Noye orders his family to board the ark; again Mrs Noye and the Gossips refuse, preferring to carouse. The sons finally drag Mrs Noye on board, while the Gossips are swept away by the encroaching flood; she rewards her husband with a slap. Rain begins to fall, building to a great storm at the height of which the first verse of the naval hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" is heard from the ark. The congregation joins in the second and third verses of the hymn, during which the storm gradually subsides. When it is calm, Noye sends out a Raven, saying "If this foule come not againe/it is a signe soth to sayne/that dry it is on hill or playne." When the Raven fails to return, Noye knows that the bird has discovered dry land. He sends out a Dove, who eventually brings back an olive branch. Noah accepts this as a sign of deliverance, and thanks God.
The Voice of God instructs everyone to leave the ark. As they do, the animals sing "Alleluias" and the people sing a chorus of praise: "Lord we thanke thee through thy mighte". God promises that he will never again destroy the earth with water, and produces a rainbow as his token. The cast begins Addison's hymn "The spacious firmament on high", with the congregation joining in the last two verses. All the cast depart except Noye, who receives God's blessing and promise of no more vengeance: "And nowe fare well, my darling deare" before his departure from the stage.
Creation Writing Britten began detailed planning for the opera in August 1957, while sailing to Canada for a tour with the English Opera Group. He told Colin Graham, at that time the EOG's stage manager, that he wanted him to direct the new work. After a further meeting at Associated Rediffusion's London headquarters on 18 October, Britten began a composition draft in Aldeburgh on 27 October. To Pollard's edition of the Noah play's text, he added three congregational Anglican hymns: "Lord Jesus, think on me"; "Eternal Father, strong to save"; and "The spacious firmament on high". Britten introduced the repetitive Greek chant "Kyrie eleison" ("Lord, have mercy") at the entry of the animals, and "Alleluias" at their triumphant exit. He had completed about two-thirds of the opera when Ford was dismissed from A-R, allegedly for administrative shortcomings and inexperience. A-R decided to withdraw from the project, which was then taken up by Associated Television (ATV), whose chairman Lew Grade personally took responsibility for signing the contract and urged that Britten should complete the opera.
In November 1957 Britten moved to The Red House, Aldeburgh, but continued to work on the opera throughout the upheaval. According to a letter he wrote to Edith Sitwell on 14 December, "the final bars of the opera [were] punctuated by hammer-blows" from workmen busy at the Red House. Before he finished the composition draft, Britten wrote to the baritone Owen Brannigan, who had sung in several previous Britten operas, asking if he would take the title role. Britten completed the full score of the opera in March 1958, which he dedicated "To my nephew and nieces, Sebastian, Sally and Roguey Welford, and my young friend Ronald Duncan [one of Britten's godsons]".
Performance requirements