PUBLISHING AND RIGHTS
For licensing and score rental or purchase,
contact E.C. Schirmer Music Company.
For rental of world premiere production featuring scenic design by Ed Mell, contact Arizona Opera.
Aria Scores
Soprano Arias
Bass-Baritone Arias
Tull’s Aria (baritone)
Venters’ Aria (tenor)
Orchestration*
2 flutes (piccolo)
2 oboes (English horn)
2 clarinets in Bb
2 bassoons
4 horns in F
2 trumpets in C
1 trombone
1 bass trombone
1 tuba
timpani
percussion
mallets (vibes, xylophone, bells and chimes)
harp
keyboard (piano celeste)
strings
*Reduced orchestration currently in development
“The first musical moments of Riders of the Purple Sage charge out of the gate: lofty horns, pounding drums and a big, sprawling score that has you expecting The Magnificent Seven.
Craig Bohmler, who composed the music for Arizona Opera’s upcoming adaptation of the celebrated Zane Grey novel, says that’s the idea.
“The first minute and a half, we let the audience know they’re in a Western,” he says. “They haven’t been to a Western opera before. So we give ‘em a nod to the West they know. We give ‘em some tunes. They say, ‘Okay, I like these tunes!’ And THEN… we challenge them!””
Cast
(in order of appearance)
Tull (baritone) A powerful Mormon Elder, early 40s, interested in marrying Jane
Bern Venters (tenor) A Gentile, mid-20s, Jane's head ranch hand and good friend
Jane Withersteen (soprano – full lyric) A faithful Mormon woman, early 30s, owner of the sprawling Withersteen ranch and herd, as well as the spring which gives water to the town of Short Creek
Lassiter (baritone) Hardened Texas gunfighter, late 30s, on a quest to find his lost sister Milly Erne
Jud (tenor) A faithful ranch hand, in his 50s, working the Withersteen Ranch
Bess (soprano – light lyric) A young woman, late teens, ward of Bishop Dyer
Bishop Dyer (bass) Leader of the local Mormon church, in his 40s-50s, the most powerful man in Short Creek
Small Men's Chorus (12 minimum) Tull's men and the Bishop's parishioners