Annie Gosfield - WAR OF THE WORLDS

WAR OF THE WORLDS (2017)
an opera in one act
libretto (Eng) by Yuval Sharon, based on the 1938 radio play (adapted by Howard Koch from the novel by H.G. Wells)

Commissioned by Los Angeles Philharmonic Association with Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa in honor of the Deborah Borda Women in the Arts Initiative

World Premiere: November 12, 2017
The Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

Roles:
M.C. - Actor
Crooner / Commander - Bass*
Professor Pierson - Actor
Dr. Melissa Morse / Starshine Meadows - Mezzo-Soprano*
Mrs. Martinez / Estella Ramos, Acting Secretary of Defense - Mezzo-Soprano*
La Sirena (Voice of the Martian) - Coloratura Soprano
Mayor - Actor
General Lansing - Bass
Officer - Baritone
Gunner / Stage Hand - Tenor*
*Dual role

Instrumentation of Orchestra:  1(afl).1.1(bcl).1-0.1.1.1-timp-2perc-pno(sampling keyboard, organ)-str(3.3.3.3.1)

Additional Musicians
La Sirena Ensemble (accompanying La Sirena/Voice of the Martian - Coloratura Soprano)  Theremin (doubling celesta and sampling keyboard), percussion

The following performers were originally at remote sites, but could be presented in the concert hall in an alternative staging
1 Cello (Accompanying Professor Pierson);
1 Violin, 1 Contrabass (Accompanying Dr. Melissa Morse and Mrs. Martinez);
2-3 Percussion (Accompanying General Lansing)

Percussion Instrumentation: 2 Almglocken; Anvil, 5 Bass Drums; 2 Bell Plates; Bell Tree;Bongos; 2 Brake Drum; 2 Castanets; 2 Chinese Cymbals; Chinese Drums (sm); 3 Crotales; 2 pair Cymbals; Cymbals inverted on timpani head; Field Drum; Glockenspiel; Gong; Gong (small); Maracas; Marimba; 2 sets Metal Blocks; Ratchet; Ratchet (sm); Reco-reco; Ribbon Crasher; 2 Snare Drum; 4 Suspended Cymbals; Suspended Cymbal (small); 5 Tam-tams; 3 Tambourines; Tom-Tom; 2 Triangles; Vibraphone; Vibraslap; 2 Wood Blocks

Sampling keyboards use samples provided by the composer for Kontakt sampling software

Duration: 65'

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War of the Worlds in the press:

"...the hard-charging first movement, "Mercury", was more than capable of standing on its own as a sizzling orchestral piece. Its references to vintage big-band jazz were refracted through some piercing microtonal harmonies. And the writing for brass instruments often merged seamlessly with buzzing, noisy motifs from the composer's "sampling keyboard", a vivid instrument of her own design, similarly prominent in some of her earlier work."
– The New York Times

"...a vital, engaged new-music cohort, one unafraid of risk... "[Gosfield possesses] a virtuosic command of classical, pop, and avant-garde styles... Like Welles, she places the reality-bending power of the media under scrutiny"

– The New Yorker

(Alex Ross also included War of the Worlds in his notable performances of 2017).

"Gosfield is a composer who often picks up old stuff and puts it to new use in her pieces, be it a piano score of Debussy, junk from decrepit factories or the scratchy cactus needles that were once used for playing 78 records. Her approach to War of the Worlds seems to be that of a 22nd century post-modern musician archaeologist trying to recreate the music of a time slightly earlier than our own, using a few clues and and the broken remnants of instruments and rusty electronics."
– LA Times

"On the way to its solemn conclusion, War of the Worlds was a hoot and a half – hugely entertaining."
– American Record Guide

"[Yuval] Sharon's War of the Worlds ultimately soars on the wings of Gosfield's score and [Hila] Plitmann's stunning coloratura."

"...Gosfield's score is surprisingly elegant, especially as rendered by [Christopher] Rountree and the LA Phil New Music Group, demonstrating a singular alchemy – her ability to transform noise into something not only highly rhythmic but also, in its way, refined."
– Classical Voice America

"...I have never encountered such raucous entertainment in a concert hall before."
– Opera News

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For more information on
Annie Gosfield, visit
anniegosfield.com or psnymusic.com

About War of the Worlds:

War of the Worlds is a 2017 opera composed by Annie Gosfield, directed and adapted by Yuval Sharon, and commissioned by the L.A. Philharmonic. Based on Orson Welles' infamous 1938 radio drama, the subject of “fake news” is even more timely today.

War of the Worlds' Martian attack is seen from the vantage point of an astrophysicist, a restaurant owner, a meteorologist, an army general, the acting secretary of the interior, three military pilots, and a hippy, in a series of intimate settings. The opera features an MC (originally played by Sigourney Weaver) who interviews this cadre of characters, who are our eyes and ears outside of the concert hall. The otherworldly voice of the martian is performed by a coloratura soprano, accompanied by percussion, Theremin, celeste, and electronics.

This innovative opera eliminates the boundary between the concert hall and the city streets: three defunct air raid sirens located in parking lots in L.A. were re-purposed into public speakers to broadcast a live performance from Walt Disney Concert Hall. Performers stationed at the three sirens sent their live report of a Martian invasion back to the concert hall, and performed simultaneously with the L.A. Philharmonic.

The premiere performance of War of the Worlds had many site-specific features unique to its unprecedented staging, but the opera can easily be restaged and adapted for other locations, just as Orson Welles’ original 1938 setting of Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, was adapted to modern day Los Angeles.

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MATERIALS:
Full Score | Libretto
Live Recording
Composer Note
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