JONATHAN DOVE’s new oratorio, Odyssey, has been been given a rip-roaring premiére in Bristol by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with the City of Bristol Choir and Bristol Youth Choir, conducted by David Ogden.
He is undoubtedly one of the most prolific of modern-day English composers. It seems that you can let Dove (born 1959) loose on any genre. There are 30-plus operas — such as Tobias and the Angel, Siren Song, Flight (for Glyndebourne), Mansfield Park, The Adventures of Pinocchio — and a host of anthems — “Seek him that maketh the seven stars” is surely one of the most beautiful ever written — and other choral or vocal works. These include There Was a Child, his song cycle; In Damascus, inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis; A Brief History of Creation; Psalms for Leo; “Christ Church Bells” (from his On Spital Fields community cantata) — and this is just a taste.
The audience for this première of Odyssey, in the Beacon (formerly Colston Hall), Bristol, didn’t need to bring their Homer with them, in English or in Greek. Like In Damascus, Odyssey dwells on a current crisis. “Drawing on first-hand testimony of modern-day refugees, the Oratorio follows one person’s harrowing flight from his homeland, leaving loved ones to travel alone, braving danger and hardships on land, before making the desperate voyage across the Mediterranean (to Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, Brindisi, or Marseilles) in an overcrowded boat — the voyage that cost so many lives.”
It is a story worthy of a large-scale retelling, with the feel of a modern-day myth. It appeared under the banner of “Be Kind Bristol”, an event to promote the welcoming of those whose journey to asylum ends, for the present, in the city; and another backer was Bristol City of Sanctuary. Some 16 schools so far had dedicated themselves to embracing refugees.
The forces also included the Bristol Windrush Reggae Choir, among whose members are some now resident refugees. No printed text was given — surely a pity for those who would have liked to look over it on their return home. But this would not have been because of poor enunciation: this was admirably lucid, just as the orchestra was a marvel of precision. The inspired way in which Dove used his forces — including the four horns, triple trombones, and superb tuba, in screaming outbursts, and woodwind — solo or in combination — showed just what an expert he is in deploying massive forces.
As in some of John Tavener’s work, there were suggestions not just of Christianity, but of Islam — “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate” — and echoes of the Jewish Holocaust. The soprano solo (the magnificent Nigerian, now American, Francesca Chiejina) evoked the “trapped” state of those fleeing (perilous transport, ghastly boats filled to the brim). The conflicting anxieties expressed by the equally fine South African tenor, Thando Mjandana, also yielded a marvellous evocation of pain and fear.
That Dove managed to capture the nightmare so vividly is a true measure of his mastery as a composer. His music and scoring were brilliant, and what such a harrowing story deserves.