''The Tigers'' is a burlesque opera in a prologue and three acts by

Havergal Brian William Havergal Brian (29 January 187628 November 1972) was an English composer, librettist, and church organist. He is best known for having composed 32 symphonies—an unusually high number amongst his contemporaries—25 of them ...

. Written 1917–1919 and 1927–1929, it was lost, then recovered in 1977, and premiered in 1983 when it was recorded 3–8 January 1983 at BBC

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

. It was broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

on 3 May 1983.havergalbrian.org
/ref> The plot concerns a regiment nicknamed The Tigers.

Instrumentation

The Tigers is scored for a large orchestra,

Woodwind

* a

Harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

* Three Flutes (one dubling piccolo) * Three Oboes (one dubling English Horn) * Three B♭ Clarinets (one dubling E♭ Clarinet, one dubling Bass Clarinet) * Three Bassoons (one dubling Contrabassoon)

Brass

* six French Horns * a Bugle in C * Four B♭ Trumpets * Four Trombones * a Euphonium * Five Tubas (only one is used in acts I and III)

keyboards

* Pipeorgan * Celesta

percussion

timpani, cymbal, bass drum, snare drum,

long drum Long drums are a loose category of tubular membranophones, characterized by their extreme length. They are most common in Africa, Thailand, and in Native American traditions. Long drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musi ...

, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam,

thunder machine A thunder sheet is a thin sheet of metal used to produce sound effects for musical or dramatic events. The device may be shaken, causing it to vibrate, or struck with a mallet. It is also known as a thunder machine, though this can also refer ...

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

, sleigh bells, town crier's bell, police bell, ship's siren, telephone bell, police whistle, motor horn, fire bells, tubular bells in Bb, C, D, Eb, xylophone, glockenspiel, 2 vibraphones and a tubaphone

Strings

* Two harps * I Violin * II Violin * Viola * Cellos * Dubble basses This is the first time the vibraphone is used in an orchestral score.

Premiere and recording

Teresa Cahill Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; ) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or reap", or from θέ ...

(soprano); Alison Hargan (soprano);

Marilyn Hill Smith Marilyn Hill Smith is an English soprano (born February 1952) whose UK-based performing career ranged from Handel to contemporary operatic works and from Gilbert and Sullivan to Viennese operettaForbes, Elizabeth. "Marilyn Hill Smith", ''The New Gro ...

(soprano);

Ameral Gunson Amaral may refer to: *Amaral (band), a music group from Zaragoza, Spain ** ''Amaral'' (album), its debut album *Amaral (surname), a Portuguese-language surname *do Amaral, a Portuguese-language surname *Amaral (crater), a crater on Mercury *Azal tin ...

(mezzo);

Anne-Marie Owens Anne-Marie Owens (born 1955) is an English mezzo-soprano. Born in South Shields, Owens graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with Laura Sarti, and also performed with the National Opera Studio. Her professiona ...

(contralto);

Paul Crook Paul Crook (born February 12, 1966) is an American guitarist known for recording and performing with Meat Loaf. He has also recorded and toured with Anthrax, Sebastian Bach and Marya Roxx. Biography Growing up in Green Brook Township, New ...

(tenor); Harry Nicoll (tenor); John Winfield (tenor); Kenneth Woollam (tenor);

Ian Caddy Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponds to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. This name is a popu ...

(baritone);

Malcolm Donnelly Malcolm Douglas Donnelly AM (born 8 February 1943 in Sydney). is an Australian baritone opera singer. Donnelly studied with Marianne Mathy at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and with Vida Harford in London. His career started with the El ...

(baritone);

Henry Herford Henry Herford (born 24 February 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish baritone singer. He read Classics and English at Cambridge University, and studied singing at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he was awarded the ...

(baritone);

Alan Opie Alan Opie (born 22 March 1945) is a British baritone, primarily known as an opera singer. Education Opie was born in Redruth, Cornwall, and attended Truro School. He went to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge University as a choral studen ...

(baritone); Alan Watt (baritone);

Norman Welsby Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

(baritone);

Richard Angas Richard George Angas (18 April 1942 – 20 August 2013) was a British bass singer, particularly associated with the English National Opera, but who also sang with other UK opera companies and in Europe.Obituary: Richard Angas. ''Opera'', October 20 ...

(bass-baritone);

Eric Shilling Eric Shilling (12 October 192015 February 2006) was an English opera singer and producer, long associated with English National Opera,Goodwin N. Eric Shilling. In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and New York, 1997. whose ...

(bass–baritone);

Dennis Wicks Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is sometime ...

(bass)

BBC Singers The BBC Singers is a professional British chamber choir, employed by the BBC. Its origins can be traced to 1924. One of the six BBC Performing Groups, the BBC Singers are based at the BBC Maida Vale Studios in London. The only full-time profes ...

;

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. The ...

conducted Lionel Friend

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tigers, The 1929 operas Compositions by Havergal Brian Operas