booklet.pdf

Samuel

ARNOLD

Polly

Albino • McLeod

Grossman • Newman

Kirkpatrick • Roach

Wiliford • Mahon

Grosfeld • Nedecky

Aradia Ensemble

Kevin Mallon

Polly: An Opera (1777)

Music composed and arranged by Dr Samuel Arnold (1740-1802)

after Polly , a ballad opera by Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1732)

Libretto by John Gay (1685-1732)

Revised by George Colman, The Elder (1732-1794)

Edited by Robert Hoskins

Polly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Albino, Soprano

Mrs. Ducat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eve Rachel McLeod, Soprano

Damaris, Indian Scout . . . . . . . . . Gillian Grossman, Soprano

Jenny Diver . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marion Newman, Mezzo-soprano

Trapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Loralie Kirkpatrick, Mezzo-soprano

Cawwawkee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bud Roach, Tenor

Culverin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lawrence J. Wiliford, Tenor

Vanderbluff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Mahon, Baritone

Morano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Grosfeld, Bass

Ducat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Nedecky, Baritone

Aradia Ensemble

Violins

Geneviève Gilardeau

(concert-mistress)

Bethany Bergman

Liz Johnston

Elyssa Lefurgy-Smith

Elizabeth Loewen Andrews

Ellie Nimeroski

Dafna Ravid

Paul Zevenhuizen

Violas

Eric Paetkau

Carol Gimbel

Cellos

Katie Rietman

Laura Jones

Double bass

J. Tracey Mortimore

Harpsichord

Paul Jenkins

Theorbo

Lucas Harris

Oboes

Kathryn Montoya

Chris Palameta

Bassoons

Dominic Teresi

Ondrej Golias

Flutes

Mylene Guay

Emma Elkinson

Horns

Ron George

Chris Passmore

Derek Conrod

Percussion

Ed Reifel

Kevin Mallon, Music Director and Conductor

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1 Overture

( Medley of tunes from ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ )

¶ Air 6: Dr Arnold: ‘Woman’s like

the flatt’ring ocean’ ( Vanderbluff )

4:49

0:47

• Air 7: The Boatman:

‘Tho’ different passions rage by turns’ ( Morano )

Act I

21:16

1:54

ª Air 8: Hunt the Squirrel:

‘The world is always jarring’ ( Polly )

2 Air 1: Noel Hills: ‘He that weds’ ( Ducat )

1:06

1:04

3 Air 2: Polwart on the Green:

‘Observe the statesman’s ways’ ( Trapes )

º Air 9: Dr Arnold: ‘In love and life

the present use’ ( Jenny )

1:09

1:17

4 Air 3: Dr Arnold: ‘She who hath felt

a real pain by Cupid’s dart’ ( Polly )

⁄ Air 10: Dr Arnold: ‘We never blame

the forward swain’ ( Jenny , Polly )

3:16

2:05

5 Air 4: Dr Arnold:

‘Farewell, farewell, farewell, all hope of bliss!’ ( Polly )

¤ Air 11: Dr Arnold: ‘The body of the brave

may be taken’ ( Cawwawkee )

2:27

2:36

6 Air 5: Dr Arnold: ‘Despair is all folly’ ( Trapes )

1:06

‹ Air 12: Excuse Me: ‘Honour calls me’ ( Morano )

2:20

7 Air 6: Old Orpheus Tickl’d:

‘When billows come breaking on the strand’ ( Ducat )

› Air 13: Ruben: ‘Honour plays’ ( Jenny )

0:59

1:29

8 Air 7: Christ-Church Bells:

‘When a woman jealous grows’ ( Ducat , Mrs Ducat )

ﬁ Air 14: The Marlborough:

‘We the sword of valour’ ( Morano )

1:50

1:17

9 Air 8: Cheshire-Rounds:

‘When kings by their huffing’ ( Damaris )

Act III

11:56

0:51

0 Air 9: Johnny Fa’: ‘The crow or daw’ ( Polly )

1:42

! Air 10: Bury Fair:

‘How can you be so teazing?’ ( Ducat , Polly )

ﬂ Air 1: ‘The sportsmen keep hawks’ ( Polly )

2:26

1:23

‡ Air 2: O Saw Ye My Father:

‘Love with beauty is flying’ ( Cawwawkee )

@ Air 11: March in ‘Scipio’:

‘Brave boys prepare’ ( Ducat , Mrs Ducat )

1:12

1:56

° Air 3: Prince Eugene’s March:

‘When the tyger roams’ ( Morano )

# Air 12: Jig-It-O’Foot:

‘Better to doubt all that’s doing’ ( Damaris )

2:11

0:47

· Air 4: Kate of Aberdeen:

‘The turtle thus upon the spray’ ( Cawwawkee )

$ Air 13: Dr Arnold: ‘Aboard after misses

most husbands will roam’ ( Mrs Ducat )

2:08

1:08

‚ Air 5: Dr Arnold: ‘The soldiers,

who by trade must dare’ ( Morano )

% Air 14: Tweedside:

‘The stag, when chas’d’ ( Polly )

1:37

1:40

a Air 6: Shall Man, in Arne’s ‘Abel’:

‘My heart forebodes’ ( Polly )

Entr’acte: Dances of the Pirates

5:02

2:22

Dances of the Indians

5:19

^ I. March

1:08

& II. Hornpipe I

0:53

* III. Andante

1:02

b I. Allegro

1:20

( IV. Hornpipe II

1:15

c II. Andante

0:41

) V. Allegro

0:43

d III. Allegro

0:41

e IV. Andante

0:45

Act II

23:05

f V. Allegro

1:51

¡ Air 1: La Villanella:

‘Why did you spare him’ ( Polly )

g Air 7: The Temple: ‘Justice long forbearing’

( Cawwawkee , Indian Scout , Polly , Chorus )

1:46

1:57

™ Dead March

1:19

£ Air 2: La Cavalliere:

‘Patriots at first declare’ ( Culverin )

Act III Appendix

5:12

1:09

¢ Air 3: Minuet: ‘Cheer up my lads’ ( Culverin )

1:22

h What Man Can Virtue or Courage Repose

( Ducat )

∞ Air 4: Dr Arnold: ‘Shall I not be bold

when honour calls’ ( Morano , Jenny )

1:14

1:29

i I Hate The Foolish Elf ( Ducat )

1:09

§ Air 5: Peggy’s Mill:

‘When gold is in hand’ ( Jenny )

1:09

j Victory Is Ours ( Polly , Cawwawkee )

2:50

8.660241

Samuel Arnold (1740-1802)

Polly (1777)

Polly (1729), a ballad opera with tunes harmonized by

Johann Christoph Pepusch to a libretto by John Gay,

was written as a sequel to The Beggar’s Opera (1728).

Because the hugely successful parent work had so

sharply satirized Sir Robert Walpole, a government

crackdown was engineered during the rehearsal period

to prevent Polly from being staged, but Gay’s Tory

friends ensured that the printed text sold well. Almost

fifty years later, on 19th June 1777, Polly was

performed at the Haymarket Little Theatre. The libretto

was a cut version by the elder George Colman with a

completely renovated score by Samuel Arnold.

Polly was one of the works that established

Arnold’s reputation as London’s preeminent theatre

composer. Audiences liked the music from the opening

bars (“we do not remember any Overture being more

enjoyed”) and also the singers (except for Hester Colles

in the title rôle, who sang “horribly out of tune”). The

production suited the limited space of the Haymarket

Little Theatre. The cast was comprised of young singers

with light voices, which carried well; a small orchestra

limited to a dozen players who sat pretty well on stage

accompanied them. Polly was also a success because

Colman realised that an “island paradise” play (set in

the West Indies) was good copy at a time when Cook’s

voyages, along with wider issues of colonialism and

race, were topical. The tropical island Eden of Tahiti as

described by Cook and Banks, for example, could easily

serve as the canvas for the opera’s final scene when

Polly, stepping backwards in time into the wilderness,

marries Cawwawkee, an Indian prince. Furthermore, for

audiences in 1777, Cawwawkee had a living prototype

in Mai, the Society Islander whom Cook had brought to

England.

Samuel Arnold was born in London and educated at

the Chapel Royal. His first theatre work, The Maid of

the Mill (1765), introduced London audiences to

operatic action finales. Another success, The Portrait

(1770), set to a witty libretto by the elder George

Colman (1732-1794), provided an English alternative to

Pergolesi’s popular La serva padrona. When Colman

assumed the management of the Haymarket Little

Theatre, he employed Arnold as “house” composer, a

post Arnold maintained for 25 years. The opening

season at the Haymarket Little Theatre, during the

summer months of 1777, not only saw the production of

Polly but also The Spanish Barber , based on Colman’s

translation of Beaumarchais. Arnold composed some

sixty stage works during his long career, including The

Castle of Andalusia (1782), a pseudo-gothic work, and

Inkle and Yarico (1787), an antislavery opera recalled

by George Eliot in Brother Jacob and Balzac in Lost

Illusions . Arnold was also a noted conductor, organist,

and editor of Handel’s works. He received the degree of

Doctor of Music at Oxford in 1773 and was buried in

Westminster Abbey.

Colman’s revisions involved Arnold in the complex

process of orchestrating Pepusch’s vocal score, making

substantial cuts, replacing some old borrowings with

new, and composing an overture (Pepusch had not

written one) with over fifteen vocal items and two sets

of dances. The result was an up-to-the-minute and

audience-savvy opera. Comparison of the manuscript

score of orchestral parts in the Houghton Library at

Harvard, the Larpent manuscript of the libretto sent to

the Lord Chamberlain for censorship on 15th April

1777, the libretto published by Thomas Evans on 20th

June 1777, and the extant printed texts with authorial

revisions, reveal that musical and textual changes

continued to be made throughout the entire rehearsal

period. This edition of Polly , reconstructed from

Houghton fMS Mus 97 (a set of orchestral parts),

represents the opera as performed in 1777. The song-

words use the libretto published by Thomas Evans as

copy-text.

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Synopsis

(A copy of the libretto can be consulted online

at www.naxos.com/libretti/660241.htm)

Act I

Newly arrived in the West Indies and in search of her

husband Macheath, a transported felon, Polly Peachum

finds herself the innocent victim of sex traffic. Sold by

Mrs Trapes to Ducat, a wealthy plantation owner, she

discovers Macheath is captain of a pirate gang that is

stirring up rebellion in the colony. Just as she rebuffs

Ducat’s advances ! , news breaks of a violent skirmish.

Ducat departs to rally the militia @ and Polly, with the

assistance of Ducat’s wife, flees the plantation in male

disguise % . Arnold’s overture 1 , a medley of tunes

from The Beggar’s Opera , deftly links the two operas.

Furthermore, the lyric middle section recalls Polly

falling in love with Macheath – a cue for the tender

feeling she expresses in her two opening solos 4 5 .

Throughout the act, the songs of Ducat 2 7 reveal him

as a rake and those of his wife 8 $ as overwrought by

his womanizing: worldly-wise remarks come from Mrs.

Trapes 3 6 and Damaris the scullery maid 9 # .

Act II

Act III

Polly, on the alert to take control of events, dupes the

guards into releasing Cawwawkee and later, in the heat

of battle between the militia and rebels, she takes

Morano prisoner. Identities are now revealed but

Macheath’s is too late to save his life (thus marking off

the boundary of The Beggar’s Opera where a “reprieve”

at the outcome was guaranteed). Polly, overpowered by

Macheath’s death a , sinks into Cawwawkee’s arms as

the chorus celebrates victory with the triumphal music

of Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary g . This act

includes Morano’s most subversive song ‚ and Polly’s

least repressed ﬂ – unrepressed because it marks the

moment when she makes a rapturous promise to

Cawwawkee (“Now Prince, I shall have the happiness

of restoring you to your father”).

Music

The borrowed music in the 1777 version of Polly is

mainly drawn from Pepusch’s 1729 score but in some

instances Arnold decided to provide new choices,

chiefly gathered from the Scottish folk-song sources

that had been so usefully employed in The Beggar’s

Opera. In Polly’s Act I air “ The crow or daw thro’ all

the year ,” 0 set to Johnny Fa’ , for example, Arnold

wished to underpin the theme of adulterous love: in the

folk-song, the knight’s wife runs off with a gypsy, and

here, the gypsy pertains to the crow and the woman to a

snared bird; Arnold’s repeating horns perhaps represent

the jaws of the waiting trap. In Act II Morano’s “ Tho’

different passions rage by turns ” • is set to The

Boatman , originally a song of reunion but now a song of

farewell; Arnold confines the orchestra to strings for the

sake of intimacy. In Act III Cawwawkee’s “ Love with

beauty is flying” ‡ calls on the emotionality of “ O Saw

Ye My Father ” to obliquely place Cawwawkee and

Polly in the desired position of lovers; horns testify to

expressions of friendship, and flutes doubling violins at

the octave betoken expressions of love. Of particular

interest is Polly’s “ My heart forebodes he’s dead ” a set

Polly scours the countryside for Macheath ¡ and is

discovered asleep ™ by pirates, whose appearance is

anticipated in a set of entr’acte dances ^-) . She is

escorted to the camp where Morano (Macheath in

blackface disguise) is taking leave of Jenny Diver (who

claims Macheath as her husband) to join a scouting

party. Macheath’s music brands him as a daredevil ∞ •

‹ ﬁ , and indeed much of the music in this act adopts a

swashbuckling tone (sometimes edged with cynicism).

Although Jenny has set her claws into Macheath, she is

not beyond flirting with Polly ⁄ , who claims to be a

recruit. Cawwawkee, an Indian prince, is captured by

Morano’s band and, though brought in as a prisoner, he

makes a stately entrance.

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