*EINE FRAU OHNE NAMEN ('A WOMAN WITHOUT A NAME')- A BALLET IN TWO ACTS op.669 (March 2015)

A theatre dance work employing a wide spectrum of the orchestral and choral works of Howard Blake
Published by: Highbridge Music Ltd
Commissioned by: Robert North and the opera houses of Monnchen-Gladbach and Krefeld, Westphalia, Germany
Instrumentation: Solo soprano, SATB chorus, solo violin and orchestra

[Key to Abbreviations]
Duration: 80 mins
First Performance: 14th May 2016 at Monnchengladbach Opera, Westphalen, Germany

Sheet Music Available
Full score for sale
Study score for sale
Orchestral parts for sale
Full score for hire
Study score for hire
Orchestral parts for hire
Recordings Available

The musical works that comprise this ballet are composed by Howard Blake and are available from this site - Howard Blake/Highbridge Music Ltd. - both as printed scores and parts and as  recordings on CD:

Violin Concerto, 36'  CD orig. issued on ASV, now on Howard Blake/Highbridge Music Ltd. (along with String Suite 'A Month in the Country' and 'Sinfonietta for Ten Brass'), solo violin Christiane Edinger, with The Northern Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel

Toccata (a celebration of the orchestra) 22' along with 'Diversions' for cello 23' played by Robert Cohen, with The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Howard Blake, and The Piano Concerto, Concerto for a Princess, (Diana) 26', solo piano Howard Blake, conductor Sir David Willcocks, CD orig. issued on SONY/BMG 8.8697 376972.0 available from Howard Blake/Highbridge Music Ltd.

Sleepwalking  13' recorded in The Wigmore Hall by Patricia Rozario with The Schubert Ensemble, CD available from Howard Blake/Highbridge Music Ltd.

Benedictus 65' CD orig. issued on SONY HD 6001, now on Howard Blake/Highbridge Music Ltd.  solo tenor Robert Tear, with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Bach Choir conducted by Sir David Willcocks

Piano Quartet 28' CD issued on NAXOS 8.572083 vn. Jack Rothstein, va. Kenneth Essex, vc. Peter Willison, pno. Howard Blake. and also featuring Violin Sonata, Pennillion and Jazz Dances, all three for violin, Madeleine Mitchell and piano, Howard Blake. 

Notes

Bild: Eine Frau ohne Namen - Theater Krefeld Mönchengladbach

Information about the event
Ballet by Robert North
Music by Howard Blake

A woman we may meet by chance on the street, in the café or in the cinema is the unnamed protagonist in the new action ballet by ballet director Robert North. As an example for all women who consciously shape their lives and find meaning and fulfillment in it, North places 'a woman without a name' in the focus of his choreography and thus creates in a sensitive and calm way a dance-like plea for self-mood and individuality – regardless of gender. He sensitively develops her life story, starting with the symbolic birth: a girl enters the circle of life, grows up, falls in love. The young couple marries, children are born. Family happiness goes with professional success: the woman is a creative and imaginative author. So she dances through life, year after year. In the end, the woman dies without a name in her husband's arms – and finds herself in the hereafter, cheerfully welcomed by the choir of angels. Through this spiritually exaggerated, abstract context, North's story closes with a wink with a happy ending.

The music for A Woman Without A Name was composed by Howard Blake, who became best known for his film music, including the world-famous animated film The Snowman, in his native Great Britain, but also internationally. For many years, he has been associated with a friendly collaboration with Robert North: in 1996, the ballet Eva was created on behalf of the Gothenburg Opera House, which is now presented after a thorough revision under the new title A Woman Without A Name at the Theater Krefeld and Mönchengladbach.

Howard Blake wrote a classical-style score for large symphony orchestra with solo violin, which is divided into prologue and two acts (The Life of a Woman /Death and Beyond). By using the human voice, Blake also expands the possibilities of expression: a soprano and the mixed choir form an additional musical level reminiscent of the structure of an oratorio.

Related Works


'*PIANO QUARTET' op.179 (January 1974) (Audio Sample Available)
Concert work in four movements
'*BENEDICTUS' op.282 (May 1980) (Audio Sample Available)
Dramatic oratorio for tenor, speaker, chorus, solo viola and orchestra commissioned by Victor Farwell, Abbot of Worth, for the 1500th anniversary of St. Benedict of Nursia b.480 AD
'*SYMPHONY NO. 2 - 'TOCCATA'' op.386 (May 1988) (Audio Sample Available)
A 'concerto for orchestra' commissioned for the 30th anniversary of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in an extended one-movement form consisting of a toccata, fugue and finale. aka 'A celebration of the orchestra'.'
'*VIOLIN CONCERTO 'Requiem to the memory of a most true and saintly soul'' op.441 (July 1992) (Audio Sample Available)
Available on ASV digital CD record label DCA 905 (1994) stereo.
'*SLEEPWALKING FOR SOPRANO AND 8 CELLOS' op.505 (March 1998)
A concert work in seven movements for soprano vocalise and 8 cellos

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