A chamber opera in one act for soprano tenor baritone and bass soli TTBB chorus and orchestra commissioned for the Wells 800 Celebration in 1982. Libretto by Peter Porter. Vocal score with piano reduction. Duration: c. 55minutes.Orpheus is a Chamber Opera or perhaps more properly might be described as an ‘Opera-Cantata’. It is designed to be performed as a short opera fully staged and costumed or as a concert piece. Either way itsstructure is dramatic rather than reflective. It tells the story of Orpheus probably the most familiar story in music and en emblem of their art for composers of all periods as a direct narrative. Since the legend is set inthe world of pagan mythology it has been lightly Christianised for its Church setting. The Aeneid has often been seen as speaking of Christ avant la lettre and Renaissance Humanists were always willing to identify forerunnersof Christian types in Classical personages: in this manner Orpheus pursues without undue emphasis musical parallels with St Francis St Cecilia and even Adam and Eve.The work is framed briefly by a prologue and epilogue. ThePrologue introduces the four solo singers Hades (bass) Orpheus (tenor) Eurydice (soprano) and Charon (baritone). It also introduces the chorus who do not only portray at various stages Orpheus’s wedding companions thedenizens of Hell and Blessed Spirits in the Elysian Fields but also comments on the action as it proceeds.

With a libretto written by Weir herself based on the cryptic supernatural short story Der Blonde Eckbert by Ludwig Tieck. This one act pocket version of the opera makes use of a Chamber group rather thana full Orchestra and omits the chorus.'Eckbert and his wife Berthe live in seclusion in the Harz Moutains. One stormy night Eckbert's friend Walther arrives and to while away the time Berthe tells him her lifestory.Walther mysteriously knows a great deal about Berthe' s early life and Eckbert's suspicions grow eventually leading him to murder Walther during a hunting expediton.Consumed by terror and suspicion Eckbert retreats into seclusion and revisits the fairy-tale scenes of Berthe's childhood accompanied by a magical singing bird. He encounters the old woman who raised Berthe and at last learns the terrible truth about Walther Berthe and himself.' - Judith Weir