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''Treemonisha'' (1911/1972) is an opera composed by the famed African-American composer Scott Joplin, most famous for his ragtime piano works. Though it encompasses a wide range of musical styles other than ragtime, and Joplin did not refer to it as such,〔Operaam.org〕 it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "ragtime opera". The music of ''Treemonisha'' includes an overture and prelude, along with various recitatives, choruses, small ensemble pieces, a ballet, and a few arias.〔Southern, pg. 537〕 The opera was virtually unheard of until its first complete performance in 1972. The performance was called a "semimiracle" by music historian Gilbert Chase, who said ''Treemonisha'' "bestowed its creative vitality and moral message upon many thousands of delighted listeners and viewers" when it was recreated.〔Chase, pg. 545〕 The musical style of the opera is the popular romantic one of the early 20th century. It has been described as "charming and piquant and ... deeply moving", with elements of black folk songs and dances, including a kind of pre-blues music, spirituals, and a call-and-response style scene involving a congregation and preacher.〔Southern, pgs. 537-540〕 The opera's theme is that education is the salvation of the Negro race, represented by the heroine and symbolic educator Treemonisha, who runs into trouble with a local band of magicians who kidnap her.〔 == History == ''Treemonisha'' was completed in 1910, and Joplin paid for a piano-vocal score to be published in 1911.〔Chase, pg. 546〕 At the time of the publication, he sent a copy of the score to the ''American Musician and Art Journal''. ''Treemonisha'' received a glowing, full-page review in the June issue.〔Vance's Fantastic Classic Black Music Hall of Fame〕 The review called it an "entirely new phase of musical art and... a thoroughly American opera (style)",〔 which fit in well with Joplin's desire to create a distinctive form of African-American opera.〔 Despite this endorsement, the opera was never fully staged during his lifetime. Its sole performance was a concert read-through with Joplin at the piano in 1915 at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem, New York, paid for by Joplin.〔 One of Joplin's friends, Sam Patterson, described this performance as "thin and unconvincing, little better than a rehearsal... its special quality (would have been) lost on the typical Harlem audience (that was) sophisticated enough to reject their folk past but not sufficiently so to relish a return to it".〔Southern, pg. 324 Southern cites Rudi Blesh, "Scott Joplin: Black-American Classicist", ''The Collected Works of Scott Joplin'' (New York, 1971), p. xxxix〕 Aside from a concert-style performance in 1915 of the ballet from Act II, ''Frolic of the Bears'' by the Martin-Smith Music School,〔Center for Black Music Research Digest〕 the opera was forgotten until 1970, when the score was rediscovered. On October 22, 1971, excerpts from ''Treemonisha'' were presented in concert form at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts with musical performances by Bolcom, Rifkin and Mary Lou Williams supporting a group of singers.〔Nancy R. Ping-Robbins, ''Scott Joplin: a guide to research'' (New York: Garland, 1998), p. 289. ISBN 0-8240-8399-7.〕 The world premiere took place on January 27, 1972, as a joint production of the music department of Morehouse College and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Atlanta, Georgia, using the orchestration by T.J. Anderson. The performance was directed by noted African-American dancer Katherine Dunham and conducted by Robert Shaw, one of the first major American conductors to hire both black and white singers for his chorale. The production was well received by both audiences and critics.〔 Along with Joplin's first opera ''A Guest of Honor'' (1903), the orchestration notes for ''Treemonisha'' have been completely lost. Subsequent performances have been produced using orchestrations created by a variety of composers, including Thomas J. Anderson, Gunther Schuller, and most recently, Rick Benjamin. Since its premiere, ''Treemonisha'' has been performed all over the United States, at venues such as the Houston Grand Opera, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and on Broadway to overwhelming critical and public acclaim. In 1976, Joplin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for "contributions to American music".〔The Pulitzer Prizes〕 Opera historian Elise Kirk noted that "the opera slumbered in oblivion for more than half a century before making a triumphant Broadway debut. It was also recorded commercially in its entirety – the earliest African American opera to achieve that distinction and the earliest to receive widespread modern recognition and performance."〔Kirk, Elise Kuhl. ''American Opera'', Univ. of Illinois Press (2001)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Treemonisha」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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