Enoch Arden by Richard Strauss
A melodrama for cello, piano and narrator on the poem by Alfred Tennyson
Annette Cleary (cello)
Réamonn Keary (piano)
Barry McGovern (narrator)
Enoch Arden, a haunting narrative poem by Alfred Tennyson, was the inspiration for a melodrama for piano and narrator by Richard Strauss. It was composed in 1897 for the actor Ernst von Possart, who had helped Strauss secure a position as chief conductor of the Bavarian State Opera. Strauss and Possart toured this work extensively and it proved hugely popular with audiences. After many decades of neglect, it was brought to prominence in 1962 in the acclaimed recording by Glenn Gould and Claude Rains.
Cellist Annette Cleary and Pianist Réamonn Keary have collaborated to create a new arrangement of this work for cello, piano and narrator. As the piano part is orchestral in texture, the music is well-suited to feature the cello which, with its broad range and similarity to the human voice, is the ideal instrument for this newly-imagined composition. The work is in two halves, each approximately 25 minutes in length.