Ellen West
A Chamber Opera in One Act
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SKU: PR.411411610
A Chamber Opera in One Act. Composed by Ricky Ian Gordon. Spiral. (See synopsis and lengthy program note on page 2 of this product.). Vocal Score. 104 pages. Duration 1 hour, 15 minutes. Theodore Presser Company #411-41161. Published by Theodore Presser Company (PR.411411610).ISBN 9781491131985. UPC: 680160680603. 9 x 12 inches. English.
A remarkable operatic poem written for an intimate instrumentation, Ellen West plunges into the emotional, psychological, and physical challenges of a woman struggling with perceptions of her body, her relationship with food, and the world closing in around her. Inspired by one of the earliest cases of existential analysis, poet Frank Bidart and composer Ricky Ian Gordon examine the lives of psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger and his patient, Ellen West. Bidart’s poem, which serves as the opera’s libretto, juxtaposes the clinical observations of Binswanger with fictitious entries of Ellen’s journals, illuminating a psychological portrait of a woman at war with her body.