"The Dream of the Rood - Full Score" Sheet Music by John Casken

$36.99 USD 
Scored For: 4 Voices (countertenor, 2 Tenors And Bass) And Ensemble
Composers: John Casken
Pages: 124
This product does NOT support transposition or digital playback
SKU: 484433
Publisher: Schott Music Ltd., London
Series: Music Of Our Time
Publisher ID: Q19665

The Anglo-Saxon poem The Dream of the Rood was probably written in the 8th Century and is the earliest dream-vision poem in Old English. A fragment of the poem from the section that describes the crucifixion can be found carved on the Ruthwell Cross in Dumfriesshire, and set in stone at a time when Ruthwell was part of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria. In responding to a commission for the Hilliard Ensemble, I was keen to find a dramatic text, but one that would also invite a musical response appropriate to the very nature of this kind of vocal quartet. Writing for the Hilliards together with a mixed instrumental ensemble, and for a generous cathedral acoustic, has had a strong influence on the types of textures and sonorities I have used. The structure of the work is dictated by the form of the poem, but the music could also be seen as consisting of a sequence of motets with both vocal and instrumental interludes. John Casken