Meet Amy Crankshaw, Guildhall doctoral composer
Amy Crankshaw has created a new orchestration for our upcoming production of Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon, opening Monday 1 November.
At the beginning of November, Guildhall Opera department will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the extraordinary mezzo-soprano, pianist and composer Pauline Viardot with a staging of her delightful opera Cendrillon.
Originally written to be performed with piano in intimate space, Viardot always dreamed of orchestrating Cendrillon, but in the absence at the time of any hope that an orchestra would perform a work by a female composer – even one as well-regarded and well-connected as Viardot – she never did.
This production fulfils her desire with a new chamber orchestration by Amy Crankshaw – Guildhall doctoral composer and a graduate of the School’s MA Opera Making & Writing programme presented in an association with the Royal Opera House.
Ahead of Opera Double Bill: Le docteur Miracle & Cendrillon (opening at Silk Street Theatre on Monday 1 November) we caught up with Amy to find out more about her experience of orchestrating Cendrillon.
“Composed in 1904 by Pauline Viardot, Cendrillon was originally written for a cast of singers with a piano accompaniment. It is an honour to have been tasked with orchestrating this work for chamber orchestra now, in 2021.
While working with the original music, I experienced what felt like an open dialogue with Viardot: a musical conversation reaching across two centuries. The orchestration journey was one of discovery, and I thoroughly enjoyed the process of finding orchestral textures and colours embedded within the subtleties of the piano score.
Although Viardot never orchestrated Cendrillon herself, the piano score presents such an abundance of harmonic variety, characterful gestures and effortless vocal melodies that I felt welcomed by her music. We hope that you will enjoy this production of Cendrillon.”
We also asked Amy about the music that has inspired her as a composer and that she's enjoyed playing as a pianist and a horn player. What better way to understand than to listen to the music yourself – have a listen to Amy’s Spotify playlist below.