Smoke Rise – The Survival of St. Joan (A Rock Opera) (2LP) (1971) LP-Rip
Понедельник, 17 Июн 2013
Album: Smoke Rise – The Survival of St. Joan
Year: 1971
Genre: Rock Opera
Style: Prog rock
Format: FLAC + CUE + cover
Size: 311
Единственный альбом группы. Посвящён Жанне д’Арк. В
музыкальном плане достойный образец прогрессива 70-х.
На CD вроде бы ещё не было.
Album: Smoke Rise – The Survival of St. Joan
Year: 1971
Genre: Rock Opera
Style: Prog rock
Format: FLAC + CUE + cover
Size: 311
The Survival of St. Joan is a rock opera by Smoke Rise (Gary
Ruffin, Hank Ruffin, Stan Ruffin, and Randy Bugg–music
composed by Hank and Gary) on a libretto by James Lineberger. To
date, it has not been issued on compact disc. It was first produced
as a concept album on Paramount Records PAS-9000 by Stephen
Schwartz in 1971.
A concert version ran eight performances at The Playwrights Unit. A
fully-scripted musical play with spoken dialogue, directed by Chuck
Gnys was produced at the Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, New York,
November 5, 1970. It had 16 performances Off-off-Broadway at the
Anderson Theater, directed by Gnys and produced by Haila Stoddard
and Neal Du Brock, where audiences were frequently scared off by
the local chapter of the Hells Angels in the front rows each
night.
Possibly inspired by Operation Shepherdess: The Mystery of Joan of
Arc by Andrй Guйrin and Jack Palmer White, a revisionist history
alleging that Joan of Arc escaped execution and later married a
nobleman named Robert des Armoises, an idea rejected by historians
[1], and certainly inspired by the Vietnam War, the opera tells of
the government of France and Pierre Cauchon, Archbishop of Beauvais
releasing Joan of Arc and allowing a double, also believed to be a
witch, to burn in her place. She is sent to live with a mute
farmer, who falls in love with her, as he elucidates in songs
performed in soliloquy toward the audience. Realizing that there is
no end in sight to the Hundred Years’ War, the first act ends
with Joan seeking to rejoin the army, despite the fact that she is
no longer hearing her voices.
In Act II, Joan learns that she has lost the respect of the army,
who attempt to rape her. (The libretto in the concept album has her
get raped about halfway through the act; this was changed when
stagings went beyond a band performance to a full-fledged play.)
She meets with a deserter who no longer understands the purpose of
the war, unless it is God’s desire to reduce the population,
as well as civilians affected by the war’s rationing,
complaining that the general can have whatever he wants, whether or
not he needs it. Alone and unappreciated, Joan is eventually found
by villagers who mistakenly decide she has put a hex on their cow,
who tie her to a tree and immolate her, thus her life ends almost
as history tells us it did. Upon her death, she re-establishes
contact with her three voices, St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St.
Margaret.
The play script is held in the North Carolina Collection at The
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and remains
unpublished. It contains many scene changes, often depicting how
ordinary people’s lives affect the war, including
Joan’s brother, Charles, acting as a scribe for his mother,
requesting the king to provide them Joan’s soldier wages to
live on, and chides her for some irate informalisms she wants to
include. (Wikipedia)
Track Listing:
01. Survival
02. Someone Is Dying
03. Run, Run
04. Back In The World
05-06. I’m Here / Love Me
07. Stonefire
08. Love Me
09. Lady Of Light
10. Country Life
11-12. Run, Run / Precious Mommy
13. Medley: Survival / Run, Run / Back In The World
14. Lonely Neighbors
15. Cornbread
16. This Is How It Is
17. Cannonfire
18. It’s Over
19. Darkwoods Lullaby
20. You Don’t Know Why
21. Propitius
22. Burning A Witch
23. Love Me
Рубрики: Информация
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