The Cenci

music drama, overture, 8 scenes, 1951-52†, 1937 bars, 103:15

Vocal score: 'pencil sketches completed 29 May 1952, ink copy completed 24 July 1952'.
Full score dated: 1 Sep 1952 (overture), 29 Sep 1952 (scene 1), 11 Oct 1952 (scene 2), 4 Dec 1952 (scene 4)

Count Francesco Cenci (bar)
Giacomo, Bernardo (his sons) (ten, bar)
Cardinal Camillo (ten)
Prince Colonna (bass)
Orsino (a prelate) (ten)
Savella (the Pope's legate) (bar)
Lucretia (wife of Cenci and stepmother to his children) (alto)
Olimpio,Marzio (assassins) (ten, bass)
Andrea (servant to Cenci)
Beatrice (Cenci's daughter) (sop)
Guests at the feast
Judges at the court
4 flutes (1 also picc), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons (1 also contra), 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 2×3 timpani, bass drum, 3 side drums, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, castanets, tam-tam, bells, xylophone, glockenspiel, celesta, 2 harps, strings

Overture [262 bars], 13:45
Scene 1 [180 bars], 8:40 – [Shelley: Act 1, scene 1]: An apartment in the Cenci palace, Rome
Scene 2 [142 bars], 7:40 – [Shelley: Act 1, scene 2]: A garden of the Cenci palace, Rome
Scene 3 [218 bars], 10:20 – [Shelley: Act 1, scene 3]: A magnificent hall in the Cenci palace, Rome: A banquet
Scene 4 [263 bars], 13:00 – [Shelley: Act 4, scene 1]: An apartment in the Castle of Petrella (among the Apulian Appenines)
Scene 5 [303 bars], 15:45 – [Shelley: Act 4, scenes 2-4]: Before the Castle of Petrella
Scene 6 [110 bars], 6:10 – [Shelley: Act 5, scene 1]: An apartment in Orsino’s palace, Rome
Scene 7 [173 bars], 9:45 – [Shelley: Act 5, scene 2]: The Hall of Justice, Rome
Scene 8 [286 bars], 14:50 – [Shelley: Act 5, scene 4]: A hall of the prison

Text: abridged by the composer, Percy Bysshe Shelley

United Music Publishing Limited

Timings

Kelleher 1997
Overture14:05
Scene 18:56
Scene 27:54
Scene 310:33
Scene 413:43
Scene 516:08
Scene 66:23
Scene 710:00
Scene 815:33
Total103:15

Derived works

• Preludio tragico [from The Cenci Overture] [orch] – 14´
• Flourish [from The Cenci opens Scene 3 fanfare] [4 trumpets]
• Fanfare [from The Cenci Scene 3 (Banqueting scene)] [brass and perc] arr MacDonald
• Fanfare [from The Cenci Scene 7 (Hall of Justice)] [brass and perc] arr MacDonald

Articles

• The Cenci from within – Martin Anderson
• Fearful and monstrous – Martin Anderson
• My experiences of conducting The Cenci – James Kelleher
• The fanfares – Malcolm MacDonald
• Two interpretations of The Cenci (1) – William Newman
• Two interpretations of The Cenci (2) – William Newman
• Two interpretations of The Cenci (3) – William Newman
• Two interpretations of The Cenci (4) – William Newman
• Two interpretations of The Cenci (5) – William Newman

Performances

18 November 1980 (Fanfare from scene 7) St John’s Smith Square
Kensington Symphony Orchestra, conductor Leslie Head
12 December 1997 [first concert performance] Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Helen Field (sop) Beatrice Cenci David Wilson-Johnson (bar) Count Cenci Inga Jonsdottir (alto) Lucretia Stuart Kale (ten) Cardinal Camillo/An officer Justin Lavender (ten) Orsino/Bernardo Jeffrey Carl (bar) Giacomo/Savella/1st judge/2nd judge Nicholas Buxton (ten) Marzio/3rd guest/A cardinal Devon Harrison (bass) Olimpio/Colonna/A guest Serena Kay (sop) 1st guest/2nd guest The Millennium Sinfonia, conductor James Kelleher
• Fearful and monstrous – Martin Anderson
Fanfare [from The Cenci Scene 3 (Banqueting scene)] [brass and perc] arr MacDonald
4 October 1974 [first performance (performed twice)]
University of Illinois Wind Ensemble, conductor Robert Gray
Fanfare [from The Cenci Scene 3 (Banqueting scene)] [brass and perc] arr MacDonald
1976 Kingsway London Hall, London
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, conductor Howard Snell
Preludio tragico [from The Cenci Overture] [orch] – 14´
24 September 1976 [first performance] invitation concert at Alexandra Palace, London
live broadcast BBC Radio 3
New Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor Harry Newstone
Preludio tragico [from The Cenci Overture] [orch] – 14´
25/26 June 2009 City Halls, Glasgow
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conductor Garry Walker

Recordings

Fanfare [from The Cenci Scene 3 (Banqueting scene)] [brass and perc] arr MacDonald
Decca 473 714 2 released 2003
Decca 289 470 501-2 (2 discs) released 2002
1976 Kingsway London Hall, London
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, conductor Howard Snell
Preludio tragico [from The Cenci Overture] [orch] – 14´
Toccata Classics TOCC 0113 released December 2011
25/26 June 2009 City Halls, Glasgow
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conductor Garry Walker