Silverman: Elephant Steps A Fearful Radio Show

ELEPHANT STEPS has been described as “mixed-means theater, where music and language, sound and light, images and movement, graphics and films, incense and machinery, props and performers are incorporated into a spectacular mix.” The action of the opera according to Richard Foreman, who wrote the libretto, concerns a quest. “Hartman, who is ill, is warned he must free himself from the spiritual influence of a mysterious guru by the name of Reinhardt. Sneaking off to Reinhardt’s house, he faints upon finding the front door locked. After visiting Night-town, he is abducted and grilled in a radio station by his enemies. They try to broadcast his public confession over the radio. Back home, safe in his kitchen, Hartman dreams of Reinhardt, as Elephant-Angels appear and lead him into the street, up a ladder to Reinhardt’s second floor window. The window quivers with light, and what he sees brings him illumination.”

Instrumentation: 2(2) 0 2(2) 1(1); 1111; 3 perc, hp, cel, pno, gtr; stgs; rock band
Duration: Full Evening
Composed: 1968
Published by: Ben Rena Music

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