musical OPERA America Members Portal
Login      

The Eighth Hour of Amduat
Composer:Dave Soldier
Librettist:Rita Lucarelli
Synopsis
The piece is based on the earliest surviving illustrated book and sound score, the 8th hour in “The Book of the Amduat”. The book is painted on walls in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings and many papyri. The version adapted is in Tuthmose III’s tomb, who ruled Egypt from 1485-1431 BC. He is widely thought to be the Pharaoh of Exodus: if it wasn’t him, it was a close relative. He co-ruled at first with the female Pharaoh, Hatsepsut, and was great grandfather to Akhenaten. He built the obelisks known as Cleopatra’s Needle, one of which is on the Thames in London, and the near East 81st street in Central Park in New York City. The opera uses David Warburton’s English translation and Colleen Manassa’s article Sounds of the Netherworld. Translations of the arias to Italian and insights are from Rita Lucarelli, professor of Egyptology at the University of California, Berkley. Each morning, Sun Ra emerges from a hole in the east and sails on a river through our sky. After he descends, he continue from west to east on the river through the underworld, Amudat, to reemerge in the morning. Each night he dies, but is reborn in the 6th night hour when he unites with Osiris and defeats the serpent, Apep. During the 8th hour of Sun Ra’s transit through Amduat, he and his fellow gods on the solar bark are clothed in the city Tebat-Neteru-S (Sarcophagus of Her Gods). The sounds of Tebat-Neteru-S are described in the text. The piece takes place during the 8th hour of the night, “Mistress of deep night”, in the city of the 8th hour, known as “Sarcophagus of her gods”.

Title Information

All information is derived from OPERA America's Season Schedule of Performances and titles databases which date back to 1991. OPERA America is constantly updating this data. If you feel that a work or an artist has been omitted or that information is incorrect, please use the linked forms below.
Title Information Form
Artist Information Form

Approximate Runtime (hh:mm)
1:00

Number of Acts
1



 
STORED ADMIN COOKIE *
actor id: 0
name:
company:
email
ind id: 0
memb level: 0
expiration date: 12:00:00 AM
current url: /Applications/NAWD/titles.aspx
Login As
* Visible only to OPERA America Administrators for testing purposes. Shows security cookie contents.
 
 
————
National Opera Center
330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001
212.796.8620   •   Info@operamerica.com
CONNECT WITH US
                 

PARTNERS
 
Terms of Service   •   Privacy Policy   •   Copyright Policy   © Copyright 1995–2024 OPERA America Inc.