XL Arts

Winds blow 'Scarecrow' from out of left field to UT

By Randy Harriman
SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Thursday, February 23, 2006

Hear the word "scarecrow" and one's thoughts are likely to turn to "The Wizard of Oz," Ray Bolger and a straw-stuffed character's adventure-filled quest for a brain. But there's an earlier scarecrow, limned by Nathaniel Hawthorne in "Feathertop," a story from his "Twice-Told Tales," that predates L. Frank Baum's classic "Oz" series by nearly half a century.

In 1976, as a part of America's bicentennial celebration, composer Joseph Turrin and librettist Bernard Stambler turned Hawthorne's spooky story into an opera. In 2004, Turrin hauled the piece down off the shelf where it had resided for close to 30 years, revised and orchestrated it for winds and renamed it "The Scarecrow." The result, conducted by the composer, will be on view during the next two weekends in a production by University of Texas' Butler Opera Center.

Hawthorne's story recounts the adventures of a scarecrow built by a witch, then animated through a process that gives new meaning (or maybe not) to the phrases "blowing smoke" and "smoke and mirrors." The libretto enlarges upon the story by adding some politics, forecasts of gender equality and commentary about the power of love. Throughout both versions are found whiffs of "Frankenstein" and "Edward Scissorhands," with touches of Edgar Allen Poe popping up now and again.

The Austin production of "The Scarecrow" is the premiere performance of the revised work, and it represents a commission by a 12-school consortium that Turrin put together to overcome the difficulties and expense of getting new American operas onto the stage.

"I started the (consortium) process about a year ago," says Turrin. "It's pretty neat, because each school doesn't have to pay very much money; and the perfect place to do new works is universities, because they have great (teaching) professionals, they have access to fine singers, and they're enthusiastic about doing new pieces."

Turrin's composing career has produced a long list of works that includes numerous film score credits, among them "Weeds," "Little Darlings" and "Nightmare on Elm Street 3." He has also been active in the restoration of silent films, scoring such classics as "Broken Blossoms," "Intolerance" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." He has performed on Broadway with Michael Feinstein, and he wrote the score for the show "Frankie."

Turrin says he came upon the story for "The Scarecrow" through reading an essay by Charles Ives, in which the noted American insurance executive and composer said his favorite two Hawthorne tales were "Feathertop" and "The Celestial Railroad." The latter didn't seem as good a fit for operatic treatment, so Turrin settled on "Feathertop."

Due to a combination of circumstances, the opera was never orchestrated and never made it to the stage. "I got busy with other projects, and 'Feathertop' just kept getting pushed back," says Turrin.

"Then, about a year and a half ago I was up at Eastman (School of Music, at the University of Rochester in New York)," he continues, "and I mentioned this opera to Mark Scatterday, the conductor there, and he said, 'You think it would work for winds?'

"I went home and sure enough, I said to myself, 'This piece would be perfect for this combination of instruments,' and how perfect for universities because there's usually a lot of great wind players at schools. And that's what inspired me to finish the piece."

Word of the revised opera reached Robert DeSimone, director of the Butler Opera Center, through Jerry Junkin, director of bands at UT. "Jerry had met Joe in New York when the wind ensemble was performing John Corigliano's 'Circus Maximus' in Carnegie Hall last year," says DeSimone. "Jerry mentioned the piece, we talked, we got a score, I felt it would fit nicely into our program. Next thing you know, it became a reality."