Ulysses Awakes

{{Short description|Musical composition for solo viola}} '''''Ulysses Awakes''''' ''(after Monteverdi)'' is a musical composition for solo viola and strings by English composer John Woolrich.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Faber Music: Ulysses Awakes |url=http://www.fabermusic.com/Repertoire-Details.aspx?ID=835 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616111917/http://www.fabermusic.com/Repertoire-Details.aspx?ID=835 |archive-date=2013-06-16 |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=fabermusic.com}}</ref> It is a creative transcription of Ulysses's first aria in act 1, scene 7 of Claudio Monteverdi's opera ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria''. Ulysses has been washed up on the coast of Ithaca, his homeland. : ''Am I sleeping or awake?'' : ''And what country surrounds me?''

'It's a powerfully effective piece, which manages to be utterly faithful to the spirit of Monteverdi and yet entirely part of Woolrich's musical world, too.'<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/01/scottish-ensemble-review The Guardian: Scottish Ensemble Review, 1 July 2011.]</ref>

''Ulysses Awakes'' was commissioned by Dartington International Summer School and first performed there by Clare Finnimore and the Guildhall String Ensemble on August 11, 1989.

==Instrumentation== The composition consists of a solo viola with 6 violins, 1 viola, 2 cellos, and 1 double bass.

==Discography== * Jane Atkins (viola); John Lubbock (conductor); Orchestra of St John's, Smith Square; ASV (1998); Black Box Classics 1091 (2004) * Simon Rowland-Jones (viola); 12 Ensemble; Sancho Panza Records SPANCD001(2018)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== *Robert Philip Performing Music in the Age of Recording (Yale University Press 2004) *John Wenham and Richard Wistreich (editors) ''The Cambridge Companion to Monteverdi'' (Cambridge University Press 2008)

Category:Compositions for viola Category:1989 compositions