| Mr Emmet Takes a Walk | |
| Genre: | Chamber opera |
| Description: | "dramatic sonata" |
| Librettist: | David Pountney |
| Premiere Location: | St. Magnus Festival, Orkney |
Mr Emmet Takes a Walk is a chamber opera by the English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by David Pountney. The work is self-described as a "dramatic sonata".
It tells the story of the last seconds of the life of Mr Emmet before his suicide on a railway line. Thoughts, ideas, musical fragments and experiences flash through Mr Emmet's mind before his death which expand across the fifty-minute duration of the work.
Davies has cited the works of four composers as motifs in the opera:
The work premiered in a co-production of Muziektheater Transparant and the Psappha ensemble at the St. Magnus Festival, Orkney on 16 June 2000. It was recorded in 2005 with the original cast. The German Premier took place in 2004, produced by the Berliner Kammeroper, directed by, and conducted by .
Although Davies intimated that Mr Emmet Takes a Walk would be his last piece of musical theatre, just over a decade later he completed the a further opera, Kommilitonen!.
| Role | Voice type | Première cast, 16 June 2000 Conductor: Étienne Siebens | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr Emmet | baritone | Adrian Clarke | |
| multiple roles | bass-baritone | Jonathan Best | |
| multiple roles | soprano | Rebecca Caine | |
| Orchestra | Psappha | ||
| Director | David Pountney | ||