Legend of Alcobaca, The

James Sochinski

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The title is actually written "The Legend of Alcobaça."

General Info

Year: 1991
Duration: c. 11:45
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: TRN
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $90.00 | Score Only (print) - $12.00

Movements

1. Prelude – 2:50
2. Inés at Santa Clara – 3:00
4. Coronation of the Dead Queen – 3:45
5. Postlude

Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Legend of Alcobaça was commissioned by Dr. Lawrence Sutherland and the Cal State University Band at Fresno.

- Program Note from publisher

I. Prelude - Fourteenth-century Portugal is the setting for one of the greatest of the tragic love stories. Dom Pedro, son of Alfonso IV and heir to the throne, dutifully was betrothed to the Infanta Constanza of Aragon in 1340 in a politically arranged marriage. The relationship languished when Pedro was taken with the beautiful Inés de Castro, one of the Infanta's ladies-in-waiting. Pedro and Inés soon became lovers, parents, and adoring soul mates; they became inseparable as well.

II. Inés at Santa Clara - The scandal at court was too much for the king and kingdom; Alfonso banished Inés to Spain. But Dom Pedro persisted, installing his lovely Inés and their children in the convent of Santa Clara near Coimbra. For some ten years, Pedro and Inés maintained their extraordinary and blissful relationship, producing more children and growing more hopelessly in love all the while. Alfonso, torn between his son's happiness and the political realities of the time, finally yielded to his advisors and allowed Inés and her children to be brutally stabbed to death on January 7, 1355.

III. Dom Pedro's Revenge - Pedro's grief was profound and consuming. Swearing revenge, he raised an army and led a bloody rebellion against his father. The battles raged for several months, but Dom Pedro was able to gain neither victory nor revenge. In his terms of surrender, it was required that the three assassins be pardoned. Alfonso died soon after, and the prince ascended to the throne as Pedro I. His first act as monarch was to extradite the assassins and order their torture and the most cruel executions possible.

IV. Coronation of the Dead Queen - Still obsessed with grief and a yearning for his dead Inés, Pedro revealed that he and Inés had been secretly married and staged the coronation his queen never had. Inés' body was exhumed, dressed in royal robes, and carried in procession some fifty miles to Alcobaça. Pedro ordered thousands of subjects to line the entire length of the road, each bearing a lighted candle. At Alcobaça, the royal crown was placed upon Inés' head and a magnificent coronation was staged for the "Dead Queen."

V. Postlude - Pedro subsequently commissioned two splendid sarcophagi and ordered their placement in the transept of Alcobaça. Ines was buried to the left, and Dom Pedro was interred on the right in 1367. At Dom Pedro's further command, the tombs were arranged to face one another so that on the day of resurrection, he might finally rise and gaze once again upon his beloved Inés. The final ending depicts the tragedy and sadness of the story.

- Program Note from windband.org

Media

Audio: Reference recording. California State University, Fresno, Wind Ensemble (Lawrence R. Sutherland, conductor)

State Ratings

Maryland: V
Mississippi: VI-A
Tennessee: V
Virginia: V

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Ohlone Wind Orchestra (Fremont, Calif.) (Tony Clements, conductor) – 10 March 2019
Sacramento (Calif.) Symphonic Winds (Tim Smith, conductor) – 14 October 2018
Bullard (Calif.) High School Wind Ensemble (Matthew Carroll, conductor) - 11 March 2016 (2016 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Resources

Sochinski, J. (1991). Suite from the Legend of Alcobaca: For Wind Ensemble or Band [score]. TRN Music: Ruidoso, N.M.
windband.org Accessed 14 March 2016