Howell’s Decision
“I dreamt I heard him murmuring,
murmuring as if in sleep, himself…”
Howell’s Decision (2018)
An aria from an imagined opera | 6 minutes
Composed by Lewis Murphy
Baritone and piano reduction
Commissioned by the National Opera Studio, in partnership with Second Movement and The Librettist Network as part of the 12:40 project
Premiere: London, August 2018
What to do with the body?
Howell’s Decision is an aria from the imagined chamber opera, Keeping the Light, which tells the true story of the tragedy at Smalls Lighthouse in 1901. Two men - Griffith and Howell - keep the light off the coast of Pembrokeshire. The men are well known to dislike one another, so when Howell suddenly dies, Griffith realises he might be accused of his colleague’s murder. A storm is coming in, and he has to decide what to do with the body.
Keeping the Light is currently under development.
Watch the aria
You can watch Howell’s Decision at 18m16 in the video below, performed as part of the full 12:40 programme alongside eleven other new works written for the young artists of the National Opera Studio:
Photo: Robert Workman