63: Dream Palace

This opera is, above everything else, about love. But, of course, also about all the tragic things that happen in spite of and because of this love. Still, it is, in the first place, about love and the yearning for love.

This is the story of the two brothers, Fenton and Claire –  aged nineteen and eight – who, orphaned, come from the provinces to big, dreadful, arcane Chicago. Fenton absolutely adores his little brother, who is totally devoted to him. On the other hand, he thinks his brother as well as the memories of his former home and past, happy life, which Claire embodies for him, to be an unendurable burden to his own fresh start. Fenton feels that with this new beginning he will also lose his innocence, which for his little, profoundly religious brother is so vital. Torn between his will to survive, which has him make weird nightly acquaintances, and his desperate attempt to retain his integrity, Fenton – overcome by panic – commits the terrible act of killing his brother.

Reading James Purdy’s novel 63: Dream Palace and some of his other works, I was compelled to reconsider some of my prime aesthetic positions. The subject triggered off a torrent of very personal sensations and ideas, which immediately and unrestrictedly began to find expression in music. This provoked me into attending to genres, such as Jazz and Rock, which I had previously completely neglected, and it upset my former musical conception of the world, however, as I believe and hope, in a constructive way. Hans-Jürgen von Bose