Religious and Philosophical Implication of Opera Jake Heggie’s “Moby Dick”

Abstract

It is stated that interpretation of classical literary works in the art of the 21st century is a problem that is increasingly facing researchers. From this point of view, the stage adaptation of H. Melville’s novel “Moby Dick” by American composer J. Heggie, is an example of the careful preservation of the timeless philosophical and religious content of literary basis. Thereby the work of the opera authors on the novel’s text, the polystylistic features of J. Heggie’s musical thinking, the composer's mastery in the construction of the character system became the subject of the detailed scientific analysis. The purpose of the study was to identify methods of the reflection of philosophical issues in the opera “Moby Dick” by J. Heggie. It was found that composer J. Heggie and librettist J. Cheer skilfully rethought the most significant theatrical elements of G. Melville’s novel. Attention to the dramatic aspects of the story and a clear understanding of the psychological individualities of characters has transformed the world-famous literary text into a vivid musical story. The opera preserves and reproduces the archetypal symbolism of the novel “Moby Dick”: worship, pilgrimage, initiation, sacrifice. The pagan motives of hunting, killing, dismembering the flesh, consecrating of blood are contrasted with the purely Christian understanding of the ideas of salvation and resurrection. It is proved that the work of composer J. Heggie reflects one of the promising ways of developing contemporary opera. Moby Dick is pushing the boundaries of its genre: the creators of this neoromantic opera are rejecting outdated stereotypes, adding cinematography elements, overcoming the barrier between the spectator and the stage. At the same time, the opera has an accentuated classic nature (well-written libretto, number structure, impeccable vocal lines and orchestration); it combines the extraordinary lyricism and the diversity of philosophical and religious content. The example of the opera of J. Hеggie “Moby Dick” shows the possibilities of modern stage embodiment of the complicated literary works of classical writers. It is concluded that the music of the composer J. Heggie in a sense fulfils the role of the metalanguage, because it expresses the deep meanings embedded in the text of the novel, which formally remained beyond libretto