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For
40 years, [Murray Schafer] has been writing a huge cycle of 12 music-theater
works, collectively titled "Patria." Larger than Wagner's
"Ring" cycle or Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Licht,"
this cycle challenges the boundaries of both music and theater.
Colin Eatock New York
Times August 27, 2005
The most wildly imaginative and physically
ambitious series of music theatre works in the history of the Canadian
stage. William
Littler, Toronto Star |
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Patria (homeland)
is the title of a cycle of music dramas that Canadian composer R. Murray
Schafer has been creating during the last thirty years. At the present
time, ten parts of this monumental undertaking have been performed and
published. Further works are in various states of creation, but enough
has already been presented to reveal the series as among the most radical
and challenging works to be produced within the past half century.
read more>
Here
is an overview with a brief description of each work.

Arcana
Editions Online catalogue of scores books
& recordings |
 Patria
Music/
Theatre
Projects |
Patria newsletters
(courtesy
Claire Heistek)
June
05 (pdf 800 kb)
June
04 (pdf -370 kb)
June
02 (pdf - 710 kb)
Feb
02 (pdf - 430 kb)
In a unique partnership
with the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve, Patria Music/Theatre
Projects will be presenting the music/dramas of R. Murray Schafer
in the ideal location for these quintessentially Canadian works.
The forests and lake settings of the Haliburton
Forest will be home to Patria works over the next five years and hopefully
beyond.
“There
is nothing like Patria in the history of Canadian musical theatre, either
in ambition, scope or mythmaking potency”
William Littler, Toronto Star
September 16, 2002
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March 2008
The NAC Orchestra presents eXpressions 2008:A Tribute to Canadian composing legend R. Murray Schafer
2007 news, Jerrard & Diana Smith
In May, we were very pleased to be among
those representing Canada at the Prague Quadrennial of Scenography.
We exhibited our designs for The Enchanted
Forest, The Palace of the Cinnabar Phoenix and The
Princess of the Stars. It was
a wonderful experience and in addition we were very humbled by
being nominated to receive the OISTAT honourable
scenographers award.
link to the work presented at PQ07
| There will be no Patria production at the Haliburton Forest this summer. Instead our efforts are being focussed on Asterion
Princess
of the Stars - Movie clips from the 2007 production:

The Dawn birds circle the Wolf (Quicktime 1.4
Mb)
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The Three-horned Enemy
(Quicktime 534 Kb)
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last update:
February 2007
Approximately 1,000,000 visitors to date.
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Asterion: A Journey through the
Labyrinth
Information about the project
and about plans for 2008
The Patria
Design Project
Jerrard
and Diana Smith, designers for the Patria works since 1981
have assembled a document describing their involvement in the
creation of the Patria cycle and sharing some drawings, photographs
and thoughts.
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