The following is a list of pieces commissioned by Cantata Dramatica between 2012 and 2022. Click on the pictures for more information and resources including scripts, scores, and audio or video recordings.
‘The South Sea Bubble’ is a modern ballad opera, drawing on material from the Eighteenth Century Ballads of Thomas D’Urfey, Bernard Mandeville and others. Commissioned by Cantata Dramatica from Nick Bicât in 2020, with song words and spoken dialogue by Tony Bicât, it was first performed at The Reform Club in August 2022.
The ‘Cantata Eliensis’ tells the story of the founding and building of Ely Cathedral, with a libretto by Nick Pitts-Tucker, derived from contemporary sources. The three acts of the cantata were commissioned from composers Anna Krause, Toby Young and Louis Mander respectively. It was first performed at St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham in 2014.
‘Perpetua’, with music by Nick Bicât and libretto by Nick Pitts-Tucker was Cantata Dramatica's first commission. It tells the moving story of a young widow and mother living in Carthage (now Tunisia) in 203 AD and draws on contemporary sources, including Perpetua's own diary - an astonishing survival from the ancient world. It was first performed in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford in 2012.