Jonathan Dove’s new work, commissioned by Bristol Beacon, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and City of Bristol Choir, celebrates the courage and resilience of those forced to flee strife-torn countries and seek sanctuary elsewhere. Set for tenor and soprano soloists, with choral and orchestral forces, Odyssey takes the form of a dramatic cantata and, by giving it the name associated with the heroism of the Greek Odysseus, the intentions of Dove and librettist Alasdair Middleton are clear.
Incorporating words from the testimony of those who have survived the bitter experience, they bring into sharp focus the plight of refugees and the displaced, for whom the hell in which they eventually find themselves is nevertheless better than the hell from which they came. When this project was first conceived in 2016 the phrase “hostile environment” was already being bandied about, but it could hardly have been envisaged that the government’s Rwanda bill would be now be before parliament.
