Francis: An Oratorio in Nine Scenes for soprano, baritone, narrator, chorus, and orchestra

Composed 2025; Duration 1 hour, 15 minutes

World Premiere performance

The genesis for this oratorio began with a series of phone conversations with Sr. Margaret Carney during the COVID lockdown late in the summer of 2020. We met during the performances of my oratorio, The Passion of Yeshua, conducted by JoAnn Falletta with the BPO and chorus in 2019. My original idea in 2020 was to compose a new Christmas oratorio. Sr. Margaret proposed a work based on St. Francis of Assisi as the 800th anniversary of his death was already being planned. This work could then be premiered in 2026 as part of that celebration.

At the time I was immersed in my opera, The Grand Hotel Tartarus, a dark comedy. Margaret met me while I was doing this work in Rome and we made a pilgrimage to Assisi. My visit to this extraordinary city made me understand that I had to compose this work. I admired the genuine strength of this little town cloaked in gentleness and kindness.

I knew that Margaret could write the libretto. Since she had never done a musical work, I created a structure for her which included sections of the Roman Catholic Mass. The result was a text poetic and clear in its narrative. We agreed that the text be in English and Latin. The concluding “apotheosis” hymn is a setting of the Canticle of the Sun, in the original Umbrian dialect in which St. Francis composed it. This dialect is very similar to Latin so the sound and feeling textually maintains itself as if it is in two languages.

The libretto was composed in late summer in 2024 and I began the composition on the feast of St. Francis—October 4th—of that year.

The work involves a large chorus, standard sized symphony orchestra, and two soloists: a lyric baritone (St. Francis) and a lyric soprano (St. Clare). Clare was a companion and collaborator to Francis until his death. Another role was a narrator—an angelic presence—who would relate the story of St. Francis with musical accompaniment. Sr Margaret agreed that this was an important way to convey the story of Francis through the spoken word that allows the audience greater understanding of the action. I designed the role knowing that this “voice” needed to be at once comforting and formidable. My own partner, Claudia Christian, is a well-known actress, writer, and voice-over artist. I was, therefore, able to craft the role of the Angel for her. My colleague, James Darrah, proposed Edward Nelson and Anna Schubert to perform the roles of Saints Francis and Clare.

As I speak of soloists inhabiting “roles,” one might think this is an opera in disguise. It is actually as close to an opera as possible without being staged. I hope that in future performances it will be possible to have it semi-staged. However, it does not require such treatment to be effective as a musical work.

One unusual feature of this music is the interlude that precedes scene five. It is completely instrumental. There is a “rest” from vocal elements that allows the orchestra to portray the visceral, brutal qualities of conflict, discord, and war—the historical and cultural realities opposed to the vision and mission of Francis. The work was completed in 2025 and preparations for performances began. 

With the passage of this time, it is quite clear to me why this music had to be written. As we bring this work to the public, we see that a dark and dominant force at work in contemporary culture in America and elsewhere is a love of power—used often to minimize the rights and dignity of those on the margins. In this work we bring forward the dramatic memory of a man who was dedicated to the opposite—the power of Love. In his lifetime, Francis demonstrated profound reverence for the natural environment. He included women in his movement and honored their spiritual authority. He showed openness to other religions. He opposed war in all its forms. He showed people an alternative path to the one carved out by the might of secular and religious rulers. Compassion and empathy dominated his relationships with other human beings. We have need of this example today.

Margaret and I dedicate this work to the memory of Pope Francis, who continued the legacy of Assisi’s saint.

Upon completing a work like this one, people often ask me, “What am I supposed to be hearing?”  I’ve never believed in telling people what they should be hearing. I‘m not a musical fascist, and I believe that a listener should come to a personal conclusion as to how to feel about the music that is heard. But the important thing over everything else is simply to listen.

Richard Danielpour and Sister Margaret Carney, 2026