Tobias and the Angel (1999)
(Church Opera in 1 Act)

The simple uplifting story of healing that Dove’s score expertly tells is suitable for theatre as well as church stagings. The tale is from the book of Tobit, in the Biblical Apocrypha. David Lan’s witty and direct libretto retains the character of a Jewish folk-legend, developing the journey of the young Tobias into a spiritual education: through learning to hear the song of the trees, of the mountains and of the river, Tobias is able to cure his father’s blindness and cast out Sarah’s demon.

The opera has proved very popular with performers and audiences. Its instrumentation is modest (nine instruments) but there are abundant vocal opportunities: alongside eight principals, children sing the birds who blind Tobit, and the fish that tries to eat Tobias; an adult community chorus plays the people of Nineveh and Ecbatana, while an offstage choir evokes Trees, River, Mountains and Angels.