Adam Zero

Adam Zero is a ballet with music composed by Arthur Bliss and choreographed by Robert
Helpmann in 1946.

Adam Zero

Choreographer Robert Helpmann

Music Arthur Bliss

Premiere 8 April 1946

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London

Original ballet company The Sadler’s Wells Ballet

Characters The Stage Director

The Choreographer (‘Creator and Destroyer’

The Principal Dancer ‘Adam Zero’

The Designer, Wardrobe Mistress, Dresser (‘His

fates’)

The Ballerina (‘His first love, wife and mistress’)

The Understudies (‘His son and daughter’)

The Character Dancers (‘His cat and dog’)

The Mime (‘His spiritual adviser’)

Genre Neoclassical ballet

Background
After World War I, Bliss developed an interest in ballet after seeing the Ballets Russes of Sergei
Diaghilev in London. Bliss composed Adam Zero for the Sadler's Wells Ballet, in collaboration
with Michael Benthall[1] and Robert Helpmann, with whom he had seen success with Miracle in
the Gorbals. The first performance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London on 6 April
1946 was conducted by Constant Lambert.[2] The premiere dancers included the following:

David Paltenghi (The Stage Director)

June Brae (The Choreographer / The Ballerina)

Robert Helpmann[3] (Adam Zero)

Jean Bedells (The Designer)

Julia Farron (The Wardrobe Mistress)

Gillian Lynne (The Daughter)

Palma Nye (The Dresser)

Leslie Edwards (The Mime)

Gordon Hamilton (The Dog)

Bliss considered Adam Zero his "most varied and exciting ballet score; the music is instinctively
theatrical and strongly characterized."[4] The orchestra is augmented by cor anglais, saxophone,
tuba, two standard percussionists and two dance band percussionists, plus celesta and harp.

It was revived as a ballet with choreography by Sergei Vanaev and conducted by Marc Niemann
at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven in 2016.[5]

Sections

Fanfare Overture: Allegro Molto[6]

The Stage: Andante sostenuto [7]

Birth of Adam: Molto sostenuto

Adam’s Fates: Allegro moderato

Dance of Spring: Allegro spirito

Awakening of Love: Andante grazioso

Bridal Ceremony: Moderato ma tranquillo

 Adam Achieves Power: Allegro spiritoso

Re-entry of Adam’s Fates: Allegro moderato

Dance of Summer: Allegro maestoso

Approach of Autumn: Larghetto

Night Club Scene: Moderato

Destruction of Adam’s World: Allegro molto

Approach of Winter: Andantino

Dance with Death: Largo maestoso

Finale – the stage is reset for the next life-cycle: Allegro moderato

The complete ballet runs for around 40 minutes.

Synopsis

The ballet is an allegory of the cycle of man’s life; the world in which he lives is represented by a
stage on which a ballet is being created: Adam is cast as the principal dancer, Omnipotence is
represented by the Stage Director and Adam’s Fates by the Designer, Wardrobe Mistress and
Dresser.

Adam falls in love, marries, and achieves power, but his triumph is brief; his world crumbles
about him, he is stripped of his glory, and a new generation (Understudy) takes his place. He
seeks distraction in dissipation but everyone deserts him and he is left alone to face Death.[2]

Recordings

Naxos 8.553460: English Northern Philharmonia; David Lloyd-Jones, conductor (complete

ballet). 1995.

References

1. Bliss A. Adam Zero – A Ballet. Piano Score. Novello, London, 1946.

2. Bliss A. Adam Zero – A Ballet. Piano Score. Novello, London, 1946.

3. After a few performances Helpmann injured himself on stage and had to retire from the role. Burn A.
Liner notes to Naxos CD 8.553460.
 4. Burn A. Liner notes to Naxos CD 8.553460.

5. Stadttheater Bremerhaven website page about Adam Zero / Die vier Jahreszeiten (https://www.stadtthea
terbremerhaven.de/archiv-201415/ballett-201415/adam-zero-die-vier-jahreszeiten/) Archived (https://w
eb.archive.org/web/20160513141737/https://www.stadttheaterbremerhaven.de/archiv-201415/ballett-2
01415/adam-zero-die-vier-jahreszeiten/) 2016-05-13 at the Wayback Machine accessed 26 April 2016.

6. When the curtain rises and again at the very end, the stage is completely bare with a view of the back
stage wall. Bliss A. Adam Zero – A Ballet. Piano Score. Novello, London, 1946.

7. This section is prefaced by a quote from Shakespeare: "All the world’s a stage..." from As You Like It.

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