The Cave (opera)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Cave" opera – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Cave
Multimedia opera by Steve Reich
The composer in 2006
Language	English
Based on	The Cave of the Patriarchs
Premiere	October 22, 1993 (1993-10-22) Vienna

The Cave is a multimedia opera in three acts by Steve Reich to an English libretto by his wife Beryl Korot. It was first performed in 1993 in Vienna by the Steve Reich Ensemble, conducted by Paul Hillier. The title "The Cave" refers to The Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, where Abraham and Sarah (and several other major religious figures) are buried.

The Cave of the Patriarchs is of unusual interest in that it is a sacred place where Muslims, Jews and Christians pray. The music and a major part of the libretto in the opera is derived directly from, and includes spoken responses from, Israeli, Palestinian and American interviewees who were asked questions about the story of Abraham. The sound track also includes readings from the religious texts that detail the story of Abraham, and a recording of the ambient sound that is found in the ancient building that surrounds the sacred site.

The opera uses recorded speech as a source for melodies, a technique that Steve Reich first used in the 1988 Different Trains.