Post by Yoyti on Oct 28, 2014 18:15:05 GMT -5
This year, I'll be turning NaNoWriMo into NaLiWriMo. National Libretto Writing Month.
I've tried to write operas in the past, with varying degrees of success, but consistently the rut I find myself in is the libretto. I'm never satisfied with my attempts at writing librettos. So I've decided, instead of being so self-critical, I'll take advantage of NaNo's nature to make you not care that what you're writing is lousy, and instead just push forward and write a libretto for my new opera, Amasidia, based on Voltaire's Le Taureau Blanc. (I was considering doing an original plot, but decided against it for various reasons.)
I have somewhat modified Voltaire's story to make it play out better on stage. You can read Voltaire's full novella here on Project Gutenberg. My modified synopsis will exclude the three prophets, and also the scene where Mambres sends out letters on every single one of Endor's animals, just to make use of them all. Indeed, all of Endor's animals save the snake will simply be silent roles, represented in a brief musical suite when she first appears. The two birds will also have their part removed, and thus Amasis will only find out about the bull because it is glaringly obvious. I think that covers most of the major changes.
Librettos tend to average 10k words -- even Parsifal barely makes the 10k mark! -- so that's around what I'll be aiming for. I'm going to avoid writing any music until I am completely satisfied with the libretto for that section. I don't know how fast I'm going to end up writing this. It could go quickly, since it's fewer words, or it could go slowly, because I have to make those words match meter. I suspect that once I'm done with Act I, Act II will be either significantly easier, because I've gotten over being self-conscious about my lyrics, or significantly harder, because I feel the need to go back and fix everything I hate about Act I. Hopefully NaNo and you guys will be able to help me push through this. After totally missing last year, I look forward to doing something new in this year.
Dramatis Personae:
Amasidia - Princess of Egypt (Soprano)
Old Mambres - A Sorcerer (Bass)
The Witch Of Endor - Proprietor of a Menagerie (Contralto)
The Serpent - Yes, That Serpent (Bass)
Amasis - King of Egypt (Baritone)
Nebuchadnezzar - A Bull (Silent)
Synopsis:
Act I
Scene I
Amasidia has been in mourning for seven years over her lost love whose name, as Old Mambres so kindly reminds, she, and everyone else in the kingdom, is forbidden to speak. This, as Old Mambres explains, is because the king, her father, Amasis, usurped the throne from her beloved, and, understandably, he doesn’t want people talking about the ex-king.
A train of animals arrives, led by the Witch of Endor. Among the animals, a dog, a goat, a donkey, two doves, a fish, a serpent, and a white bull. Amasidia takes an immediate interest in the bull, and he in her. Mambres agrees to negotiate for the purchase of the bull, and plays the “don’t I know you?” card with the Witch, whom he knows professionally. The Witch remains adamant, though; the bull is not for sale. Mambres takes some interest in the serpent.
Scene II
It is now night, and Mambres tells Amasidia that if she wants to know about the bull, she should talk to the serpent. It is revealed that the serpent is, in fact, the Serpent from the Garden of Eden. Amasidia summons the Serpent, who tells her the story of a king who had frequent dreams which he could not interpret, and offered large sums of gold to anyone who could interpret his dreams. One of them, a sorcerer, took the opportunity instead to turn him into a bull. Amasidia puts two and two together, and deduces that this is her lost love. She collapses before she can speak his name, though, and her attendants bring her back to the palace.
Act II
Scene I
In the palace, the king is told of what transpired. He orders Amasidia locked in her chamber, and claims that she has been bewitched by the bull. He orders for the execution of the bull, and exorcism of the princess. Mambres intervenes, stating that the mortal incarnation of the god Apis in Memphis has just died, and no sacrifices may be performed until a suitable replacement has been found. Amasis agrees for now, but states that in one week, if no replacement has been found, he will execute the bull anyway. Left alone, Amasis soliloquises. The bull is the king he usurped when he hired a sorcerer to transform him into a bull, and he resolves to have the bull executed at the earliest possible moment.
Scene II
In Amasidia’s chamber, the Serpent is trying to calm her by telling her stories, but she will not be calmed, and in a fit, screams out the name Nebuchadnezzar. Instantly the king and chorus burst in ordering her execution. She is at this point completely resolved, but the execution is interrupted by Mambres leading another chorus, and the bull. He has arranged for the bull to become the new incarnation of Apis. As a god, the bull, Nebuchadnezzar, gains the power of speech, and a human form. He marries Amasidia, and pardons Amasis. All ends happily.
I've tried to write operas in the past, with varying degrees of success, but consistently the rut I find myself in is the libretto. I'm never satisfied with my attempts at writing librettos. So I've decided, instead of being so self-critical, I'll take advantage of NaNo's nature to make you not care that what you're writing is lousy, and instead just push forward and write a libretto for my new opera, Amasidia, based on Voltaire's Le Taureau Blanc. (I was considering doing an original plot, but decided against it for various reasons.)
I have somewhat modified Voltaire's story to make it play out better on stage. You can read Voltaire's full novella here on Project Gutenberg. My modified synopsis will exclude the three prophets, and also the scene where Mambres sends out letters on every single one of Endor's animals, just to make use of them all. Indeed, all of Endor's animals save the snake will simply be silent roles, represented in a brief musical suite when she first appears. The two birds will also have their part removed, and thus Amasis will only find out about the bull because it is glaringly obvious. I think that covers most of the major changes.
Librettos tend to average 10k words -- even Parsifal barely makes the 10k mark! -- so that's around what I'll be aiming for. I'm going to avoid writing any music until I am completely satisfied with the libretto for that section. I don't know how fast I'm going to end up writing this. It could go quickly, since it's fewer words, or it could go slowly, because I have to make those words match meter. I suspect that once I'm done with Act I, Act II will be either significantly easier, because I've gotten over being self-conscious about my lyrics, or significantly harder, because I feel the need to go back and fix everything I hate about Act I. Hopefully NaNo and you guys will be able to help me push through this. After totally missing last year, I look forward to doing something new in this year.
Dramatis Personae:
Amasidia - Princess of Egypt (Soprano)
Old Mambres - A Sorcerer (Bass)
The Witch Of Endor - Proprietor of a Menagerie (Contralto)
The Serpent - Yes, That Serpent (Bass)
Amasis - King of Egypt (Baritone)
Nebuchadnezzar - A Bull (Silent)
Synopsis:
Act I
Scene I
Amasidia has been in mourning for seven years over her lost love whose name, as Old Mambres so kindly reminds, she, and everyone else in the kingdom, is forbidden to speak. This, as Old Mambres explains, is because the king, her father, Amasis, usurped the throne from her beloved, and, understandably, he doesn’t want people talking about the ex-king.
A train of animals arrives, led by the Witch of Endor. Among the animals, a dog, a goat, a donkey, two doves, a fish, a serpent, and a white bull. Amasidia takes an immediate interest in the bull, and he in her. Mambres agrees to negotiate for the purchase of the bull, and plays the “don’t I know you?” card with the Witch, whom he knows professionally. The Witch remains adamant, though; the bull is not for sale. Mambres takes some interest in the serpent.
Scene II
It is now night, and Mambres tells Amasidia that if she wants to know about the bull, she should talk to the serpent. It is revealed that the serpent is, in fact, the Serpent from the Garden of Eden. Amasidia summons the Serpent, who tells her the story of a king who had frequent dreams which he could not interpret, and offered large sums of gold to anyone who could interpret his dreams. One of them, a sorcerer, took the opportunity instead to turn him into a bull. Amasidia puts two and two together, and deduces that this is her lost love. She collapses before she can speak his name, though, and her attendants bring her back to the palace.
Act II
Scene I
In the palace, the king is told of what transpired. He orders Amasidia locked in her chamber, and claims that she has been bewitched by the bull. He orders for the execution of the bull, and exorcism of the princess. Mambres intervenes, stating that the mortal incarnation of the god Apis in Memphis has just died, and no sacrifices may be performed until a suitable replacement has been found. Amasis agrees for now, but states that in one week, if no replacement has been found, he will execute the bull anyway. Left alone, Amasis soliloquises. The bull is the king he usurped when he hired a sorcerer to transform him into a bull, and he resolves to have the bull executed at the earliest possible moment.
Scene II
In Amasidia’s chamber, the Serpent is trying to calm her by telling her stories, but she will not be calmed, and in a fit, screams out the name Nebuchadnezzar. Instantly the king and chorus burst in ordering her execution. She is at this point completely resolved, but the execution is interrupted by Mambres leading another chorus, and the bull. He has arranged for the bull to become the new incarnation of Apis. As a god, the bull, Nebuchadnezzar, gains the power of speech, and a human form. He marries Amasidia, and pardons Amasis. All ends happily.