She reaches out her arms in front and spins around as though someone has just hit her
She falls to the floor
Music crashes in evoking an overbearing presence filled with malice. The woman sits in the center of the light protecting herself. The music subsides.
She is alone
Woman
Sometimes these things happen
and the end result is that we just remember who we are
more than ever before
A choir of men & women dressed in Quaker garb step into the light
Choir of Quakers
Men and women must seek the light
the great heresy is to await
In a kind of indifference
for the Light to come to us
Woman
There is so much that distracts us
from love and connections
Choir of Quakers
God is the Light, the Truth that stirs within
Woman
Years of negativity and dislike
built brick upon brick upon brick
Such that we cannot see over to the other side of the other side
Choir of Quakers
Walk worthy unto that which ye are called
Practice abstinence from that which intoxicates
How increasingly incumbent is it upon you
to carry out your principles
so that you be not found in the background
of the great reformation that is taking place
in human society today
Woman (spoken)
Last night someone looked at me and said
“Oh honey, you’ve gained weight”
And when I mentioned that to someone else they said
“Well, you have, ya know”
I know that shouldn’t bother me but today it does
Choir of Quakers
Orthodoxy and bigotry shut men and women from the Light
Prune rote-creed and superstition from your mind
Let in the Light
The clear, stark, uncompromising Nantucket Light
Woman
I always struggle with my body
the discrepancy between what I see
and what others see
I think its time to assert myself
against comments like that
Quaker Choir
Let in the Light
The clear, stark, uncompromising Nantucket light
Where there is no room for prejudice to grow
Or oppression to flourish
Woman
Do not comment on someone’s body
shape or size
unless you are fucking asked about it
Quaker Choir
Woman is claiming for herself stronger and more profitable food
There is today a more extended recognition of her rights
her important duties
her responsibilities in life
Woman
Your opinion on my body is unwarranted
unnecessary
and I didn’t ask
so don’t comment
Quaker Choir
Launch forth, as men do, amid real, independent, stormy life
Woman
This is a cultural issue
that it’s been OK to objectify women’s bodies
Quaker Choir
It is interwoven throughout our country
and we may well acknowledge that we are all
All verily guilty concerning our sisters and our brothers
Woman
I think it shows a remarkable lack of tact
What the fuck is wrong with people?!
Quaker Choir
Inquire for thyself and acknowledge the Light that resides within
Woman
I need not set aside a special time for worship
I worship always seeking the divine will
and practicing holy obedience
I appreciate the wise laws of nature
and the divine spark in man and in woman
Quaker Choir
Breath in – breath out
you can’t change people
Only your response to them
Woman
Because the Light is one in all
it binds us together
In the bonds of love
Free discussion is never to be feared
except by such as prefer darkness to light
The spotlight has expanded during this interlude and now floods the stage in brightness
The woman changed her clothing from the party girl out on the town look into simple Quaker garb. She now stands with the choir undistinguished from the rest
The end
_______________________________
Librettist’s note: This weeks Micro Opera is a curious mixture of words from a Lucretia Mott address and a dialogue I watched unfold on FaceBook. Somehow I found them to be related. This is raw, I didn’t take enough time but I had to post something because I played hooky last week. It was Passover, I was tired and full and buzzing from many glasses of wine. But this also points to my ongoing process of “turning over, and turning over” the words of my ancestor in the hopes of finding new meaning for our society today. There must be a connection. I continue to dig. I’m 20 minutes past my posting deadline. Time to get this sucker up there.
Lucretia Mott at about the age of 70…give or take. You can still see the fire in her eyes if you look beyond the bonnet
Lucretia Mott: Soprano – A short, sprite of a woman of quick movements and vivacious manner. She is slender and petite with an air of dignified simplicity and a grace of conduct beyond her years. Two features rule Lucretia’s face; A benignant mouth which softens an otherwise dominant chin and lofty brow. She has beautiful, limpid-grey eyes widely set and full that seem to grow appealingly darker whenever she is moved by the excitement of sympathy or the animation of conversation. Beneath her lively exterior lies a nature as deep and sober as that of her beloved James; always she is tender with a high degree of practical spirituality.
Thomas Mott: Baritone – A tall, quiet, grave-looking man with sandy hair and kindly blue eyes who takes his time and always acts with great deliberation. James perceives everything in a serious way but is always tender with a high degree of practical spirituality.
Miller McKim: Bass Baritone – A young man with a deep sense of spirit. He has dark features and a flair for theological discourse. He is very much a match to Lucretia’s highly spirited convictions.
Quaker Elder – Mezzo Soprano or a Baritone
Quaker Choir
Librettist’s note: I have been working on this particular piece for about five months. It pre-dates the launch of the Mott Academy of Libretto Writing and was partially responsible for MAWL coming about in the first place.
This Micro Opera is based on the book Valiant Friend: The Life of Lucretia Mott written by Margaret Hope Bacon. I began writing The Light Within (TLW) when Philip Glass’ Etudes for Piano came into my world. I found a compelling (one could say obsessive) relationship between Bacon’s book and Glass’ music and set to find out where the two intersected. This is very much a work in progress and I have a long, long way to go before it clicks but I’ve come far enough that I think it’s time to share it with you.
To help you make any reasoned sense of this, get yourself a copy of Glass’ Piano Etudes and read on. For a taste of what I’m trying to do, listen to this…
…while you read the first scene of act 1. Hopefully you’ll get the idea. I’d love to hear from you if anything strikes a chord. Any composer out there interested in crafting a minimalist score with Quaker ideals send me a note. This will be a full blown opera one day!
ACT I
Scene 1
Place: A busy Quaker home in Philadelphia 1880. It is the last day of Lucretia Mott’s long and storied life. Based on the tempo from Glass Etude No. 1
Lucretia Mott sits napping in the family room near the fire, an extra blanket lovingly placed over her shoulders by her daughter Mary before she dons her bonnet to head out for a meeting. Several other men, women and children – all dressed in simple Quaker garb – bustle around the home as the morning light rises. Everyone is equally busy and equally happy in their appointed tasks. A number of people head out the door after Mary while others attend to laundry, or splitting wood out back. After a great burst of energetic activity (with the one still-spot being our beloved Lucretia contentedly napping) the room falls quiet. The silence arouses our matron who is happy to be finally alone with her own company. Lucretia holds some knitting in her hand and attempts to pick up the pearl stitch she was in the midst of when she dozed off but her hands are arthritic and she rests her work back in her lap intending to resume knitting in a little while.
The weather is churning outside from the NorEaster that passed through last night. The sun darts in and out at irregular intervals indicating the fast moving clouds overhead being pushed by gale-force winds that have lost their bite but not their shove. This creates a dramatic moving light in the room. At one moment Lucretia sits in darkness and then suddenly a brilliant light breaks in bringing clarity to the room. This creates a distinct Chiaroscuro which moves around Lucretia as she stirs with the dancing light. The music conveys a reflective quality as our antagonist finds the strength to sit up straight and be fully present to the room and the audience therein witnessing the production.
LUCRETIA MOTT
Welcome
Is thee is comfortable?
The storm abates, see how it pushes and pulls the light
The light, the light
Bright like a Nantucket morning
Clear as the wind whipping my skirts
“Spitfire” twas a name they had for me then
As a girl of ten
Spitfire, spitfire indeed
Too many names have I acquired this long life
Not all said lovingly, I assure thee
As a girl I knew what my faults were
I earnestly sought a passive state
I’d wait for truth to unfold from my soul of its own accord
God speaks directly to men and women
boys and girls
through an inward Light
that illuminates our conscience
By minding the Light Within
one learns where one’s duty lay
then it is just a matter of obedience
All the troubles of the world
all evils, including slavery
are not due to human depravity
but disobedience to manifest duty
First-Day silence deep and awesome
Therein I prayed to overcome my hasty rage
My Spitfire tendencies
But it’s not fair how human beings mistreat one another
Humanity shudders at our self-inflicted atrocities!
QUAKER CHOIR
God speaks directly to men and women
boys and girls
through an inward Light
that illuminates our conscience
Mind the Light Within
learn where thy duties lay
then it is just a matter of obedience
All the troubles of the world
all evils, including slavery
are not due to human depravity
but disobedience to manifest duty
LUCRETIA MOTT
So much injustice in the world
how to fight against it all
when one is so weak and small?
I miss the sea, the ships, the salt spraying on my face
Nantucket’s stark and revealing light
The Light Within I seek so earnestly still
I miss my Thomas, my beloved Thomas
QUAKER CHOIR AND LUCRETIA MOTT
God speaks directly to women and men
girls and boys
through an inward Light
that illuminates our conscience
Mind the Light Within
Learn where thy duties lay
then it is just a matter of obedience
All the troubles of the world
all evils, including slavery
are not due to human depravity
but disobedience to manifest duty
LUCRETIA MOTT(spoken)
Thee is here to witness an accounting of my days
End of Scene 1
Intersticial:
QUAKER CHOIR
“unable to abide Thy purity till pure as Thou are pure.
Made such by Thee we then are free.
And liberty, like day, breaks on the soul
And by a flash from Heaven
Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.
Oh Thou my voice inspire
Who touch Isaish’s hallowed lips with fire.”
The scene transitions from the stormy set to the house first owned by Lucretia and Thomas five years into their marriage. Lucretia throws off her blankets of old age and stands before the audience a young woman in her prime. She reaches for her bonnet and ties it properly under her chin.
Scene 2
Thomas enters carrying several bundles of cotton fabric
THOMAS MOTT
Lucretia dear – lend thy hand?
Lucretia goes to lend her new husband a hand, heartily hoisting a bolt of fabric over her shoulder. Thomas opens his mouth to protest
LUCRETIA MOTT
I hoisted heavier bolts of fabric before thee ever heard my name called out at Nine Partners school, Thomas Mott. I can manage.
THOMAS MOTT
Well I know thy strength, Lucretia. But there’s an additional…
Lucretia lets out a quick yelp as a small kitten pokes it’s furry head out of the bolt Lucretia is holding
THOMAS MOTT
…suprise inside that one. I could not entice it out of its hiding place so I settled to cary it home
LUCRETIA MOTT
What a delightful fright thee gave. It’s decided; we shall name thee “Boo.” Thy task is to keep the mice in order. Thomas, we must discuss the issue with cotton. A slave, a slave’s poor hands are bound up in the warp and weft of this cloth!
Sound of their child, crying, waking from his nap
LUCRETIA MOTT
My dear little Thomas is awake. We cannot continue we must divest from this wretched slave-reliant industry. Thee cannot abide much longer!
THOMAS MOTT
Go, attend to him. I shall finish stacking the bolts and Lucretia… thee is right but how to make a change that brings no harm to our family?
LUCRETIA MOTT
Thee will do what thee knows is right, Thomas, just as thee knew the right thing to do was to marry me
QUAKER CHOIR
Her life and his were destined to flow
As parallel banks of a meadow stream
Running towards the ocean of great human compassion
Making kin all bodies regardless of creed or color or custom
Scene transforms into a Quaker meeting house five year’s earlier with Lucretia and James sitting opposite one another on plain benches designated for the bride and groom. She in her simple grey Quaker dress, he in his simple black Quaker suit they are bidden to stand by one of the Elders who call them forth before the congregants. The music is formal and tight. Nerves abound but the couple show no outward emotion
Scene 3 – Wedding of Lucretia & Thomas based on Glass Etude No. 2
JAMES MOTT
I, James Mott, take thee, Lucretia Coffin, to be my wife, promising with divine assistance to be unto thee a loving and faithful husband so long as we both shall live.
LUCRETIA MOTT
I Lucretia Coffin, take thee, James Mott, to be my husband, promising with divine assistance to be unto thee a true and loving wife so long as we both shall live
QUAKER ELDER
In a true marriage relation
The independence of husband and wife is equal
Their dependence mutual
Their obligations reciprocal
QUAKER CHOIR
Believe always in the soul of man
invisibly rapt – ever waiting
ever responding to universal truths
Wait for truth to unfold from the soul of its own accord
QUAKER ELDER (addressing the couple directly)
Love all people
Act from the direction of the inner light
Submit to God within
LUCRETIA & THOMAS
Life’s purpose is to live it out together
Ever alongside one another
In grace, strength and simplicity
I lend unto thee my full heart
May we be brought unto a child-like state
so to receive all the mysteries belonging to thy kingdom
Crescendo as Lucretia and Thomas fall into one another’s arms in an impassioned kiss on their wedding night in the upstairs bedroom of Lucretia’s parent’s house where they will live their first year of marriage.
End of Act 1 Scene 3
Act 2 Scene 1
In the Mott household ten years into their marriage tempo based on Glass Etude No. 3 Lucretia is orchestrating the household chores while also preaching at Quaker meeting
LUCRETIA MOTT
Sweep the floor – hang the wash – chop the meat and make the pies
tack the carpet – sew the shirt – weave the rug – darn the heel
Make the tea – set the table – prep the food – and stoke the fire
add a chair there’s a hungry woman lingering outside our door Mary
I see
I see Inner Light residing within each person
Scene swings to her standing and preaching at meeting
LUCRETIA MOTT
Launch thee forth, as men and women do, amid real, independent, stormy life
Heed the call from God
Be an instrument of the spirit
Good to be always zealously affected in a good thing
It’s a simple perception of duty
that brings thee to close examination of thy daily life and practice
Head not the voice that entices
The one that slumbers and forgets
Bring forth thy greatest possible self and be fully who thee is – man and woman, boy and girl, black and white, poor and rich
Scene swings back to her home
Sweep the floor – hang the wash – chop the meat and make the pies
tack the carpet – sew the shirt – weave the rug – darn the heel
Oh my stomach!! (Lucretia doubles over in pain and takes a seat. Her daughter, Mary, brings her a glass of milky water to drink)
Make the tea – set the table – prep the food – and stoke the fire
Perhaps I’ll sit a moment by the fire to knit (she falls asleep)
End of Act 2 Scene 1
Act 2 Scene 2 In a large assembly of abolitionists populated mostly by men with a smattering of women this scene is based on the tempo of Glass Etude No. 4. During the music-only intersticial Lucretia sits proud and straight during entire pantomimed proceedings. She “speaks” only occasionally but every time she does the entire assembly turns to listen to her. The assembly is dismissed and Miller McKim, who converses with Lucretia during the pantomimed session, steps forward in an aria
MILLER MCKIM
Who is that woman? So learned and self-possessed
So unlike all the women I have ever known
What hath God driven that she glows with such inner fire?
She, like the bright, clear light after a terrible storm
warm and compelling – harsh and direct
I feel rather that she looks directly at my heart and speaks truth
I cannot hide from her piercing gaze
No one has seen me as deeply, purely, completely
as this handsome Quaker woman from Philadelphia
LUCRETIA MOTT
Miller McKim, thy dark good looks
thy earnest, searching attitude
misguided, though it may be, thee is replete with potentiality
(aside) If only he would step away from the Presbyterian stronghold at seminary
Thy Light Within is strong indeed – my dear Miller – My poor, poor orphan boy – The darling subject of my pen
Dare I say he remindeth me of my little Thomas – The one who left my breast too early for his time – How I ache for my first son who would be the age that Miller McKim is today
Push this grief aside, Lucretia
Miller is a man who must make his day
And I will provide what guidance I can along the way
(Addressing Miller) Come to Philadelphia for the antislavery convention
Miller looks to Lucretia longingly. She returns his affectionate gaze and bustles off to another meeting with the abolitionist women. Thomas Mott notices the animated conversation between his wife and Mr McKim. He reacts not with rage but with a momentary wave of sadness.
__________________________________________
Rough draft, as I said. In the future I will post other scenes for TLW as I write them. It’s like creating a jigsaw puzzle from scratch except I’m making all the little pieces first and then figuring out a way to make them fit. I hope you got something out of reading this. Do let me know how it hits you. Have a productive week.
Everything is shiny and bright – the sounds are perky and optimistic – the images are iconic, glamorous and captivating all along Happy Street
A woman in her 30’s, Dia, enters – well dressed with a slight flair for the dramatic. The year is 1994. Dia is at the peak of her awesomeness walking down Happy Street on a faire spring day in Somewhere Wonderful, America.
Dia – short for Diane or dialysis (also Greek for apart, through, across) Soprano
Ali – short for Alison or alien (also Greek for other) Mezzo Soprano
Choir of The Underserved – Mixed Choir of Women, Men & Children
DIA
This must be success
All of this for me
The silver sidewalk
The singing salted Pretzel man
The perfect way my pumps pound as I go purposefully ahead
Life is easy
Life’s so good
The sun on my back
The bounce in my step
No worries but to make my appointment on time
I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine
Isn’t everything divine?
CHOIR OF THE UNDERSERVED
Work and haul and push and pray
We strive to make it day by day
Under a growing cloud of doubt
We hold our tongue we do not shout
Working poor – the underserved
We are not proud we are not heard
Work so hard can’t catch a break
They tell us “All we do is take”
They try to rule us all with fear
And kill off all that we hold dear
Working poor – the underserved
We are not proud we are not heard
Working hard the under-seen
Won’t be long before we scream
A large woman emerges from the choir and approaches Dia
ALI
Excuse me – Can I ask you a question
DIA
(Flippantly as she walks past Ali) No you cannot
Ali stands momentarily rebuffed and then joins the Choir of the Underserved again
The timbre changes on Happy Street in Somewhere Wonderful, America. The year morphs into 2001 and the polish comes off the dazzling façade. The sounds are slightly flat, the images are tinged with cautious notes, the sky (a 911 blue) looks somewhat sinister, the light that once warmed Dia’s back is somehow colder.
DIA (pushing a stroller)
Let me see where I can go
So I can look like I’m in the know
It’s hard to keep up the game
With so much pressure to have a name in the world
My grandmother – my grandmother
She was an elegant lady of her day
The Greatest Generation
Social register – Women’s rights
Fantastic hats with feathers in them
She’s the one I emulate
The lady I want to be
It’s harder than I thought it was
I don’t understand, really
ALI
Excuse me, can I ask you a question?
DIA
I don’t have time – I’m late
I’m late, for a thing, ya know
Excuse me
Ali watches Dia bustle past her and turn the corner. She addresses the audience directly
ALI*
She’s thinking “There must be something wrong here”
Like I’m a problem that needs fixing
Lazy freeloader – welfare mom
That’s all she sees when she walks past me on Happy Street
Broke but not broken
Broke but not broken
The system’s not made for us
The rich folk always making a fuss
Broke but not broken
Broke but not broken
See me for who I really am
I come from a good family of people
People who love me
CHOIR OF THE UNDERSERVED*
Self reliant
Something gets broke we fix it
Self reliant
Somebody falls gather them up in a bundle of life
Until they can breathe on their own again
Self reliant
The system’s not made for us
The system’s not made for us
The system’s not made for us!
We walk for the lame
We drive for the carless
We wait for the brother whose still in jail
We sing for the bird that’s lost its song
We spring for the winter that lasts too long
We cling to each other in times of fear
And pray to a God who never seems near
But we keep praying – ‘cause – ya never know when
That God might just show up and make everything work again
Self reliant
The system’s not made for us
The timbre changes on Happy Street in Somewhere Wonderful, America once again. The year morphs into 2016 and the façade is removed exposing the rawness of the performance space. The sounds are sharp, the images are stark, the sky is flat and white. Ali sits on a box next to a tree growing out of the sidewalk. Dia walks by holding her hand to her jaw. She is sporting a hat with a big flower on the side, which contrasts sharply with the dark mood she appears to be in
ALI
Excuse me. Can I axe you a question?!
DIA
You always try and stop me at the worst times!
I cannot talk to you right now
ALI
But you don’t even know what my question is
DIA
I…look…I’m sorry. I have a terrible…
Aside to the audience: I’m not telling her my problems
My tooth hurts, yes, but I don’t have to explain myself to her
We all have places to be you know
We all have things to do
Aside to the audience: I really need to get to the dentist, excuse me
Audio of a dentist’s drill incorporates with the music of Ali’s She Don’t Even Know aria
ALI
She don’t even know my question
She so damn busy all the time
Bound up in her little world of lattes and opera
She don’t see who I really am
She won’t see who I really am
I am a woman who makes hats for a living
I am a woman whose daughter is pregnant with twins
I am a woman with a son stationed in Iraq
Who the fuck is she?!
Dia walks out moaning slightly and holding an ice bag to her cheek
DIA
I wonder what her question was
Such a bitch I was I know
But my aching tooth, oh my aching tooth
I’ll stop and talk with her now
I don’t know why I’ve been so cold
Although she has been very bold and tried to ask me several times about…something
I don’t know what
It always felt wrong
She did not belong in my world
My perfect little world – so stupid
I could not see for all the glitter that was in front of me
Perhaps I can start with an apology
Dia notices that Ali is no longer sitting where she was. Dia looks around but Ali is not there.
Characters: Carl & Jeremy – a gay couple in their late 20’s. Both are baritones
Carl sits on the couch in his living room looking at his smart phone. He makes the occasional, swipe casually with his finger, slouches further down and puts a leg up on the coffee table. His boyfriend, Jeremy, comes in the room.
Carl
I don’t know
It’s all bull shit
shit
from bulls
Jeremy
What’s bull shit?
Carl
Every God Damned thing. Trump, Fox News, Pokemon is 25 years old!
Jeremy
Well, Mr. Grumbleweed…
Carl
I hate it when you call me that, Jeremy
Jeremy
I only call it when that’s what your being. Now remember, Beth and Ben are here for dinner at eight
Carl
Can’t wait – Beth and Ben – sounds like a sitcom
Jeremy
Don’t let the fact that I do everything around here keep you from vacuuming this room
Carl
I won’t
Jeremy
We should get a zoomba someday
Carl
Only if it comes with a cat attachment
Jeremy exits into the kitchen
Carl
I don’t wanna
Can’t make me
Nah, nope, no
Won’t do it
My but is stuck to the couch
my eyeballs glued to the phone
I could get up and do some shit but
I don’t wanna
Grumblweed Choir
I don’t wanna
Can’t make me
Nah, nope, no
make your boyfriend crazy
Carl, ya know, you’re such a slug
won’t even move if you get mugged
Carl
My limbs are heavy – too heavy to lift
I am suspended in misery
I just want to sit
Is that ok?
To sit and not be lectured?
Conformity
Requirements of society
Piety and obedience to an entity stuck in Orthodoxy
Explain that one to me Rabbi!
Why should I obey you?!
I see a wall
A wall one hundred feet tall
Made of glass brick
I see the other side thick with potential
The possibility of possibility
The known unknowns
The dream of a someday
Hard and clear and cold this wall of glass
a hundred feet tall
which keeps me from reaching my fulfillment
reaching my fulfillment
Fulfillment
I am meant to fill something
Meant for something…I don’t know…terrific
I do not know
Am I meant for greatness?
Is it meant for me?
I am great – my parents always said
My parents always said I was the best
What ever it was they always said I was the best
What can I be – should be – could be…would be…could be
Oh, I don’t know.
Choir
Oh Carl – poor Carl – Sad Carl
Jeremy
Are you done with your pitty party?
I didn’t fall in love with you because you were a tumbling grumblweed – you know
I love you
I love you
you find your way out of the tumbleweeds
you emerge from darkness into light
you give me hope for tomorrow
Carl
There’s not much light from here Jeremy
Jeremy
You are my light, Carl
Carl
Not right now
This is not the Utopia we were promised
Jeremy
That promise was a lie
It should die and we should be free to build a world of our own imagination
Carl
We’re too old
Jeremy
What do you want, Carl?!
Carl
I want everyone to shut the fuck up
Jeremy
And then what?
Carl
So then I can think
Jeremy
And when you can think – what then?
Carl
Then I would be able to see
Able to see that we are not what we thought we would be together
Jeremy – It’s not working
I think I should leave tonight
Jeremy
But our dinner with Beth and Ben
Carl
You’ll have to do the vacuuming yourself – I’m not good husband material, Jeremy.
Jeremy
Carl! You can’t just leave like that!
Carl puts on his coat, grabs his phone and walks out the door
It’s been a decade since earning an MA in Media Studies where I wrote my thesis on Women and the Medium of Money. True, I am a Financial Analyst today and perhaps that thesis was prophetic but my life has taken on a different focus now: opera.
The first time I took my seat in the Family Circle at the Metropolitan Opera in 2010 was for Don Giovanni. It was Ottavio’s aria, “dalla sua pace la mia dipende” that opened up the depths of possibility to me. See Where Opera Lives for details on that ahah! moment.
I knew – sitting there slack-jawed in the dark – I had to write librettos and I didn’t even know a counter tenor from a treble clef at the time. So I set to learn and this web log is one of those tools I first created to express this need. Well it’s been a few years and the time has come to ratchet up the process.
Fist I explored MFA programs at Hunter, The New School & NYU. There were playwriting programs and creative writing programs but no libretto writing programs. I’m a 52 year old woman; I don’t have time to fuck around any more. So in my particular DIY fashion, I sat down and have fashioned my own course of study and here’s my curriculum for the next year.
———————————-
The Mott Academy of Writing Librettos
Year 1: Learn the dramaturgy of playwriting & opera. Understand what makes a play work and, specifically, what makes an opera work.
Texts:
· The Poetics by Aristotle
· The Playwright’s Guidebook by Stuart Spencer
· Opera (the Cambridge Introductions to Music)
· The Cambridge Companion to Opera Studies
Daily Assignment: write every morning – it does not have to be good, it just has to be something you write down, typically 2 pages long. The objective is to establish the habit of writing…every…day. This work is for your eyes only. Don’t share it with anyone. This assignment is to start immediately.
Weekly Writing Assignment: write a micro opera – 3 to 5 pages – every week. Use the assignments provided in Stuart Spencer’s book to help guide you. Your Micro Opera (MO) must be uploaded every Sunday night before midnight onto Opera Abecedarian (yup, onto ‘yr blog!) Your first MO must be uploaded by March 13th and every Sunday night thereafter. It may suck at first – but it will get better.
Weekly Reading Assignment: Read a chapter in two of the four text books cited above. You decide what books to read. Take notes, record observations during your daily assignment if you want something to write about in the morning. This reading is to be finished by every Wednesday night. Thursday you begin reading two new chapters.
Quarterly Read (QR): Choose a libretto to read. It can be from any era and genre you like. First time around read it straight – with no music – and make your notes. Next read it through while listening to the score. It is best, at first, to pick librettos of operas you do not know as a familiar score will influence your straight reading of a text. This is to be an intensive two-to-three-hour exercise scheduled every 3 months. Make a setting where you will be able to read through the libretto and write down observations without any interruption. Take a break then listen to the score while reading along with the libretto. Post your QR on ‘yr blog. You must do this once a quarter. When you do it is entirely up to you. QR’s will start 2Q16.
· What was the difference in your experience of the story from the straight read to the scored read?
· What questions did you have about the libretto during the straight read and how did the scored read answer or complicate your questions? Why?
· How did the libretto stand on its own?
· How did the libretto support the score?
· How did the score support the libretto?
I think that is enough for one year. Keep your word, do the assignments and challenge yourself.
So I outed myself tonight at Le Poisson Rouge – a better place there could not have been for me to do so. A dear friend brought me to see … Continue reading I Am a Fledgling Librettist
