”The Illuminated Traces of Ligeia” is a chamber opera for 25 participants: 4 singers (soprano, mezzo soprano, tenor & bass singer), ensemble (flute, clarinet, percussion, accordion, zither, piano, violin & cello), choir (SSSAAATTBB), dancer & electronics.
The chamber opera is in 3 parts. The first part is based on a short novel called ’The trail of your blood in the snow' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The second part is based on the short story ’Ligeia’ by Edgar Allan Poe. The third and last story is based on the short novel called ’The light is like water’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The libretto is written by Ylva Lund Bergner. Eleven small poems by Nordic poets (Maria Wine, Pentti Saarikoski, Harry Martinson, Stig Dagerman, Inger Christensen & Göran Sonnevi) are added to the libretto.
The main theme in the opera is to accept the inevitable; to see that the end of something can be the beginning of something else. Even though it suits the genre of chamber operas, it is called ’a visual audiodrama’ in the score.
Link to the page for chamber opera:
The Illuminated Traces of Ligeia
Pieces that has been written for the chamber opera but can also be performed separately.
In order
Pas de Signal [help] P 1 (Preludium)
Deres ord (Act I, Scene 1)
Blandande ljus i natten (Act I, Scene 2)
Nina's Inner Turmoil (NIT) (Act I, Scene 2)
Taivas noyrtyy (Act I, Scene 3)
Traces (P 1: Preludium, Act 1; Scene 1-4 & P 2: Interludium)
Pas de Signal [help] P 2 (Interludium)
Conqueror worm, verse I-III (Act I, Scene 4)
Pa godt og ondt (Act I, Scene 5)
Pas de Signal [help] P 3 (Interludium)
Conqueror worm, verse IV-V (Act II, Scene 11)
Den glimt jag sag (Act I, Scene 1)
Palabras (Act I, Scene 1)
Oblivion (Act I, Scene 2)
Pas de Signal [help] P 4 (Postludium)
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L I B R E T T O; part I:III
I
Preludium
Instrumental [3 minutes]
Instruments: Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Prepared Piano, Accordion, Zither, Violin & Cello
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Aria I [2 minutes]
Inger Christensen from ” Teksten” [Universaliteter]
Singer: Mezzo Soprano
Instruments: Violin, Accordion & Zither
Location: Small Stage on the Left
Jeg ser de lette skyer I see the light skies
Jeg ser den lette sol I see the light sun
Jeg ser hvor let de tegner I see how easy they paint
Et endeløst forløb An endless continuum
som om de føler tillid as if they feel trust
Til mig der står på jorden To me standing on the ground
Som om de ved at jeg As if they know that I
Er deres ord. Am their words.
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E L R A S T R O ( T R A C E S )
By Ylva Lund Bergner (with inspiration from a novel by Gabriel García Márquez)
Characters:
Nina D – soprano
Will S – tenor
Doctor – bass from choir
Instruments: Flute, clarinet, accordion, percussion, piano, zither, violin & cello
More: Live-electronics, Choir & Dancer
ACT I
Scene 1
[Instrumental]
[20 seconds]
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A white blanket of snow is prevalent everywhere.
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Coro: Choir:
Sonidos [Aaah.Ssch.Mm.] Sounds [Aaah.Ssch.Mm.]
A shiny silver vehicle waiting. A man and woman come walking.
[10 seconds]
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Elegant. The woman receives a rose from the man..When the man turns around, she puts a finger to her mouth. She has stung herself on the rose. They sit in the car. The man sees that she sucks on her finger.
[20 seconds]
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Will: Will:
¿Es algo grave? Is it bad?
Nina: Nina:
No. Not really.
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She smiles and shows her finger, where a diamond ring sparkles.
[15 seconds]
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Nina: Nina:
Es sólo un pinchazo. It is just a little sting.
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They start their journey
[Projections of landscape on paper bricks around and on the stage.]
Passing the urban environment. A sign that says Bayonne. The woman watches the man. The man does not notice anything. Ecstatic about his power over the vehicle which he worships. The woman tries to give him a jam ball in his mouth. He refuses, spits and turns his head away. The woman is bleeding and exhausted. She connects the finger with a handkerchief and then hold the left arm with her hand and falls asleep. She wakes up and have blood on her clothes. She let the arm hang outside the window, convinced that the icy wind from the fields would have a healing effect.
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Coro: Choir:
Él venía de una familia sencilla, Simple life was his origin,
Ella vino de una opuesta. the opposite to hers.
Pero, But,
como a menudo as opposites often attract,
opuestos se atraen, became their first meeting
tuvieron su primera reunión, the beginning of a story.
el comienzo de una historia. Innocence became
La inocencia se convirtió a youthful intoxication.
en una intoxicación juvenil. Lost in ecstasy
Perdido(s) en el éxtasis and sensuality,
y la sensualidad, there was no way back.
no había vuelta atrás. But,
Pero, ¿qué viene después? what comes next?
La respuesta está en la mujer. The answer is inside of the woman.
¿Era ésa la razón Was that the reason
de su decisión de venir aquí? or their decision to come here?
La pregunta debería ser: The question should be:
¿Hubiera sido diferente la historia would the story have been different
si hubieran esperado? if they had waited?
[35 seconds]
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Nina: Nina:
Si alguien nos quiere encontrar será If someone wants to find us, it
muy fácil. Sólo tendrá que seguir el will be easy. He only needs to
rastro de mi sangre en la nieve. follow the traces of my blood in the snow.
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Then she thinks about what she said, and her face blushes in the first light of dawn.
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Nina: Nina:
Imagínate, un rastro de sangre en la Imagine, a trace of blood in the snow,
nieve desde Madrid hasta París. the whole way from Madrid to Paris.
¿No te parece bello para una canción? Wouldn’t it be nice for a song?
[20 seconds]
[Canción de Nina] [Nina’s song]
Nina: Nina:
Él llegó, él vio y la siguió. He came, he saw and followed.
Siguió mi rastro en la nieve. Followed my trace in the snow.
Una nieve que tenía un color. A snow which had the colour.
El color del amor, la vida, la desesperanza. The colour of love, life, despair.
Él no pudo resistir He could not resist
para encontrar la fuente. to find the source.
Él no pudo resistir mi rastro. He could not resist my trace.
Mi rastro de sangre es visible My trace of blood is visible
sin parar desde Madrid hasta París. the whole way from Madrid to Paris.
[1 minute]
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They continue to travel. They are passing a sign that says Paris. At that point, the woman bleeds unchecked.
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Nina: Nina:
Mi vida se está quedando sin mí. My life is running out of me.
[Ella habla en voz alta a sí misma.] [She speaks aloud to herself]
[20 seconds]
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The man turns towards the woman. Becomes terrified. He calls out. Stops the car. Honks and looks desperately around him. Tries to lift the woman, but she is completely gone.
[20 seconds]
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Scene 2
The man rushes out of the car and end up quite suddenly in a chaos of people. He tries to see any help. When there is no help to see, he instead tries to take himself back to the car.
[20 seconds]
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II
Aria II [2 minutes]
Stig Dagerman from ”De dömdas ö” [chapter 7]
Instruments: Electronics
Singer/Mime: A Dancer
Location: Small Stage in the Back of the Big Stage
'...' Det finns en punkt i en människas liv '...' There is a point in a human life
som är till för att inte beträdas. that exist to not be spoiled.
Den är som ett osynligt fyrtorn It is like an invisible lighthouse
som fungerar några gånger under ens liv that function a few times during a life
och under det kortaste av ögonblick and during the shortest of moments
slungar ut en serpentin av throws out a streamer of
bländande ljus i natten, shining light in the night,
en svindlande sekund– an astronomical second -
bara en sekund, only a second,
men det är nog. but that is enough.
Själva mörkret tycks klyvas Even the darkness seems to split
av en förfärlig vägg av ljus by a terrifying wall of light
och som en mal and like a moth
dras man obönhörligt dit, you are drawn to it inexoribly,
och så är plötsligt allting över: and, suddenly it is over:
ljuset slocknar the light fades away
men det brinner ännu på ens näthinnor but it still burns on your retinas
och med ögonen blödande av ljus and with your eyes bleeding of light,
söker man sej fram you reach for
till denna förut endast anade the previously only just imagined
hemlighetsfulla punkt, mysterious point,
beredd på allt, ready for it all
beredd till att möta både frälsningen ready to meet both the redemption
och undergången, and the end,
den hela sanningen the whole truth
eller den hela lögnen. '...’ or the whole lie. '...'
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When the man touches the car, the chaos around him stops. He turns around and sees that a green cross is lit. Someone has noticed him, and comes with a stretcher. He must speak to several people, but it is impossible to hear because it drowns in the music. Even the woman is questioned by a nurse. The man picks up the woman's handbag in the car and he presses her hand when he comes back with it to her. A new doctor comes to examine her.
[1 minute]
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[Electrónica y Coro]
Coro: Choir:
Psst…[sonidos] Psst…[sounds]
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Nina: Nina:
No te asustes. Don’t get scared.
Lo único que puede suceder The worst thing that can happen
es que este caníbal me corte la mano is that this cannibal cuts off my hand
para comérsela. and eats it.
Médico: Doctor:
No, amigos. No, my dear friends.
Este caníbal preferiría morirse de This cannibal would rather die
hambre antes que cortar of hunger than cut off
una mano tan bella. a hand this beautiful.
[40 seconds]
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Scene 3
The doctor takes away the woman and puts up a hand to stop the man. The man stays without knowing what he will do, looks at the empty corridor in which the woman was brought away. He sits down on a wooden bench and falls asleep.
[20 seconds]
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III
Aria III [1 minute]
Pentti Saarikoski
Instruments: Accordion & Zither
Singer: Bass Baryton
Location: Small stage on the right
Taivas nöyrtyy The sky surrenders
ja ajattelu and thoughts
ei vie mihinkään do not bring us anywhere
me olemme aina we are constantly
eksyksissä lost
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Scene 4
He tries to get information but nobody seems to notice him. He goes out of the hospital but all is chaos around him and he flees back to the hospital. He is like on the run. He does not know what to do. The woman has all the information he needs and he does not know where she is. In fact, the woman had intense care but dies two days later.
[10 seconds]
It is possible to see her on the small stage in the back of the stage, where she dies in agony.
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[Canción de Will] [Will’s song]
Will: Will:
Él vino, él, el tonto, y estrangulado. He came, him the fool, and strangled.
Estrangulado por el amor de su vida. Strangled the love of his life.
Una vida que de él no es digna. A life of which he's not worthy.
Si alguna vez fue digan de él. If worthy was ever for him.
¿Cómo voy a pasar? How can I ever go on?
Dame la oportunidad de empezar de nuevo. Give me a chance to start over.
[40 seconds]
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At the same time as the woman is dying, the man lives in chaos and cannot find her. Everything becomes grayer after her death, and everything is harder. Even the man gets harder. After one week, someone ( a doctor at the hospital) tells him the truth. At this point, he has no feelings left. He sees the dead woman but leaves at once.
[10 seconds]
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Interludium
Instrumental [1 minute]
Instruments: Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Prepared Piano, Violin & Cello
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L I B R E T T O; part II:III
II
Aria IV [3 minutes]
Pentti Saarikoski from ” Hämärän tanssit”
Singer: Tenor
Instruments: Violin & Accordion
Location: Small Stage on the Left
Hämärä tanssii
ei ole muuta maailmaa
kuin se minkä hän
puikoillaan hän kirjoitti lehmän kallon
hämähäkinseitit riippuvat hänensormistaan kun hän tanssii
hän tanssii kirjoittamaansa lusetta läpi
Et tiedä tästä maailmasta mitään ellet ole katsonut
sisiliskoa silmästä silmään, näin hän tanssii
muurahaiset klipeävät hänen sääriään pitkin, kusevat
hänen karvoihinsa, ryämivät
hänen siemen johtimeensa sisään, syövät hänen
voimansa, käärme
työntää kielen hänen kormansa syvälle ja kuiskaa
En minä
joskin minä tiedän minä en kerro
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The Dark One dances
there is no other world
than the one he
inscribed on a cow’s skull
spiderwebs hang from his fingers he dances
dances through the sentence he wrote
You know nothing of this world if you haven’t looked
into a lizard’s eyes, he dances
ants climb his legs, piss
into his short hairs, crawl
into his urethra, devour
his strength, the serpent
intrudes its tongue deep into his ear and whispers
Not me
I know but won’t tell
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Interludium
Electronics
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L I G E I A
By Edgar Allan Poe
Edited by Ylva Lund Bergner
Characters:
Rowena – soprano
Ligeia – mezzo soprano
Man – bass baryton
Instruments: Flute, Clarinet, Accordion, Percussion, Piano, Zither, Violin, Cello
More: Live-electronics, Choir & Dancer
A C T I
Scene I
Man on a divan. Dark room with long dark curtains, book shelves and candles. Rowena is standing in the shadow.
Man:
Ligeia! Ligeia!
I bring before mine eyes in fancy
the image of her who is no more.
Prerecorded:
She came and departed as a shadow.
Choir:
The large eyes of Ligeia.
Man:
They became to me twin stars of Leda,
and I to them devoutest of astrologers.
I felt always aroused
within me
by her large and luminous orbs.
Prerecorded [technic: surround rotation]:
The almost magical melody, modulation,
distinctness and placidity
of her very low voice-
and by the fierce energy
of the wild words.
Man:
Without Ligeia I was
Rowena:
Without Ligeia he was
but as a child groping benighted.
but as a child groping benighted.
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Scene 2
Ligeia on a distance, having spasmes in a bed on the small stage in the back. The man is watching, now standing, in despair. Rowena is more present.
Prerecorded:
The wild eyes blazed
with a too-
Man:
too glorious effulgence;
Prerecorded:
the pale fingers became
Man:
the pale fingers
of the transparent waxen hue of the grave,
transparent
and the blue veins upon the lofty forehead
the blue veins upon the lofty forehead
swelled and sank
impetuosly with the tides
of the gentle emotion.
swelled and sank
Rowena:
She wrestled with the shadow.
Choir:
Her longing with so wildly earnest
a desire for the life
which was (now) fleeing
so rapidly away.
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Scene 3
Red light. Giving up. Bad mood. Devilish. The man in the middle. The choir is around him.
Man & Choir:
Who-
who knoweth
the mysteries of the will
with its vigor?
Man doth not yield him
to the angels,
nor unto death utterly,
save only through
the weakness of his feeble will.
Repetition many times. Every time the dynamic of the choir gets stronger. Finally the choir is stronger than the man.
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Scene 4
Ligeia like a terrible queenly shadow entity. Backlight. Mantle. Hair. Standing on a small upliftment. Choir in the hall or along the sides.
Ligeia & Choir/Electronics:
Lo! 'tis a gala night
Within the lonesome latter years!
An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
In veils, and drowned in tears,
Sit in a theatre, to see
A play of hopes and fears,
While the orchestra breathes fitfully
The music of the spheres.
Choir: Prerecorded:
high Mimes, in the form of God on
Mutter and mumble low,
And hither and thither fly-
go Mere puppets they, who come and
At bidding of vast formless things
That shift the scenery to and fro,
Flapping from out their Condor wings
Man: Choir/Prerecorded:
That motley drama- oh, be sure
It shall not be forgot!
With its Phantom chased for evermore, With its Phantom chased for evermore,
By a crowd that seize it not,
Through a circle that ever returneth in Through a circle that ever returneth in
To the self-same spot,
And much of Madness, and more of Sin, And much of Madness, and more of Sin,
And Horror the soul of the plot. And Horror the soul of the plot.
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Scene 5
Flashing lights. Ligeia falls to the ground with the arms outstretched. Choir horrified walking towards her. Man on an upliftment.
Ligeia:
O God!
Choir:
Leaping
Extending
her arms aloft
Ligeia:
O God!
Choir:
Her arms aloft
Ligeia:
O Divine Father!
Choir:
Extending
Ligeia:
Shall these things
be undeviatingly so?
Shall this Conqueror
be not once conquered?
Choir: Man: Ligeia:
Leaping. Who- O Divine Father!
who knoweth
the mysteries of the will
with its vigor?
Choir: Man: Ligeia:
Man doth not yield him Who- O God!
to the angels, Who- Shall these things
nor unto death utterly, who knoweth be undeviatingly so?
save only through the mysteries of the will Shall this Conqueror
the weakness of his feeble will. with its vigor? be not once conquered?
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Aria V
Inger Christensen from ” Teksten”
Singer: Soprano
Instruments: Cello & Percussion
Location: Small Stage on the Right
Jeg ser at jeg er her med vilje I see I am here because of my will
Ser at jeg ikke forsvinder See that I don’t disappear
Selv om jeg har lyst Even if I want to
Ser at der ikke er kontakt See that there is no contact
Mellem det jeg vil Between what I want
Og det jeg gerne vil And what I desire
Ser at jeg må begynde forfra I see that I have to start all over
På godt og ondt For good and bad
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Interludium
Instrumental [2 minutes]
Instruments: Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Grand Piano, Accordion, Zither, Violin & Cello
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A C T I I
Scene 6
The man, more and more terrifying. Dark. Haggard. Evil. Rowena sad. Submissive. Beautiful.
Man:
My labors
and my orders
had taken
a coloring from my dreams.
Rowena:
The unforgotten
Ligeia
Prerecorded:
The fair-haired and blue-eyed Man:
Lady Rowena Trevanion, I loathed her
of Tremaine. with a hatred
belonging more to demon
than to man.
Prerecorded:
Ligeia! Ligeia!
Man:
In the excitement
of my opium dreams
I would call aloud
upon her name, during
the silence of the night.
Prerecorded:
Ligeia! Ligeia!
[Echoes of the theme from ’Conqueror Worm’]
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Scene 7
The man sober and clear. Rowena dreamy and unreal. Choir standing together to collect strength in the atrocity.
Choir:
Sudden illness.
She spoke of sounds,
and of motions.
A bed of suffering.
Man:
I sat by the side of her ebony bed.
She partly arose,
and spoke, in an earnest
low whisper, of sounds
which she then heard,
but which I could not hear-
of motions
which she then saw
but which I could not perceive.
Rowena:
An invisible object had passed
lightly
by my person.
Man:
There lay upon the golden carpet,
a shadow-
Rowena:
a faint,
indefinite shadow of angelic aspect-
such as might be fancied for
Man:
the shadow of a shade.
Choir:
The lips of the fainting lady.
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Aria VI [3 minutes]
Maria Wine from ” Kärleksdikter”
Singer: Mezzo soprano
Instruments: Cello & Clarinet
Location: Small Stage on the Left
Jag vill sträcka mig naken mot solen, Naked, I want to reach for the sun
endast mina tåspetsars lätta beröring only the light touch of my toes
skall tillhöra marken will belong to the ground
Ljuset skall genomstråla min kropp The light shall shine through my body
tills rymdens klarhet tar mig i sin famn. until the spacial clarity takes me in its arms.
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Scene 8
Choir unable to do anything. Abstinent narrative. The man more & more confused & unsure of reality.
Prerecorded:
Rowena was in
the act of raising
the wine to her lips.
Man:
I-
I saw,
within the goblet,
as if from some invisible spring
in the atmosphere of the room,
three or four large drops
of a brilliant and
ruby colored fluid.
Prerecorded:
The wine to her lips.
Man:
If this I saw-
not so Rowena.
Prerecorded:
Ruby-drops.
Man:
I sat alone,
with her shrouded body.
Choir:
Wild visions,
flutted, shadow-like.
Man:
I gazed with unquiet eye.
[Electronics]
Man:
Memories of Ligeia came back
upon my heart, with
the turbulent violence of a flood.
Prerecorded:
I remained gazing upon the body of Rowena (tankfullt)
Choir:
Unquiet eye.
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Scene 9
The man with his back to the inevitable. Terrified. Rowena as a fairy figure.
Man:
It might have been midnight,
or perhaps earlier,
Prerecorded:
or later.
Choir:
A sob,
low, gentle,
but very distinct,
came from the bed of ebony-
the bed of death.
Rowena:
No repetition of the sound.
Man:
My soul was awakened within me.
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Scene 10
Beautifully and intensely painful. The choir standing around Rowena, slowly disappearing into the dark parts of the room.
Choir & EA:
The lips became doubtly shrivelled
and pinched up
in the ghastly expression of death.
Coldness overspread rapidly
the surface of the body.
Visions of Ligeia.
A tremor
upon the lips.
A slight pulsation
at the heart.
The color fled,
the pulsation ceased,
the expression of the dead,
a tenant of the tomb.
Visions of Ligeia.
Prerecorded:
A low sob from the ebony bed.
[Instrumental: Zither, Piano, Violin & Cello (pizzicato)]
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Scene 11
The choir is still beautiful. Rowena speaking to herself. A dream. The man fascinated viewing the scene. Horror comes.
Choir:
There streamed forth,
Rowena:
Without Ligeia he was
into the rushing
but as a child groping benighted.
atmosphere of the chamber,
She wrestled with the shadow.
huge masses of long
The unforgotten Ligeia.
and dishevelled hair;
An invisible object had passed lightly
it was blacker than
by my person.
the raven wings of the midnight!
Indefinite shadow of angelic aspect-
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The transformation from Rowena to Ligeia. When Rowena dies, the man sees her come alive again as someone else. The resurrection of Ligeia.
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Man:
Slowly,
Rowena [prerec.]:
No
Choir:
Hair
opened the eyes of the figure
blacker
which stood before me.
No repetition of the sound.
than
The full,
the
and the black,
raven
and the wild
wings.
eyes-
No repetition
Black
of my lost love-
and
of the lady-
No sound.
wild
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Ligeia is black and seems gigantic. Shadow tricks. She removes her hair from the face.
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Man:
of the Lady Ligeia!
Choir:
But see, amid the mimic rout
A crawling shape intrude!
A blood-red thing that writhes from out
The scenic solitude!
[It writhes!- it writhes!]- with mortal pangs
The mimes become its food,
And seraphs sob at vermin fangs
In human gore imbued.
Ligeia: Choir/Electronics:
Out- out are the lights- out all! Out- out- out- out- out-
And, over each quivering form, And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm, Comes down with the rush of a storm,
While the angels, all pallid and wan, A storm- a storm- while the angels,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm all pallid and wan, uprising, unveiling
That the play is the tragedy, "Man,” Unveiling, affirm, that the play is the tragedy
And its hero the Conqueror Worm. "Man,", its hero the Conqueror Worm.
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The man tries to reach out for her. But the choir gathers around her. Also they are now dark. Spreading their darkness further and further away from the source. Also the light on the sides seems to dimmer. Finally, it is totally dark.
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Aria VII [3 minutes]
Harry Martinson from ” Doriderna”
Singer: Tenor
Instruments: Violin, Percussion & Clarinet
Location: Small Stage on the Left
Man kyles ofta ner till bergkristallen
av allt man hör förrn örat faller ner
som gråvit aska i kremeringshallen.
Och flickan från Rind som intet ser
hörs ofta fråga bortom ögonvallen:
hur syns den värld som sådan plåga ger?
Vad är att se i detta vanvettsklara,
där kuslighet mot kuslighet hörs svara?
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Often you are cooled down to the rock crystal
by everything you hear, until your ear falls
as grey-white ash in the cremation hall.
And the girl from Rind, who nothing can see,
you often hear, ask, far beyond the eye barrier:
how does that world seem, that offers such torment?
What is to see in this insane clarity,
where unpleasantness upon unpleasantness,
are heard answering?
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Aria VIII [2 minutes]
Göran Sonnevi from ” Trädet”
Singer: Soprano from the choir
Instruments: Violin & Clarinet
Location: Small Stage on the Right
Ljustonen Dess klang The tone of light Its timbre.
Till den relateras allt Everything can be related, therein
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L I B R E T T O; part III:III
III
Aria IX [3 minutes]
Göran Sonnevi from ” Trädet”
Singer: Bass Baryton
Instruments: Flute, Percussion & Piano
Location: Small Stage in the back of the big stage
Jag ber om detta Att mina ögon ska se
hela det flikade ljuset
Ett omöjligt norrsken
Det var den glimt jag såg
under de hypnagoga bildernas flöde
Fastän jag vet att de är värdelösa
om de inte har det osynliga korrelatet
Verklighetens helt utopiska närvaro,
överallt
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I ask for this That my eyes will see
the entire tabs of light
An impossible aurora borealis
That was the glimpse I saw
during the hypnagoga flow of the images
Although I know that they are worthless
if they do not have the invisible correlate
The totally utopian presence of reality,
everywhere
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I L U M I N A D A ( I L L U M I N A T E D )
By Ylva Lund Bergner (with inspiration from a novel by Gabriel García Márquez)
Characters:
Meza/Young woman – soprano
Mezo/Young man – tenor
Mujer/Woman – mezzo soprano
Hombre/Man – bass baryton
Condiscípulos/Classmates (People passing)– choir
Instruments: Flute, clarinet, accordion, percussion, piano, zither, violin & cello
More: Live-electronics & Dancer
A C T I
Scene I
A dark room. Moonlight through the window. White curtains. A young man and a young woman are sleeping in the room. A man stands in the dark thinking. Then he walks up the stairs and wakes them up.
[Instrumental]
[Violin & Vocoder effect]
Hombre: Man:
El bote está en el garaje. The boat's in the garage.
[Violin & Electronics]
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The youngsters wake up and look down the stairs on the boat that glows in a mysterious way. Then they go back to sleep.
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[Coro y Electrónica] [Choir & Electronics]
Coro: Choir:
Una fabulosa aventura A fabulous adventure
que comenzó con pocas palabras. that begun with a few words.
La luz es como el agua. Light is like water.
Una imagen poética A poetic image
que tenía that had
consecuencias imprevistas. unforeseen consequenses.
Hermoso tiempo de la luz. Beautiful time of light.
Luz que nos llena a todos. Light that fills us all.
[Trio]
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Next day, cold morning light. The classmates comes over to help bringing the boat upstairs.
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[Coro y Trio] [Choir & Trio]
Coro: Choir:
Mm (Tarareo) Mm (Humming)
[Solo instrument]
Adulto: Adult:
¿Ahora qué? Now what?
Jóvenes: Youngsters:
Ahora nada. Now nothing.
[Solo instrument, Ensemble & Electronics]
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Wednesday. Their adults went to the cinema as usual. The youngsters, lords and masters of the house, closed the doors and windows and then broke the bulb glowing in one of the living-room lamps. A jet of golden light as cool as water began to pour out of the broken bulb, and they let it run to a depth of almost three feet. Then they turned off the electricity, took out the rowing boat, and navigated wherever they pleased among the islands of the house.
It gets darker and finally completely black.
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[Electronics]
[Instrumental]
[Instrumental & Electronics]
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Scene 2
Two from the choir has mini lights in their mouths. One of the singers has light in the closed hands. They turn around towards the audience. They sit on the floor with a ledlight enclosed in their hands.
Mezo: Young man:
La luz es como el agua. Light is like water.
Meza: Young woman:
Uno abre el grifo, You turn the tap,
y sale. and out it comes.
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Aria X [2 minutes]
Göran Sonnevi from ” Trädet”
Singer: Soprano
Instruments: Flute, Zither & Piano
Location: Small Stage on the left
Fruktansvärda, strömmande klarhet Terrible, streaming clarity
Forsande sol Och rodret, den svarta Raging sun. And the rudder, the black
styråran, helm,
cybernetiskt Svart glömska Svart vin cybernethically Black oblivion Black wine
Vi har ännu inte tagit oss över We have not yet transcended.
[Electronics & Duo]
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Morning light. The youngsters wake up. It is months later. They have got a complete skin-diving outfit: masks, flippers, tanks, and harpoon guns, lying on the floor. They put it on when the adults went to the cinema.
The young man and woman filled the apartment to a depth of two fathoms, like tame sharks under the furniture, and salvaged from the bottom of the light things that had been lost in darkness for years.
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[Electronics]
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It becomes completely dark. The electronics gets darker. The feeling is ominous.
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Scene 3
It is morning. The light pours through the window. The youngsters are giving a party at home as a treat for their classmates (choir).
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[Instrumental]
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The adults were at the cinema. People (choir) walking along the Paseo de la Castellana and saw a cascade of light falling from an old building hidden among the trees. It spilled over the balconies, poured in torrents down the facade, and rushed along the great avenue in a golden flood that lit the city all the way to the Guadarrama.
The apartment was glowing with light all the way to the ceiling. The sofa and armchairs covered in leopard-skin were floating at different levels in the living-room, among the bottles from the bar and the grand piano with its Manila shawl fluttering half submerged like a golden manta ray. Household objects, were flying through the kitchen sky on their own wings. Brass instruments, which the children used when they were dancing, were drifting among the brightly coloured fish freed from their mother's aquarium, the only creatures lively and happy in the vast illuminated marsh. All the toothbrushes were floating in the bathroom, along with Papa's condoms and Mama's jars of cream and spare dentures, and the television set from the master bedroom floated on its side, still tuned to the final episode of the midnight movie for adults only.
The young woman was sitting in the stern of the boat, all at sea, clutching the oars tightly with her mask on and only just enough air to reach the lighthouse she was searching for. The older one, was bobbing in the prow, still charting the north star with her sextant; and floating throughout the house were their classmates, eternalised in the moment of peeing into a pot of geraniums, or singing the school song with the words changed to make fun of the headmaster, or sneaking a glass of brandy from the adult's bottle. For they had turned on so many lights at the same time that the apartment had flooded, and the whole class at the elementary school of Saint Julian the Hospitaler had drowned on 47 Paseo de la Castellana. In Madrid, Spain.
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Coro: Choir:
Los aborigínes de tierra firme Landbound population had
nunca fueron maestros en la never mastered the science
ciencía de navegar en la luz. of navigating on light.
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Electronic ending
[Transmission from choir to electronic sound to the instrumental part]
Interludium
Instruments: Flute, clarinet, accordion, percussion, piano, zither, violin & cello
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Aria XI [2 minutes]
Göran Sonnevi from ” Trädet”
Singer: Mezzo soprano & tenor
Instruments: Cello & Piano
Location: Small Stage on the right & in the ensemble
Allt detta är borta nu Också All this is gone now Even
döden är borta nu; death is gone now;
Jag visste att jag förstod I knew that I understood
Döden är inte obegriplig Death is not incomprehensible
Allt är nu stilla Regnet All is now quiet The rain
faller, över den uppåt- falls, over the up-
vända världen Allt är möjliga turned world Everything is possible
fluktuationer mot gränsen fluctuations on the border
tills det inte går längre until it can not anymore
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Instrumental
Instruments: Flute, Clarinet, Percussion, Prepared Piano, Accordion, Zither, Violin & Cello
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– The end –