The Operas of Paul Stuart Based on Libretti by Sally M. Gall Sandra Gayle Boysen

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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School

2003 The Operas of Paul Stuart Based on Libretti by Sally M. Gall Sandra Gayle Boysen

Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC

THE OPERAS OF PAUL STUART BASED ON LIBRETTI BY SALLY M. GALL

By Sandra Gayle Boysen

A Treatise submitted to the School of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music

Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2003 The members of the Committee approve the

treatise of Sandra Gayle Boysen defended on November 7, 2003.

______Roy Delp Professor Directing Treatise

______Timothy Hoekman Outside Committee Member

______Larry Gerber Committee Member

______Janice Harsanyi Committee Member

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members.

ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To Paul Stuart, his wife Karin and their daughter, Vanessa, go my gratitude for their willingness to share their time and their home for the many interviews held there during research for this treatise. To Paul, I give special thanks for his generosity in providing invaluable resources such as his primary research notebooks, his initial compositional sketches, and his thorough documentation of correspondence and other materials related to the creation of these operas. My thanks go to Dr. Sally M. Gall for answering my many questions so patiently through many e-mail exchanges. Her finely crafted writing, in collaboration with Paul Stuart’s music, has given singers new vocal repertoire of great beauty. I also wish to offer heartfelt thanks to the members of my supervisory committee who provided guidance and insight during this project. To my treatise director, Roy Delp, I owe gratitude for his endless patience and continuing encouragement. It has been a long road, but the journey was a great adventure, and he always provided solid guidance. My husband, Charles R. Boyd, encouraged me to achieve this dream with the question, “Have you ever thought about finishing your doctoral degree?” He provided endless reserves of love and patience through the years, as well as the occasional much- needed kick-start. I could never have accomplished this without him.

iii TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF EXAMPLES ...... v

ABSTRACT...... vii

1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

2. PAUL STUART: BACKGROUND AND BIOGRAPHY...... 5

3. SALLY M. GALL: BACKGROUND AND BIOGRAPHY ...... 12

4. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE STUART/GALL OPERAS ...... 18

5. MUSICAL AND POETIC CHARACTERISTICS IN THE STUART/GALL OPERAS ...... 24

6. COMMENTARIES ON STAGING CONCEPTS IN THE STUART/GALL OPERAS ...... 53

7. COMMENTARIES ON SELECTED SOLO ARIAS AND EXTENDED SOLO SEGMENTS IN THE STUART/GALL OPERAS ...... 65

APPENDICES ...... 83

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 94

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...... 100

iv LIST OF EXAMPLES

1. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 15-19 ...... 34 2. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 20-23 ...... 34 3. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 24-26 ...... 35 4. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 67-69 ...... 35 5. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 2: Dance: The Fight”: mm. 1-4 ...... 35 6. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 2: Dance: The Fight”: mm. 43-46 ...... 36 7. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 3: Dance: Elegy”: mm. 19-27...... 37 8. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 4: Chorus”: mm. 1-6...... 38 9. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 11: I Want My Husband”: ...... 39 10. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 12: Recitative”: mm. 14-16 ...... 39 11. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 12: Recitative”: mm. 10-12 ...... 40 12. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 16: Holder of the Heavens”: mm. 44-47 ...... 41 13. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 17: Holder of the Heavens/Recitative”: mm. 74-77.... 41 14. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 29: Recitative”: mm. 36-37 ...... 42 15. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 31: Oh, I’m Such a Fool”: mm. 1-4...... 42 16. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 33: I Can’t Live This Way”: mm. 1-10 ...... 43 17. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 36: Finale”: mm. 1-9 ...... 43 18. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 36: Finale”: mm. 125-132 ...... 44 19. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 1: Processional”: mm. 60-79...... 51 20. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 3: Song of the Sea”: mm. 33-48...... 52 21. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 4: Children’s Chorus”: mm. 6-8...... 52 22. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 6: Duet”: mm. 76-80 ...... 53 23. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 8: Recitative”: mm. 1-3...... 54 24. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 11: Chorus”: mm. 15-18 ...... 54

v 25. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 11: Chorus”: mm. 6-9 ...... 55 26. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 14: Ensemble”: mm. 27-30 ...... 56 27. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 16: Recitative”: mm. 1-11...... 57 28. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 19: Chorus of the Kings”: mm. 56-61...... 58 29. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 22: Dance”: mm. 1-4...... 58 30. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 23: Ensemble”: mm. 265-297 ...... 59 31. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 24: Recitative”: mm. 102-104...... 59 32. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 26: Finale”: mm. 59-76...... 60

vi ABSTRACT

This study provides an overview of the two operas composed by Paul Stuart in collaboration with librettist Sally M. Gall. It includes biographical information on the composer and librettist, as well as the historical background upon which each opera is based. An examination of the staging concepts, with a separate survey of vocal and orchestral characteristics, is provided for each work. A commentary regarding selected solo arias and extended solo segments is included as a reference for vocalists, vocal instructors and vocal coaches. Appendices contain dates and personnel listings for each opera’s premiere performance and premiere compact disc recording, as well as the composer’s original drafts of production budgets. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

The operas of Paul Stuart based on libretti by Sally M. Gall are recent additions to the genre of contemporary American opera. The first operatic collaboration of Stuart and Gall, Kill Bear Comes Home, was based on Native American mythology, focusing primarily on the Haudenosaunee tribal group of what is now the western region of the state of New York. This work, designated by the composer as a “family opera with dance,”1 incorporates traditional Native American dance and costume. The pair’s second collaboration, The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, is an operatic treatment of the Christmas story, after the example of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and enhanced its appeal by staging segments of the opera within the audience itself, and through the use of the Peacekeeper, a non-singing narrator who talks to the audience while guiding the singing roles onstage. Both works make use of traditional and non-traditional operatic vocal production, orchestration and staging concepts. This author became aware of Paul Stuart’s music when a colleague in Rochester, New York, mentioned that she had sung in the premiere of an opera based on Native American legends. The combination of a search for new operatic solo repertoire, and a personal interest in Native American mythology, led to initial investigation into Stuart’s operatic output. Further research led to the study of a second opera by Stuart and Gall intended for use during the Christmas/Epiphany season of the Christian church year. With the exception of reviews and commentaries written at the time of each ______

1Paul Stuart and Sally M. Gall, Kill Bear Comes Home, Opera in Two Acts, Full Score (Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996), title page.

1 opera’s premiere and subsequent compact disc recording, very little scholarly information has been published regarding the operatic collaboration of Stuart and Gall. Among the published works are reviews and commentaries in Opera News, Opera Quarterly, The Opera Journal, Opera for Youth Journal, The New York Times, RhythmMusic and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Unpublished sources of information regarding Stuart and Gall’s operas consist of lecture notes written by the composer for presentations at an Opera For Youth Convention at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a presentation for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and for speaking engagements for the Commission Project (a western New York-based non-profit arts funding organization) and for the Opera Theatre of Rochester. Additional unpublished sources include Stuart’s musical sketches and Gall’s preliminary drafts for each opera, as well as the composer’s collection of both written and electronic correspondence with the librettist, directors, singers and other artistic personnel throughout the planning of each production. Stuart also kept detailed records of each production’s financial aspects. By permission of the composer, this author was granted access to these materials for the purpose of research. The purpose of this treatise is to examine the musical and dramatic aspects of these two American operas, written by a composer/librettist partnership whose goal was to create accessible operatic drama. A section of commentary on the extracted solo arias and solo segments has been included in this treatise as a reference for singers and voice teachers. Compact disc recordings and printed full scores of each opera are available from VM Music, Inc., Paul Stuart’s personal publishing and promotional organization for his compositions. Piano-vocal scores are also available by request from the composer. The mailing address for VM Music, Inc. is P.O. Box 298, Pittsford, New York, 14534. The composer specifically designed both works to have what he termed "set pieces,"2 or segments which could be performed independently, and which could be deleted, if necessary, to accommodate a production company's resources (e.g., a ______

2Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, 26 October 1999, Pittsford, New York.

2 production company may prefer to cut several dance numbers for the sake of time) without compromising the integrity of the work as a whole. This information would be useful for consideration of the production of either opera. A survey of materials used by the composer and librettist to suggest each opera’s multicultural setting is also included. This includes aural and video recordings of both traditional Hebrew and Iroquois/Seneca musical sources and dances examined in conjunction with the organization of each opera's musical and dramatic structure. The operas are also significant with regard to social issues due to the extensive use of multicultural themes. The need for artistic works providing awareness of ethnic diversity is a constant demand in contemporary fine arts. Stuart and Gall’s operas provide ethnic awareness with a high level of quality in both music and dramatic narrative while paying tribute to the ancient melodies and legends on which the operas are based. This treatise is organized into seven chapters and two appendices. Chapters Two and Three include brief biographical and background information about Stuart and Gall respectively. Chapter Four is a historical overview of Kill Bear Comes Home and The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. It includes correspondence between composer and librettist, providing insight into their collaborative creative process. Chapter Five discusses the musical and poetic characteristics of Kill Bear Comes Home and The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, including examination of selected vocal and orchestral parts, form, harmony and tonality, and tempo and interpretation markings. Discussion of the poetry includes examination of dramatic themes and imagery. Musical and text excerpts from the full scores are included in this chapter, as well as synopses of the operas. Chapter Six contains commentaries on the composer and librettist’s original staging concepts. These concepts include choreography based on traditional tribal dances in Kill Bear Comes Home and the application of the medieval mystery play in the presentation of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem.

3 Commentaries on solo arias and selected solo segments within Kill Bear Comes Home and The Little Thieves of Bethlehem appear in Chapter Seven. Each commentary includes information useful to performers and voice teachers, such as title, vocal range, instrumentation, tempo indications, approximate time lengths, the complete text as it appears in the published score (including sources other than original texts by Gall), and specific historical information relevant to each aria. This author includes suggestions for performance, such as appropriate vocal types for each aria, in the commentary. Appendix A lists the performing and production personnel for the premiere performances of each opera, and for their premiere compact disc recordings as well. Appendix B consists of tables listing the financial aspects of each opera’s initial production. This information would be of interest to other composer/librettist collaborative teams who are considering investment in a similar undertaking. Appendix C is a copy of the composer’s letter to this author with permission to use musical examples from the operas in this treatise.

4 CHAPTER 2 PAUL STUART: BACKGROUND AND BIOGRAPHY

American composer, conductor and educator Paul Oney Stuart was born on March 28, 1956, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Donald Stuart and Virginia Wheeler Stuart. His mother was musically active in a women’s vocal ensemble of twelve singers, and performed in a duo with a neighbor. His father, during his own youth, had played in a high school band, but did not continue musical performance after graduation. Stuart recalls, “My parents were big lovers of the big bands from the Swing Era and the crooners of the 1940s and ’50s, so these styles were part of my heritage as well.”3 He remembers his parents as being active in swing dancing, and enjoyed watching them dance at home while they sang or listened to recordings of songs by popular performers of the Big Band era. Stuart’s only sibling, his older sister Barbara, was a serious piano student. He credits her with sparking his interest in learning to play an instrument. At the age of seven, Barbara began piano lessons with a neighborhood teacher, and her younger brother was quite envious of this privilege. At age five, he was told that he was too young to begin piano lessons. Stuart was enthusiastic about the music of some of the early pop groups, especially The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and Peter, Paul and Mary. After he saw the Beatles in their historic televised performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, he began studies in piano and guitar at age seven, and added trumpet study at age nine. My start was unusual in that I was home in bed for a week or two with a severe broken leg from a snow-skiing accident when the school started the trumpet class. I was devastated. My mother wrote out “taps” in the key of F, and ______3Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, 27 July 2002, Pittsford, New York. 5 I played it at home over and over, which taught me much of the C and F scales as well as blowing. I was so afraid of being behind from missing two weeks of school that I practiced constantly. When I got to school I found that I was far ahead of the other students. The following year I began private lessons on that instrument. The trumpet was my principal instrument until I entered college. I played in the All-City groups for three years and the All-State Orchestra for two years (they only allowed juniors and seniors, so two years was the maximum).4 He recalled, “Composing music was part of my lessons and my interest. At an early age I was reading biographies about the great composers and wishing that I could do that.”5 He was encouraged in this area by his high school piano teacher, who was an advocate of music theory education and who required her student to have his theory assignments completed each week without fail. At age fifteen, he played trumpet and electric bass in a professional group, the Aipperspach Schnitzel Bunk, appearing in lounges and clubs throughout Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri. The group performed mostly polkas, country music and pop standards of the day. During his high school years, Stuart credits trumpeter Eugene Badget, a member of the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, as being his most influential brass instructor. In the summer of 1973 he studied at Rocky Ridge Music Center in Colorado with trumpeter Frank Baird from the University of Colorado. In his sophomore year, he was first chair in the Omaha All-City Orchestra. In 1973 he performed with the Omaha Symphony in a pops concert which included some solo work. In 1974 he played trumpet in the premiere of John Rutter’s Gloria with the Mel Olson Singers in Omaha, Nebraska. During this time he continued to compose and to study piano, naming Alice Davis Berryman, a graduate of the Paris Conservatory, as his most influential piano instructor. Many of his compositions during this early period were pieces for brass ensembles. He graduated ______4Ibid. 5Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, 26 October 1999, Pittsford, New York.

6 from Benson High School in 1974. In the fall of 1974 Stuart entered the University of Minnesota. He began as a music composition major, but “was disheartened by the state of new music (not to mention the job prospects for college teaching), so I switched majors and took a degree in mechanical engineering. I figured that, as long as I have to work another job other than composing, it should be of a lucrative profession that is in demand.”6 He had had some exposure to the field of engineering, since his father had two degrees in the field and had been a vice president of an engineering firm (Donald Stuart later became founder and president of the Great Plains Natural Gas Company), and his uncle, David Stuart, was on the faculty of the engineering department at the University of Nebraska7. Although Stuart had little time to devote to composing during this time, he continued his piano studies from 1975 to 1978 with Judith Bailey and with Gary Sipes, artist faculty at the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1977 Stuart married Karin Marie Oberg, whom he met at a fraternity social event while both were students at the University of Minnesota. Karin was active in school and church choirs in her youth, and the composer remarked that she “has an enviable memory of tunes.”8 Stuart completed his undergraduate degree in 1978. He had numerous job offers, two of which were especially tempting, but he writes that both would have derailed his aspirations in music: One, from the Navy, was to work as a commissioned officer on a nuclear submarine. The other, from Rosemount Engineering, was to be one of the many design engineers for the space shuttle. The latter offer was very difficult to turn down. I’m a romantic, and to think that I could have worked on the greatest engineering project of all time! But my eyes were on music, so I took a job with ______

6Stuart, 27 July 2002. 7Ibid. 8Ibid.

7 Eastman Kodak in Rochester, New York, because that city has wonderful music. Also, the Eastman School of Music was located there, and I hoped to attend it some day.9 During his years at Kodak (1979-1989), he was very active in music, giving piano recitals and singing in the professional vocal chamber ensemble Madrigalia. He continued composing and began receiving commissions, but had reached a point in his composing where he felt that he was not improving. He contacted composer David Diamond, whom he greatly admired, and studied composition privately with him from 1986 to 1990. Stuart recalls, “These lessons were very fruitful and all-encompassing. We not only covered music, but books and the arts as well. The lessons were seldom under two hours and occasionally went nearly four hours.”10 Stuart left Kodak in November of 1989 and entered the Eastman School of Music in January of 1990 to pursue the Master of Music Education degree with additional studies in conducting and composition. At Eastman he studied composition with Christopher Rouse, David Liptak, and Samuel Adler. He notes that his four years of intense study with David Diamond "made me keenly aware of my responsibility to society, to posterity, and to respect the cultural traditions before us."11 He studied conducting with Donald Neuen and Jeffrey Renshaw. Also in 1990, his daughter and only child, Vanessa Marie, was born. Stuart graduated with his Master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1992. He taught chorus and voice in public schools from 1992 to 1994, and continues to teach private trumpet and piano lessons. He taught composition in schools, sponsored by the Commission Project, and presented adult education classes and lectures on music in churches and concerts, including pre-concert sessions for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He conducted productions for Opera Rochester (formerly Opera Theatre of ______

9Stuart, 26 October 1999. 10Stuart, 27 July 2002. 11Stuart, 26 October 1999.

8 Rochester), American Opera Music Theatre and Buffalo Opera Unlimited. He also conducted and directed the premiere of his one-act opera, The Sisters of Manzanar, with the Equinox Symphony Orchestra in October 2002, in which this author performed one of the two leading roles. At the time of this writing, Stuart is the musical director for Opera Rochester, founder and director of the Equinox Symphony Orchestra, and music director for Salem United Methodist Church in downtown Rochester, New York. He was founder and former director of the Irondequoit Chorale and Irondequoit Festival Orchestra, and has been guest conductor for numerous orchestras throughout New York state. One of his operas, Kill Bear Comes Home, received a Pulitzer Prize nomination, and a program of scenes from another of his operas, The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, was presented in a lecture/performance at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for the Opera for Youth Convention in January 1998. His additional activities include holding the Advocacy Chair for the American Choral Directors Association of New York State, and acting as secretary for the Greater Rochester Choral Consortium. He is an active member of The Conductor's Guild, the National Opera Association, Opera For Youth, The American Music Center, and the Center for Promotion of Contemporary Composers (CPCC). He teaches composition through the Commission Project, and premieres vocal and instrumental compositions in collaboration with prominent national and international performing arts organizations, including the Eastman School of Music and the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Several of his choral works are published by Laurendale Associates, and the compact disc recording of Little Thieves of Bethlehem is released under the Centaur Records label. The rest of his works are currently being released under his own label, VM Music, Inc. His collaboration with Dr. Sally M. Gall, collaborative librettist for the operas Kill Bear Comes Home and The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, was formed when he began to research the possibility of composing an opera on a Native American subject. He had contacted several Native American writers but no one was interested. During this period, he read an advertisement placed by Gall in the American Music Center’s newsletter, in which she was seeking composers with whom to collaborate. Paul contacted her and they

9 sent samples of their work to each other. They agreed that they liked each other’s styles, so they negotiated a contract and began work on their first operatic project, Kill Bear Comes Home.12 With regard to composers who have had the greatest musical influence on his work, Stuart wrote in an e-mail correspondence to this author: My early years through my teens were largely influenced by the standard composers. Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Gershwin, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Copland and Bernstein were major influences mixed in with some jazz composers such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and the big bands, as well as the rock bands such as The Beatles, Chicago, Chase, and Blood, Sweat and Tears. Liszt, Stravinsky, Bartok, Kodaly, Hanson, Martinu, the 16th-century composers (Byrd, Josquin, Palestrina, etc.), Mozart, Brahms, Britten and Diamond became more prominent influences on me during my twenties. I spent much time studying dozens of textbooks on music (theory, history, etc.) during these years, and I spent time studying jazz. After my twenties, Handel and Haydn have become larger influences, as well as a variety of others. Overall, I’ve been rather eclectic in the music that influences me. There has really been no one or two composers that have been all encompassing for me. I study and listen to music that interests me (and sometimes music of composers that I need to become aware), and I have always composed music that speaks to me. I’m also sensitive to composing music that speaks to the audience. I find that these requirements are compatible. Most of what I study in depth today is the music that I conduct.13 He further expressed his personal philosophy of music and composition to this author when he noted: Justice and hope are recurrent themes in my music, but not to say that ______12Stuart, 27 July 2002. 13Stuart, 26 October 1999.

10 optimism is without struggle. As life has an element of suffering, music must have an element of pain within beauty. Music must have both a visceral appeal and be sophisticated. The historic masters understood this maxim. Mozart wrote about it. As I had mentioned earlier, my ideal is to compose music that has a visceral appeal, is sophisticated, and is sublime. Melody, form, harmony, etc. are all means to an end, the end being the artistic vision for a composition. So, what drives my decision on a particular melody or harmony is whether or not it meets that end vision.14

______

14Ibid.

11 CHAPTER 3 SALLY M. GALL: BACKGROUND AND BIOGRAPHY

Librettist, poet, literary critic and scholar Sally Moore Gall was born on July 28, 1941, in New York City. Her father, Dr. John Alexander Moore, was a native of Charles Town, West Virginia. He was an internationally known biologist and science educator whose most recent book, From Genesis to Genetics, was published five months before he passed away in May 2002. Her mother, Dr. Betty Clark [Moore], also a biologist, was a native of Dedham, Massachusetts, and was, according to her daughter, “much fonder of opera than Dad.”15 She grew up as the only child in her academic family, since none of her siblings survived beyond infancy. She noted, “Neither of my parents was influential in my choice of a career. I did try to follow in their footsteps in college, but biology and I didn’t work out, and I fell into English by default.”16 Sally attended Birch Walthen School from kindergarten through her senior year, with the exception of one year abroad at Presbyterian Ladies College in Pymble, New South Wales, Australia, from 1952 to 1953. She graduated from Birch Walthen in 1959. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Harvard University in 1963, graduating with honors. She studied psychology part time at Columbia University from 1963 to 1965, and was employed full time in publishing and public relations for four years. She returned to graduate school in 1969, earning her Masters degree in 1971 and her Ph.D. in 1976, both in English, from New York University, where she studied with M. L. Rosenthal and assisted in the founding of the Poetics Institute. Her Ph.D. dissertation researched the poetry of Ramon Guthrie. She was a Penfield Fellow and received the 1976 Key Pin and Scroll Award, the highest academic honor in the Graduate ______15Sally M. Gall, electronic mail interview by Sandra Boysen, 10 November 2002. 16Ibid.

12 School of Arts and Science at New York University. Gall took a summer course with Rosenthal in 1970, and in the fall of 1971 he shared with her the draft of one of his articles. She recalls: Without thinking about it, I edited it (having spent some years as an editor before returning to graduate school). We worked together in various capacities from then on, including developing the theoretical basis for our book on the modern poetic sequence (the contract with Oxford was signed just before I received my doctorate in 1976) and setting up the Poetics Institute at NYU. I occasionally taught a session in one of his NEA summer workshops, and we coordinated our seminars/classes while I was teaching at NYU in the graduate poetics concentration from 1977 to 1981. I’m his literary executor.17 In 1978, she was also a visiting professor in the graduate program at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Gall is an acknowledged expert in the field of versification and poetic dynamics. Versification deals with the principles and uses of meter, rhyme and stanza forms, sometimes also extending to sound effects (figures of sound) such as alliteration and onomatopoeia. Poetic dynamics is the study of articulation, points of view, and inherently theatrical principles used to address the individual and collective imagination.18 She was the versification editor and wrote an extended essay on prosody in Oxford’s Poetry in English: An Anthology (published in 1987), and collaborated with M. L. Rosenthal on a published work dealing specifically with poetic dynamics in The Modern Poetic Sequence: The Genius of Modern Poetry, which won the 1984 Explicator Literary Foundation Award. She is also the author of Ramon Guthrie’s Maximum Security Ward: An American Classic, published in 1984. In addition to her books, she has contributed articles, essays and reviews to ______17Ibid. 18The Uvic Writer’s Guide, University of Victoria; Department of English, 1995, s.v. “poetic dynamics” and “versification,” database online. 13 reference works and periodicals, served as poetry editor of Free Inquiry from 1981 to 1984, and was the founding editor of Eidos: The International Prosody Bulletin, which she administered from 1984 to 1988. Her poems have appeared in such journals as Ploughshares, Southern Review, Humanist, Confrontation, and Present Tense.19 She has also been a contributor to Reference Guide to American Literature, The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, Critical Essays on W. B. Yeats, Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia and Contemporary Poets, 3rd edition, and her essays have been published in The Massachusetts Review, Opera For Youth Journal, American Poetry Review and Modern Poetry Studies.20 Gall has specialized in writing texts for a wide range of music drama since the mid-1980’s. She notes that her libretti draw on a wide range of poetic styles, from rhythmical prose and free verse to strict verse forms such as the medieval “tail rhyme” used extensively in The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. According to the glossary of The School of Poetry, an online poetry reference site, the tail rhyme is a verse form in which rhyming lines, usually a couplet or triplet, are followed by a tail, a line of shorter length with a different rhyme. An example of this occurs in The Little Thieves of Bethlehem during Number 17, the duet between Joseph and the Innkeeper’s Wife, when Joseph sings, “It was the loveliest sight I’ve ever seen, the blossoms lapped in soft new green, as if summer had joined with spring.” Gall recalls: The decisive event in turning me away from academia to libretto-writing was when I assisted opera composer Philip Hagemann with a New York City production of his Shaw trilogy in 1986, and it occurred to me that it would be fun to write texts for opera (I had already started collaborating on song lyrics and musical theater with another composer).21 ______19Sally M. Gall, professional biography, 30 October 1992. 20Sally M. Gall, professional résumé, 9 May 1997. 21Sally M. Gall, electronic mail interview by Sandra Boysen, 10 November 2002.

14 Further collaboration with Hagemann resulted in the chamber opera Paris and Oenone, which was co-winner of the National Opera Association’s 1998 composition competition. In addition to her partnership with composer Paul Stuart on the operas Kill Bear Comes Home and The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, she collaborated with composer Libby Larsen on the dramatic cantata Eleanor Roosevelt, which was commissioned by the New York Concert Singers and premiered in New York City’s Merkin Concert Hall in May 1996. She worked with Charles N. Mason on the chamber opera Daphne at Sea and was co-librettist with Simon Sargon on the family opera The Singing Violin, which premiered in Dallas, Texas, and was a finalist in the 1996 National Opera Association Chamber Opera Competition.22 She was the librettist for the opera Louise: The Story of a Magdalen, based on the life of the 19th-century Birmingham madam Lou Wooster and composed by Dorothy Hindman. This work was commissioned by Alabama Operaworks and premiered in September 2000. Gall also worked with composer Michael Cook and lyricist Eben W. Keyes II on the musical The Lysistrata Affair, premiered at the 1995 Equity Showcase (an off-Broadway production), and with composer Dave Conner (of the PBS television series Sesame Street) on Pinocchio, performed in New York City. She created singing translations from the German text of Schubert's Mirjams Siegesgesang [Miriam's Song of Triumph] and from the Polish texts of Chopin's songs in choral arrangements. These have been performed but have not yet been published. The Chopin singing translations were prepared for Philip Hagemann, director of the Rockland County Choral Society, and premiered in 1986. The Schubert translations, for the same organization, premiered in 1994. Gall sang in this ensemble as a mezzo-soprano.23 She continued her choral involvement as a performing member of the La Jolla Symphony Chorus and the La Jolla Renaissance Singers.24 ______22Paul Stuart and Sally M. Gall, Kill Bear Comes Home, compact disc liner notes, VM Music, Inc., 1996.

23 Sally M. Gall, electronic mail interview by Sandra Boysen, 10 November 2002.

24Sally M. Gall, professional biography, 9 May 1994.

15 Gall's collaborations garnered such praise as "wonderful writing in both music and libretto," "family opera brought to new heights," "expert craftsmanship, charming and clear style, and genuine beauty."25 Libby Larsen composed music to Gall’s texts for The Ballerina and the Clown, a song cycle based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen and commissioned for treble chorus, which premiered in May 2002. Her poem, “Elegy,” was set to music by composer Frank Ferko in his Stabat Mater. He and Gall also created a chamber opera, entitled The Hill (published by E. C. Schirmer). She and composer Sondra Clark premiered their comic canine operetta, Dalmatia and Dalmatio, in July 2002 in an abridged semi-staged version through Goat Hall Productions in San Francisco. Additional works include the texts for the Swan Song Trilogy, comprised of three one-act operas (In Time of Plague, Chez Noel, and The Hill) composed by Frank Ferko, and The Singers of Lesbos, a two-act opera inspired by Sappho’s poetry and set in the 6th century B.C. She was also commissioned to write a one-act children’s opera with composer Emma Lou Diemer for the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.26 In addition to her awards from New York University and the Explicator Literary Foundation, Gall is the recipient of the National Opera Association Chamber Opera Composition Award for Paris and Oenone, in collaboration with composer Philip Hagemann. She has received awards annually from ASCAP since 1997, is an advisory director of San Diego Opera, and is on the board of the National Opera Association and the San Diego-based chamber group Camarada. She also belongs to the American Music Center, Dramatists Guild, OPERA America, Center for Contemporary Opera, Lyrica, Modern Language Association, National Opera Association, Opera For Youth (for which she served as vice president), Poets and Writers, and other musical, charitable, and conservation organizations. She is listed in Contemporary Authors (1984), Who’s Who in U.S. Writers, Editors and Poets (1987), International Authors and Writers Who’s Who (1989), and Who’s Who in the East (24th edition).27 ______25Ibid. 26Sally M. Gall, professional biography, 9 May 1994. 27Sally M. Gall, professional biography, 30 October 1992.

16 Since 1993 Gall has resided in La Jolla, California with her husband, Dr. W. Einar Gall, scientist and research director of the Neurosciences Research Foundation. At the time of this study, she was preparing her latest work, Writing the Opera Libretto, for publication.

17 CHAPTER 4 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF THE STUART/GALL OPERAS

In his search during the early 1990’s for an interesting subject to use as the basis for a new opera, Paul Stuart considered the mythology of Native American tribes in the western region of New York. The idea had originally been suggested by Deborah Byrd, director of a dance school in Rochester, New York. Stuart narrowed his search to three possible stories: Serpent Stories from Beauchamp’s Iroquois Folk Lore and The Magic Suit and Bear Man from Roger Squires’s Wizards and Wampum: Legends of the Iroquois. In 1992 Stuart prepared synopses of these stories and approached Joseph Bruchac in search of a collaborative librettist. Bruchac was an award-winning Native American (Abenaki) author and poet who had graduated from Cornell University, and who was frequently invited back as a guest lecturer in several of the university’s English classes. He replied to Stuart in writing, “Your idea of finding a Native writer to do a libretto for an opera sounds very interesting. I think that an Iroquois writer would be your best bet.”28 Not long after this contact, Stuart read a notice submitted by Sally M. Gall to the newsletter of the American Music Center, in which she sought collaboration with a composer. Stuart contacted her in a letter dated November 2, 1992, in which he mentioned the Native American legend of “Bear Man.”29 The opera’s title was a result of Gall’s suggestion made in a letter dated November 15, 1992 to Stuart after she had received and read the “Bear Man” story in Squires’s book.30 Gall sent Stuart an outline ______28Joseph Bruchac, personal correspondence with Paul Stuart, 28 September 1992. 29Paul Stuart, personal correspondence with Sally M. Gall, 2 November 1992. 30Sally M. Gall, personal correspondence with Paul Stuart, 15 November 1992.

18 of the story in a document dated November 25, 1992. The outline included a non-singing prologue, specified as being danced.31 The title page of Kill Bear Comes Home lists the following information: “Kill Bear Comes Home, Family Opera with Dance, adapted from an Iroquois legend.” The inspiration for the libretto of this work was taken from the myths, legends, religion and history of the Haudenosaunee. In the early seventeenth century, when Europeans were first settling North America, the northeast region of the present United States was the homeland to many different tribal groups, most of which were Algonquian and Iroquoian. Although the Algonquian tribes were predominant, the five nations of the Iroquoian Confederacy (the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca) maintained a firm hold on the area surrounding Lakes Ontario, Champlain and George.32 These five tribal groups were joined by Tuscaroran refugees who escaped from war with the English settlers in 1722, and were soon accepted as a sixth nation.33 These six nations are collectively referred to as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy or the Iroquois Confederacy. (For the purpose of clarification in this treatise, “Haudenosaunee” and “Iroquois” refer to the same group of people.) In the compact disc recording of Kill Bear Comes Home, an introductory essay by the composer is included in the accompanying booklet (hereafter referred to as the liner notes). In it, Stuart wrote: Animals permeate the culture of the Haudenosaunee. Animals are used for clothing, food, tools, and art. Within the six nations animals differentiate the eight clans: Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. A central character in our story is an animal, a wood thrush, who has the power of evoking spirits and performing magic. Indeed, the opera is based on the story of a ______31Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 20 October 2002. 32James A. Maxwell, ed. America’s Fascinating Indian Heritage (New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1994), 113.

33Through Indian Eyes: The Untold Story of Native American Peoples (New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1995), 125. 19 man and his fatal encounter with an animal – a bear.34 Stuart states that the story was modified from the original Native American legend so that it could be used in the most effective way possible in an operatic setting.35 Gall wished to make a clear discernment from the beginning of the collaboration on Kill Bear Comes Home that the work was not meant to be viewed as a Native American work. In an electronic mail letter (hereafter referred to as e-mail) to the composer, she wrote: I suggest that you write some PROGRAM NOTES [all caps are Gall’s own], including a bit about how you came to write Kill Bear, with special attention to the Indian elements: your interest in the Seneca/Iroquois stories, your chats with Native Americans, any way in which you use an “Indian” flavor in your music. You may want a clear disclaimer that you did not attempt to write this in a Native American style. You could also mention that the original tale has been considerably changed and expanded, but we hope we’ve retained the true flavor of the original.36 In the liner notes to the compact disc recording of Kill Bear Comes Home, both composer and librettist acknowledged with gratitude the Native American culture which contributed the dramatic and musical inspiration for the opera, and dedicated the work’s creation and production to the Haudenosaunee people. “We present an inspiration of what our Native American brothers and sisters offer: rich music, colorful stories, and a fresh understanding of the spiritual and the natural. But we present this in a traditional Western form – the opera.”37 ______

34Paul Stuart, “About Kill Bear Comes Home,” liner notes from Kill Bear Comes Home, Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996, compact disc recording.

35Ibid. 36Sally M. Gall, electronic mail message to Paul Stuart, 21 February 1996.

37Paul Stuart, “About Kill Bear Comes Home,” liner notes from Kill Bear Comes Home, Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996, compact disc recording.

20 After their partnership on Kill Bear Comes Home, Stuart and Gall were eager to collaborate on another operatic production. The libretto for The Little Thieves of Bethlehem had already been drafted by Gall long before she first met Stuart. In an interview, she remarked to this author: One thing I might tell you now is that I wrote Little Thieves before I met Paul. After he did such a nice job with Kill Bear, I offered it to him. (I had sent it out to I think nine composers, and six were interested. I offered it to the one I thought would do the best job; however, he sat on it for three years with no indication that he was ever going to get a move on, so after warning him a few times that his unofficial option was running out, I gave it to Paul. Needless to say, I'm delighted that's how things worked out.)38 Gall had been interested in the mystery play, a popular form of drama in the Middle Ages. Her inspiration for that particular format was the New York Pro Musica’s production of The Play of Daniel and The Play of Herod during the 1950s. She was also influenced by the setting of such plays to music, and cites Benjamin Britten’s Abraham and Isaac and Noye’s Fludde as having had an impact on her choice.39 Historically, the mystery play developed from religious pageants whose purpose was to present an episode from the life of Christ. In a time when the majority of the public was illiterate, these productions were useful teaching devices. Such plays were initially presented as part of Roman Catholic Church services, but eventually lost the approval of the church and were forced out to the streets or public squares. Like the more secular commedia dell’arte productions, these plays often had stock characters, representing either specific characters such as the Devil, or character traits such as Charity or Vice. A narrator was sometimes used to provide continuity and to interact with the audience. ______

38Sally M. Gall, interview by Sandra Boysen, 10 November 2002. 39Ibid.

21 Gall developed her libretto to be used as a chancel opera40 (This was Gall’s term of choice). She observed, “The main impetus, frankly, was to write something that wasn’t Amahl and the Night Visitors, with which I was very bored.”41 After receiving the initial draft of Gall’s libretto for The Little Thieves of Bethlehem in December 1994, Stuart was enthusiastic to begin composition. He felt that the story and character development were stronger than that of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.42 He began researching traditional Jewish music and became deeply interested in all aspects of Judaism. He began attending Temple B’rith Kodesh, a synagogue in Rochester, New York, to become better acquainted with Jewish liturgy. His increasing enthusiasm is evident in his early written notes for the opera: On one level Little Thieves is a colorful story about an innkeeper and his wife opening their hearts to two despised orphans. The music draws on ancient and modern Jewish and Persian styles to evoke a mideastern splendor appropriate for this story. But on a more abstract level, the opera is about continuity. Mary, Joseph, et al., were devout Jews who celebrated life and their rich Jewish tradition. The three arias of Mary celebrate where her people came from and where they are going . . . the continuity of a people, their religion, their culture. Mary is not some meek figure (traditionally a soprano). She is a woman of strength (hence, a mezzo-soprano) who joyfully participates in her tradition. Historically, Christianity did not start with the Holy Birth. Christianity would come later—much later. Jesus’ life was steeped in Jewish tradition. It’s a shame that the early Christians broke from their Jewish tradition and history, for too much was lost. History. . . rewritten. Grudges . . . commonplace. So Little ______40Sally M. Gall, interview by Sandra Boysen, 10 November 2002. 41Ibid. 42Paul Stuart, personal correspondence with Sally M. Gall, 21 December 1994.

22 Thieves is about finding our continuity, Christianity’s connection with a great Jewish tradition.43

______

43Paul Stuart, personal file notes for The Little Thieves of Bethlehem (undated).

23 CHAPTER 5 MUSICAL AND POETIC CHARACTERISTICS IN THE STUART/GALL OPERAS

Since there is currently no standardized system of pitch octave notation, this author chose to use the designation of pitch as listed in the 1972 edition of the Harvard Dictionary of Music44 for designating the range of each of the solo roles listed in this chapter and the range of each aria listed in Chapter Seven:

C1 = c, three octaves below middle c (the c in the middle of the keyboard). All notes from C1 ascending to C will be

designated as follows: D1, E1, F1, G1, A1, B1. C = c, two octaves below middle c. All notes from C ascending to c will be designated as follows: D, E, F, G, A, B. c = c, one octave below middle c. All notes from c ascending to c’ (middle c) will be designated as follows: d, e, f, g, a, b. c’ = middle c. All notes from c’ ascending to c’’ will be designated as follows: d’, e’, f’, g’, a’, b’. c’’ = c, one octave above middle c. All notes from c’’ ascending to c’’’ will be designated as follows: d’’, e’’, f’’, g’’, a’’, b’’. c’’’ = c, two octaves above middle c . All notes from c’’’ ascending to the next octave will be designated as follows: d’’’, e’’’, f’’’, g’’’, a’’’, b’’’.

______

44Willi Apel, Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1972), s.v. “Pitch names,” 679.

24 Synopsis of Kill Bear Comes Home The opera is set in the ancient past of Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) legend. Act One opens with a young warrior, Kill Bear, and a wild bear (Bear Head) fighting in the wilderness, both dying beside a spring of magical water. A year later, Kill Bear’s beautiful young widow, Cold Feet, is ordered by her tribe’s chief to marry him the next day, despite her declaration that she still believes Kill Bear to be alive. The prospect of having to marry the chief, who has worked his previous wives to exhaustion and an early death, fills Cold Feet with horror. Her prayer to the Holder of the Heavens for her husband’s return is overheard by her younger sister, Hasty Girl, whose name has been earned by her reputation of clumsiness and carelessness. A wood thrush, named Song Bird, had witnessed the fatal confrontation between Bear Head and Kill Bear a year ago and now speaks to Hasty Girl. The bird boasts that she knows enough powerful magic to bring Kill Bear to life again, and instructs Hasty Girl to bring a water pot to a secret spring (the same spring at which Kill Bear and Bear Head died) at dawn the next day, so that she can help to revive Kill Bear’s spirit. Hasty Girl does as she is told, filling the pot from the spring, and approaches the bleached bones of Kill Bear to sprinkle them with sacred water. True to her name, she trips and mixes up the warrior’s bones with those of Bear Head, spilling magical water over all of the bones. The girl and bird watch in horror as the mixed-up bones come together and revive both Kill Bear and Bear Head – but the heads have been switched! Bear Head escapes into the forest in confusion, while Kill Bear laments his unnatural state. Song Bird is terrified at the result of her meddling with powerful magic, and Hasty Girl tries to help Kill Bear understand that his wife is soon to be forced into marriage with the tribal chief. Song Bird convinces both of them that they must return to the village to stop the marriage, while she vows to repair the damage she has done. Act Two opens with the tribe’s preparation for the marriage of the chief and Cold Feet. As the ceremony begins, Kill Bear bursts angrily into the village, prompting reactions of fear and astonishment from the chief and the villagers. Cold Feet, overjoyed to see her long-lost husband again, thinks that he is merely wrapped in a bearskin blanket. Only when he drops onto all four feet and begins to devour the many baskets of food the 25 tribe has gathered does she realize that he has been magically altered to have a bear’s body. Hasty Girl tries to explain to her sister what has happened, but the villagers take up spears and try to kill the returned warrior, whom they believe to be a demon. In the confusion, Kill Bear escapes, pursued by the tribe. Kill Bear stumbles toward the sacred spring, exhausted and confused, lamenting that all he wishes to do is to die, since he knows that his wife cannot love him with his unnatural form. Cold Feet and Hasty Girl find him, and Hasty Girl promises that she will find Song Bird and have her restore Kill Bear to his own body. The villagers and chief rush in to confront Kill Bear, and the chief is surprised to find that his own four sisters insist that Cold Feet is still Kill Bear’s wife and that she should not be forced to marry another. Kill Bear again manages to escape, but with the villagers in pursuit. Hasty Girl finds Song Bird at the magical spring. The bird laments the confusion and sorrow she caused with her defective magic and vows never to meddle with magic again. Cold Feet and Kill Bear arrive at the spring and beg the bird to use magic once more to reverse the shape-changing spell. Song Bird tells Kill Bear that she had never tried to do this, and that he might die again in the attempt. Kill Bear declares that he is willing to take the risk if it will restore him to his wife in his proper form. As the villagers and their chief arrive to confront Kill Bear, they are amazed to see Bear Head approach the spring, and they begin to understand the terrible error that occurred. Song Bird decides that she will attempt magic one last time to attempt to set things right, and asks the villagers to chant as she prays to the Holder of the Heavens for help, vowing never again to interfere with the course of nature. The villagers gather around Kill Bear and Bear Head during the prayer. When they step back, the two characters have been magically restored to their proper forms. The entire village rejoices over the reunion of Kill Bear to his wife as Bear Head returns to the depths of the forest with the blessing of the tribe. Musical Characteristics Vocal Considerations: Kill Bear Comes Home The solo vocal roles in this opera are not virtuosic in the sense that they do not ask the singers to stretch to the extremes of their high and low ranges, nor do they require

26 performance of extensive, rapid melismatic passages. They do, however, challenge the singers to produce long legato phrases in most of the arias. The opera was designed to be accessible to singers of a wide range of abilities, while at the same time presenting melodies appealing to a general audience and also allowing for the performers’ clear delivery of the English text. Specific arias and extended solo segments are given a more detailed examination in Chapter Seven. Soloists are given considerable opportunity for performing recitative, which serves the traditional purpose of advancing the story. With few exceptions, these are accompanied recitatives. In several passages, spoken word is used as a special effect and is not typical of the score as a whole. The chorus performs most often in a chant-like unison, suggesting the sound of Native American ceremonial chant. When divided into four-part harmony, the choral lines lie within comfortable SATB vocal ranges and are often doubled by one or more instruments. The vocal ranges for each major solo part are as follows: Kill Bear (tenor): c to a’ Cold Feet (soprano): d’ to a-flat’’ Chief Wife Hunter (baritone): A-flat to d’ Hasty Girl (soprano): c’ to a’’ Song Bird (mezzo-soprano): b to e’’ The roles of the Four Sisters (two sopranos and two mezzo-sopranos) are primarily ensemble roles, with occasional short solo lines. The role of the Song Leader, which can be performed by either a tenor or baritone, has a few short solo lines at the beginning and at the end of the opera. Bear Head is a mute role for a male dancer. Orchestral Considerations: Kill Bear Comes Home Orchestral accompaniment in Kill Bear Comes Home is deliberately evocative of Native American music and dance. Stuart does not attempt to claim the work as being authentically Native American and makes a statement to that effect in the liner notes of

27 the opera’s premiere compact disc recording.45 Stuart chose to use a small instrumental ensemble for the opera’s accompaniment, rather than a larger, more traditional sized operatic orchestra. This gives the opera an overall lighter sound, makes assembly of the required instrumentalists more accessible to production companies with limited budgets, and produces an atmosphere more suitable to Stuart’s concept of the opera’s subject matter, as he noted, “The whole orchestra consists only of a flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp, contrabass, and percussion (drums, xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel, cymbal, triangle, and rattle). The effect is intimate, earthy, plucky, and mythical.”46 The drums listed in the full score of the opera are small tom- tom, medium tom-tom, large tom-tom and optional water drum (a drum fashioned from a tree, partially filled with water and covered with a deer skin). For the purpose of clarification, the B-flat clarinet part in the full score of the opera is written in the transposed key as played on the instrument. Each instrument in the Kill Bear Comes Home ensemble was given opportunities throughout the score for virtuosic performances, but the composer was especially generous to the percussion section. The effects range from rage in the death battle of Kill Bear and Bear Head to Song Bird’s desperate attempt at magic to correct her earlier error. Stuart was particularly aware of the need to keep elements of percussion in his score, with respect to the traditions of Native American musical expression. Traditional sounds can be heard at times using the flute, drums, and rattle. The harp, clarinet, flute, xylophone, and vibraphone permeate the theater in moments of myth and magic. But at other times the music has the earthy smell of a damp forest in a February thaw.47 ______

45Paul Stuart and Sally M. Gall, Kill Bear Comes Home, Opera in Two Acts (Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996), compact disc recording liner notes.

46Ibid. 47Ibid.

28 The score is constructed around the principal musical themes of Nature, Kill Bear and Bear Head, with secondary themes of birdsong, magic and Song Bird. Once each theme has been established, the composer weaves two or more themes together to create images of each character’s personality or emotional state. The entire opera guides the listener not only into the mythology of Native American traditions, but into the mind of each onstage character as well. Kill Bear Comes Home opens with three separate orchestral segments in which the principal themes of the opera are introduced. The first segment, entitled “Prelude” opens with a clarinet solo supported by open fifths in the harp, leading into a four- measure statement sung by an off-stage chorus.

Example 1. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 15-19.

The remainder of the Prelude consists of a fugue built on the “Kill Bear” motive in the key of A minor, beginning with the clarinet in Example 2, and taken up by other instruments, with added embellishment from the bassoon and contrabass lines in Example 3. In Example 4, the meter change from 4/4 to 10/8 introduces an energetic interpretation of the theme.

29 Example 2. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 20-23.

Example 3. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 24-26.

Example 4. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 1: Prelude”: mm. 67-69.

The second orchestral solo segment opens with a contrabass solo on a new theme, that of “Bear Head,” a huge bear which wanders into the scene. This theme is used frequently throughout the opera, along with the “Kill Bear” theme.

30 Example 5. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 2: Dance: The Fight”: mm. 1-4.

These two themes intertwine as the two characters fight to the death. The orchestral texture intensifies with the use of rapidly repeated sixteenth-note figures, first in the flute and xylophone, and later in the clarinet and percussion. This segment ends with both themes broken into smaller and smaller melodic fragments as the two characters die.

Example 6. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 2: Dance: The Fight”: mm. 43-46.

The composer noted: The bear’s theme is first presented on a contrabass, an instrument capable of grizzly melodies. The hunter’s theme follows using a flute. The themes combine as the two fight and enter death. When they emerge, with their heads switched, the endings of their themes are chopped and switched. These themes are now combined in their new form: each half-bear and half-human.48

The third orchestral solo, in 3/4 and marked Adagio, is a trio for flute, clarinet and harp. It is an elegy, danced by Song Bird over the bodies of Kill Bear and Bear Head, and features several references to bird song in the flute line, while the clarinet and harp provide an accompaniment of gentle sorrow.

______

48Ibid. 31 Example 7. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 3: Dance: Elegy”: mm. 19-27.

The librettist expressed her concern with the length of the non-vocal opening, stating that she had been thinking of “the kind of quick mime that preceded Elizabethan plays.”49 The composer had similar thoughts as well, which he shared in a reply to Gall: I have had an uneasy feeling from the start that we may have to wait too long before any vocal music begins—first the Prelude, then two dances—some 10 or 12 minutes into the program. I felt if it doesn’t work, the Prelude could be dropped. I think having a chorus in the Prelude would eliminate this waiting period. I see the proposed opening chorus as spirits watching over and ______

49Sally M. Gall, electronic mail message to Paul Stuart, 29 September 1995.

32 commenting about their people.50 As a result of that discussion, the Prelude was restructured and a chorus was added. Act I, Scene I opens with music of rhythmic energy emphasized through use of percussion. The composer’s notes contained the following observation: “Colorfully syncopated music is used to celebrate harvest festivals, accompany joyful dances, and evoke friendly spirits. Groups led by a song leader sing energetic songs accompanied by a cow horn rattle and a water drum.”51 The “nature” theme is introduced at this point. It is heard at several dramatic moments throughout the opera.

Example 8. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 4: Chorus”: mm. 1-6.

The composer’s intent was for this to be the primary musical theme of the work, as he explained in his notes: The main theme of the opera, the “nature theme” first presented by the chorus, is fashioned in the traditional manner of the Haudenosaunee using a song leader, drums, and rattle. This is a theme representing the proper order of individuals, society, and nature. It is sung on meaningless syllables, a common practice of the tradition. Later, Cold Feet picks up the theme in her aria but with the words, spirits of the winds. And the chorus closes the opera with the nature theme now set to the words, let him roam again in the deep, deep woods my friend ______50Sally M. Gall, electronic mail message to Paul Stuart, 24 September 1995. 51Paul Stuart and Sally M. Gall, Kill Bear Comes Home compact disc recording liner notes.

33 bear.52 The “Kill Bear” theme re-appears in No. 11, the soprano aria “I want my husband, my love, my joy,” to emphasize the longing of Kill Bear’s wife for her long-lost husband. As stated by the composer, the “nature” theme re-appears in measure sixteen in the soprano’s vocal line, which changes from sad longing to energetic hope.

Example 9. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 11: I Want My Husband, My Love, My Joy”: mm. 15-20.

In No. 12, the flute, harp and xylophone are used to introduce a variety of birdcall themes.

Example 10. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 12: Recitative”: mm. 14-16. ______52Ibid.

34 The pivotal character of Song Bird is introduced by her theme in her vocal line. It is a simple descending interval of a perfect fourth, evocative of the instrumental imitations of various types of birdsong.

Example 11. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 12: Recitative”: mm. 10-12.

Through his study of Native American mythology, Stuart became aware of the importance of powers associated with various animals in the legends he explored. Although the musical theme of the bear (Bear Head) is critical to the opera, he placed more emphasis on the theme of Song Bird, the magical wood thrush who brings about the resurrection and eventual transformation of Kill Bear and Bear Head. The wood thrush is the hub around which the spiritual and the natural revolve. At times the story deals with our world and nature: love, jealousy, selfishness, and passion. At other times we witness the spiritual: a bird with mythical powers, a resurrected man and bear but with their heads switched, and a magical spring. Diatonic themes often represent the natural and its proper balance while augmented themes often represent the spiritual, the magical, or an imbalance of the natural. But the wood thrush, being the hub of the natural and the spiritual, uses both diatonic and augmented themes.53 The magical mix-up of Kill Bear’s bones with those of Bear Head is illustrated by the clarinet’s solo line in No. 16, Song Bird’s aria. The melody in the clarinet’s triplets is in sharp contrast with the heavy duple-rhythm half-steps in the bassoon.

Example 12. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 16: Holder of the Heavens”: mm. 44-47. ______53Ibid. 35 This action results in the combination of the Kill Bear and Bear Head themes, when the two resurrected characters appear onstage with each other’s heads. The Kill Bear theme is carried by the flute and clarinet, while bassoon and contrabass hold the Bear Head theme.

Example 13. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 17: Holder of the Heavens/Recitative”: mm. 74-77. Kill Bear’s aria in Act II, Scene 2 opens with Kill Bear’s theme as a bassoon solo in the key of C minor, marked Largo, which is picked up by harp and clarinet. As the emotional intensity increases, the theme modulates to F minor and is joined by the contrabass. No. 29 features the xylophone and medium tom-tom as Kill Bear confronts the Chief. The rapid, repetitive xylophone melody, supported by woodwinds and percussion, creates an atmosphere of tension to support the onstage drama.

36 Example 14. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 29: Recitative”: mm. 36-37.

Act II, Scene 3 opens with a theme of dejection and regret in C minor, featured in the clarinet throughout Song Bird’s aria.

Example 15. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 31: Oh, I’m Such a Fool”: mm. 1-4.

The Kill Bear theme appears again in the flute line in No. 33, the duet between Kill Bear and Cold Feet. It is slightly altered rhythmically to double the vocal line.

Example 16. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 33: I Can’t Live This Way”: mm. 1-10.

The duet ends as the Bear Head theme enters, coinciding with Bear Head’s stage entrance. These two characters are finally reunited, after Bear Head’s escape at the end of Act I. Their themes combine in Song Bird’s Arioso (No. 35), as she enlists the aid of the tribe in her magical attempt to restore each of the beings to their proper form. The contrabass carries the Bear Head theme, while the bassoon plays Kill Bear’s theme. The Song Leader and Chorus of villagers close the opera with the Finale (No. 36), in which the Nature theme reappears, accompanied by rattle, water drum and contrabass.

37 Example 17. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 36: Finale”: mm. 1-9.

As Kill Bear expresses his regret at having killed Bear Head, who had done him no harm, Song Bird prays to the Holder of the Heavens, asking for Bear Head’s full restoration to his true form in the wilderness. The Bear Head theme is played by the flute, clarinet and bassoon in unison as the chorus sings the Nature theme, with melodic and rhythmic pulse supplied by the drums and contrabass.

Example 18. Kill Bear Comes Home. “No. 36: Finale”: mm. 125-132. The full instrumental ensemble enters as the chorus and principal singers conclude the opera with the Nature theme, celebrating the restoration of Bear Head and Kill Bear to their natural forms, and the reunion of Kill Bear with his wife.

38 Frank Ferko, a composer who had collaborated with librettist Gall on several musical projects, was enthusiastic when he heard the compact disc recording of the opera. He wrote to the composer, “You have accomplished an amazing amount of instrumental color through the use of a very small number of instruments. It became clear to me that just listening is not enough; the opera must be seen, as there were some lengthy instrumental sections during which, undoubtedly, there is action on the stage.”54

Synopsis of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem Part One of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem opens with an instrumental processional during which the Peacekeeper, who acts as narrator throughout the opera, introduces the characters. The story is set in Bethlehem at the time of Christ's birth. It begins with the Little Thieves, a young orphaned brother and sister, stealing a fine kaffiyeh (a cloth headdress used by men in the Middle East) from the Innkeeper and his strong-willed Wife and causing an uproar in the community with their constant thievery. Joseph, whose wife Mary and infant Jesus are resting in the inn's stable, runs after the children in an attempt to retrieve the stolen item. The Little Thieves take refuge in the inn's stable, where they discover Mary and her baby. The Sister is immediately charmed by Mary's gentle lullaby and the beauty of the infant, and, soon after, her Brother warms up to the young mother and baby as well. He brings in the kaffiyeh, filled with food stolen from the Innkeeper’s Wife, and offers to wrap the baby in the cloth to help warm him. The mother, baby and the two children enjoy a simple meal, and Mary's song of thanksgiving brings an end to Part One. Part Two opens with the Innkeeper's Wife showing Joseph a miraculous occurrence: the bush on which she had spread the kaffiyeh earlier that day, after doing the wash, has blossomed with beautiful roses in winter -- when no roses could possibly bloom! Joseph gathers some of the flowers to take to his wife while the Innkeeper's Wife ______

54Frank Ferko, electronic mail to Paul Stuart, 27 July 1997.

39 ponders this amazing event. The Three Kings arrive in Bethlehem, assisted by their Retinue, a comical character. Dressed as simple travelers, the Kings seek shelter at the same inn in whose stable the Holy Family and the Little Thieves are sheltered. Meanwhile, the Retinue is enduring harassment from the town's children, who tease him about his fancy clothes. He responds by showing them a fast, complicated dance, which earns him the respect of the children, especially the Little Thieves, who have heard the commotion and have come out of hiding to see what was happening. They try to imitate the Retinue, and become friends with him while he tries to teach them his dance. The Innkeeper bursts onto the scene and confronts the Little Thieves, loudly accusing them of theft while Joseph tries to calm him down. The Innkeeper's Wife warms to the two orphans and defends them as the Kings exit into the inn. A few moments later, the Kings emerge dressed in their resplendent royal regalia, without their hooded traveling robes. Mary enters from the stable with the stolen kaffiyeh, now turned to cloth-of-gold after having been wrapped around the infant Jesus. All the townspeople are astonished at this second miracle. The Innkeeper's heart is touched by the generosity of the Little Thieves, who had given the cloth to Mary for her baby, and he invites the two orphans to come live with him and his Wife and become part of their family. The Kings invite the two children to join them in their travels, an offer by which they are greatly tempted, but they ultimately choose to remain in Bethlehem with their new family. Mary sings her third and final aria, a song of praise. The Kings and the other characters join in singing a Nowell, as the Little Thieves and the Retinue dance a joyful jig and make their farewells. The Peacekeeper ends the opera by declaring that the story has come to a satisfactory ending. In a letter to Stuart, dated December 27, 1994, Gall clarified several ideas which had been her inspiration while creating the libretto. She wrote: I wrote the text in the hope that Little Thieves would be a popular piece like Amahl, but the major stylistic influences are medieval mystery plays and (not surprisingly) Britten’s Noye’s Fludde. I envisioned Little Thieves mainly as a chancel opera or Christmas-related theater production – although a TV film

40 would be nice too, wouldn’t it? Because of the religious content, I doubt if any schools, except parochial ones, could take it up.55 In another letter to Stuart, dated July 5, 1995, she continued to express the desire to remain closely connected with the composition process as her libretto was set to music, but also showed a true collaborative spirit in her closing line: Do please let me know how you plan to handle the verse structure of Little Thieves. Mainly, if you need to cut or insert … However, your musical needs, as always, are the main concern.56 Musical Characteristics Vocal Considerations: The Little Thieves of Bethlehem The composer utilized the chorus in this opera to a considerable extent. Not only do they have six pieces to perform, they are also assigned rhythmically complex clapping to add to the aural atmosphere of the work, and in one number they are directed to use a different style of vocal production. “My mental model in this [No. 19] was an almost Bernstein-Broadway throaty singing – clapping, coloring the words, while maintaining a Middle Eastern quality.”57 While considering the choice of vocal ranges for the solo roles, the composer felt that most musical works involving Mary made her a dainty soprano. He wished to avoid that, and felt that she would be better portrayed by the warmer mezzo-soprano voice as a woman of strength who loves and celebrates her people’s ancient traditions; he remarked that the three Marian arias in the opera help to increase the perception of a woman of great faith.58 Joseph was composed for baritone, which Stuart felt would best convey the image of someone solid and dependable. The nervous Innkeeper was written for tenor, and his practical, down-to-earth Wife was written for mezzo-soprano. The Three Kings ______

55Sally M. Gall, letter to Paul Stuart, 27 December 1994. 56Sally M.Gall, letter to Paul Stuart, 5 July 1995. 57Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 28 October 2002. 58Ibid.

41 were all written as baritone roles. The Retinue, Brother and Sister were intended for treble voices of children, but the full score of the opera notes “soprano” in parentheses beside the Treble designation. The solo and ensemble ranges for these roles lie in a comfortable tessitura. The role of the Peacekeeper is the only non-singing role in the opera. “I wanted this as a speaking role because he is above all of the commotion caused by the other characters.”59 It is also a tribute to the medieval mystery play, which was the librettist’s original inspiration for the story. The vocal ranges for each major solo part are as follows: Mary (mezzo-soprano): a to e” Joseph (baritone): B-flat to f’ Innkeeper (tenor): f to b-flat’ Innkeeper’s Wife (mezzo-soprano): c’ to f’’ Brother/first little thief (soprano): c’ to f’’ Sister/second little thief (soprano): c’ to f’’ Retinue (soprano): c’ to e’’ The Three Kings (baritones): B-flat to e-flat’

Orchestral Considerations: The Little Thieves of Bethlehem Stuart had done considerable study of the historical development of Jewish music, and had, in his own words, “developed a passion for it!” 60 The opportunity to work these musical traditions into The Little Thieves of Bethlehem was perfect timing for him. Stuart’s choice of instrumentation for the opera was influenced by his research. The harpsichord and harp were used to evoke the sound of the kinnor (a type of lyre described as having a twangy, harpsichord-like sound), and the nevo, similar to a large harp. The trumpets were traditionally used for signaling a significant event, and they are used in this score for the same purpose, such as the trumpet fanfare opening the ______59Ibid. 60Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 28 October 2002.

42 Processional. A variety of percussion, pitched and non-pitched, were used to support the rhythms prevalent in Middle Eastern music. “I was surprised to learn that traditional Jewish services were such boisterous affairs! They used as many as forty trumpets, with many drums, and bells were on the priests’ robes. I wanted something very jubilant and alive like that in this opera.”61 The flute and oboe were chosen for their similarities in timbre to the abbub, a single-reed instrument, and the halil, which produced a sound similar to that of an oboe and which was used for expression of joy and celebration or extreme sorrow. The cello was the only exception to these choices, as it was chosen for its blending capabilities. “I wanted to capture traditional Jewish sounds using Western instruments, without trying to recreate an historical artwork. This opera is clearly a Western art form.”62 In addition, he incorporated modal scales common in Middle Eastern music into the score. The Phrygian mode in particular is used in several instances. For the purpose of clarification, the distinguishing feature of the Phrygian mode is the use of a minor second, e.g., e f g a, instead of e f# g a. He also inserted several pre-existing melodies from ancient songs in both the Hebrew and Christian traditions. Im Ninalu, a Hebrew folk song, the Medieval chant Alma redemptoris mater, and the traditional Advent hymn Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming, are woven into the score. In No. 16, which opens with a flute and cello duet, the cello is given the melody of Im Ninalu while the flute plays Lo, How a Rose above it. The opera opens with a trumpet fanfare, followed by the harp, oboe and tambourine introducing a melody in D minor in a 3/8 meter. This processional gradually includes three trumpets, which take over the melody in unison, dividing into three-part harmony over a tambourine and timpani accompaniment to provide a fanfare fit for the arrival of the opera’s characters as they enter the performance area.

______

61Ibid. 62Ibid.

43 Example 19. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 1: Processional”: mm. 60-79. The first solo aria in the opera is No. 3, Mary’s Song of the Sea. The composer drew on his study of Jewish folksongs in the Ashkenazic tradition to create a lullaby in an F minor tonality. He strengthens the concept of the lullaby by using the syllables “li, li, li” as Mary sings to her newborn child.

Example 20. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 3: Song of the Sea”: mm. 33-48. 44 The entrance of the two title characters is announced by the melody sung by the children’s chorus as they taunt the little thieves for being ragged and poor. This unison melody is supported by rapid repetitive C7 chords to emphasize the tension of the drama. The composer deliberately chose to use the familiar child-like “nyah-nyah-nyah” melody, knowing that the audience would immediately recognize it and relate to it.

Example 21. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 4: Children’s Chorus”: mm. 6-8.

In the opera’s first duet, the two starving children dream up a grand imaginary feast, each one singing about the most delicious and exotic foods they can imagine. For a bit of fun, they also complain about the food they hate the most, vetch (a pea-like legume which is very bitter in taste; it was very common and so cheap that it was a staple food for the poor). The composer set this complaint to an accompaniment of falling octaves in the cello played beneath a flute and oboe duet of diminished fourths, to provide a “sickly,” retching feeling.

45 Example 22. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 6: Duet”: mm. 76-80.

The Trio (No. 7) is a lullaby sung by Mary to her baby, as the little thieves look on. Stuart admits that this is a special favorite for him. Like the first aria/lullaby, this trio is set in 3/8 for flute, harp and cello. The melody in E minor incorporates the words “lullay, lully” into the text, reminiscent of the first aria’s use of the comforting “li, li, li.” The brief recitative following the trio presents the first appearance in the opera of the eleventh-century chant melody Alma redemptoris mater, written by Hermannus Contractus (1013-54). Musicologist Richard Hoppin notes that “it is perhaps the oldest of the Marian antiphons and may therefore have been the most widely known in medieval

46 times.”63 Stuart wanted to use an historical chant melody in his opera, and chose this particular one not only for its beautiful melody but also for its text, which deals with the “Loving Mother of the Redeemer.”

Example 23. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 8: Recitative”: mm. 1-3.

A cantorial style of singing was the composer’s choice for the Innkeeper in No. 11 (Chorus) when he accuses the little thieves of stealing food.

Example 24. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 11: Chorus”: mm. 15-18.

The composer used repeated series of open fifths in the harp and harpsichord over the adult chorus singing “Justice we’re wanting, it’s justice we’ll get” in unison to create an atmosphere of unresolved tension. He notes that he initially felt that this piece wasn’t going to work and almost cut it from the opera, but it ended up being an audience favorite.64

______

63Richard H. Hoppin, Medieval Music (New York: Norton, 1978), 104. 64Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 28 October 2002.

47 Example 25. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 11: Chorus”: mm. 6-9.

Stuart remarked that “all my operas seem to have a contrapuntal section with flute and oboe at some point.” In this work, it occurs in No. 14, as the little thieves make a gift of the stolen kaffiyeh to Mary for keeping her infant warm. The composer observed, “the flute and oboe go apart, then come together at the end to give a feeling of poignancy and

48 angst that we as people go through, and assuring us that it will all work out in the end.”65

Example 26. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 14: Ensemble”: mm. 27-30.

Part Two of the opera opens with a duet between flute and cello. The cello plays the melody of the traditional Hebrew song Im Ninalu, while the flute presents the melody of the ancient Christian hymn Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming in its higher register. Stuart noted, “I wanted something used in the Jewish tradition, and brought it together with a piece recognized in the Christian tradition.”66

Example 27. “No. 16: Recitative”: mm. 1-11. ______

65Ibid. 66Ibid.

49 For the arrival of the three Kings, the composer used the librettist’s words to create a comedic musical scene. As the Kings and their Retinue complain in a boastful way that “there is nothing like a camel,” the harpsichord accompanies the singers in the style of a military march. Stuart noted that he based this piece on Prussian march music.67 At measure 59, the harpsichord undergoes an unusual change: the instruments all modulate to the key of F minor, but the keyboard has the left hand playing in F minor while the right hand plays in F-sharp minor. Stuart took the idea of having the harpsichord play at the interval of an augmented eighth from the compositions of twentieth-century Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim.

Example 28. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 19: Chorus of the Kings”: mm. 56-61.

Several melodies introduced earlier in the opera begin to reappear at this point. In No. 22, the Im Ninalu melody, first heard in No. 16, appears in the flute, doubled in a lower register by the oboe, in a lively dance for the Retinue and children.

______

67Ibid.

50 Example 29. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 22: Dance”: mm. 1-4.

An original Nowell was composed for this opera by Stuart, using Gall’s text. It is sung in unison by the adult chorus, followed by the three Kings singing offstage.

Example 30. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 23: Ensemble”: mm. 265-297.

As the opera draws to a finish, the Alma Redemptoris Mater melody reappears as a flute solo in the No. 24 Recitative, accompanying the little thieves as they are invited to join the Innkeeper’s family.

51 Example 31. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 24: Recitative”: mm. 102-104.

The Finale (No. 26) opens in F major with full instrumental ensemble and a return of the Nowell melody. Stuart remarked that the verse and chorus are actually melodic partners. The composer noted, “I love to trick an audience like this! I composed the two at the same time, and then broke them up to use them earlier in the opera as the separate pieces.”68

Example 32. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. “No. 26: Finale”: mm. 59-76. ______

68Ibid.

52 CHAPTER 6 COMMENTARIES ON STAGING CONCEPTS IN THE STUART/GALL OPERAS Stuart has strong opinions regarding his artistic decisions in the presentation of his operas. He prefers to use “set numbers,” a term used to denote solos and ensembles that are separate compositions such as in the operas of Mozart, as opposed to the through- composed style of more contemporary operatic structure. He feels that most modern operas grow weighty with the thickness of their musical textures and with the problem of an overly serious dramatic narrative. He uses the example of one of his favorite composers: “Mozart took opera buffa and combined it with some elements of opera seria. That’s the approach I took on my two operas. It led me to the use of set numbers and the use of a tone of fantasy.”69 Kill Bear Comes Home On April 7, 1993, Stuart attended a workshop on Iroquois dance. The event was sponsored by Ganondagon, a Native American organization located in Victor, New York, and directed by Peter Jemison. Stuart’s exposure to the traditional tribal dances and music sparked an enthusiasm for this genre, which later allowed him to compose segments of the opera with greater authenticity. In the original production of the opera, choreographer Ricardo Ramirez, of Native American descent and a student of Native American dance, used a combination of traditional and modern dance movements in the three danced prelude segments, and by using traditional Native American dances throughout Kill Bear Comes Home. The composer, librettist and choreographer tried to work from the same ______

69Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 26 October 1999.

53 philosophical basis to establish a strong connection between the natural and supernatural worlds as presented in Kill Bear Comes Home. In the introduction to the compact disc recording, the composer wrote: The spiritual and the natural are not as separate as in Western thought, but are more intertwined and revolving around each other and around time. Indeed, the story takes place in no specific time. An emotion from the natural, such as jealousy, affects the spiritual, such as using powers to raise the dead, which in turn affects the natural, such as the villagers dealing with the consequence of these resurrected creatures. So the circle continues: the natural, the spiritual, the natural, the one . . . affecting . . . the other.70 Before composing Kill Bear Comes Home, Stuart approached Deborah Byrd, Botsford’s director, regarding the possibility of producing an opera which would involve dancers as well as singers. Byrd suggested using a Native American subject for the work. Kill Bear Comes Home was originally scheduled to be premiered at Rochester’s Botsford Dance School. Later, in mutual agreement with Opera Theatre of Rochester, the location of the premiere was changed to the Alfred and Ida Hart Theatre at the Jewish Community Center of Rochester. This change was verified with the Center by a contract dated June 26, 1995.71 The director and choreographer for the production came from diverse backgrounds. Director Judith Ranaletta, who had been vocal music and drama director at Greece Athena High School in Rochester since 1982, had performed in, directed and choreographed over one hundred shows throughout the United States, and had appeared frequently in film and television commercials. Choreographer Ricardo Ramirez met the ______

70Paul Stuart and Sally M. Gall, Kill Bear Comes Home, Opera in Two Acts (Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996), compact disc recording liner notes.

71Jewish Community Center, contract between Opera Theatre of Rochester and the Jewish Community Center for the premiere of Kill Bear Comes Home, dated 26 June 1995.

54 composer when Stuart was musical director for Dance Rochester. Ramirez later became the accompanist for the Irondequoit Chorale during Stuart’s tenure as that organization’s musical director. Ramirez’s professional credits included a doctoral degree in organ performance from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering. He was also a dancer with the Garth Fagan Dance Troupe, which frequently incorporated “earthy, native energy in its performances,”72 and studied indigenous dance with Huichol Indians in Mexico and Native American dancers in North America.73 Stuart gave the musical score of Kill Bear Comes Home to Ramirez and Ranaletta immediately upon its completion. He recalled that Ranaletta was initially frustrated with it, since it was the first time she had directed an opera. She was accustomed to working with singers who could dance and move energetically onstage, without the limitations imposed by the needs of operatic singing. Stuart was satisfied with the finished production. He recalls, “I was pleased with the work but I never got to see it! I conducted it backstage behind a scrim and saw the production only on a monitor.”74 The full score of the opera lists “Optional Dance Prelude to Act II” as the last number in the table of contents. The composer wrote this segment during the staging of the opera; it was the only piece not completed before staging began. It was written to allow the performers to get onstage during a blackout; the staging required them to enter from the back of the theater “which would have required some lighting so they could see, and that would have destroyed the effect…. So it was put to me, either tolerate an awkward stage entrance, or compose some music that would bring them on stage. I remember that I resented doing this. I was probably more defensive and protective than I ______

72Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 28 October 2002. 73Ricardo Ramirez, personal letter to Paul Stuart, 10 December 1995. 74Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 28 October 2002.

55 needed to be because this was my first opera. Today, I would be more accommodating.”75 The production utilized the talents of two cast members chosen specifically for their advanced dance skills. Patrick Butler, Jr., who danced the non-singing role of Bear Head, was a senior at Greece Athena High School. He was chosen by Ranaletta specifically for this role. At the time of the opera’s premiere, Butler was a member of the Flower City Ballet Company and a student at the Rochester School of Classical Ballet. Mary-Lynn Sindoni, the dance double for the character of Song Bird, had previously appeared in productions with the Jewish Community Center and Rochester Children’s Theater. A photo of her in full costume as Song Bird is used on the cover of the compact disc recording of Kill Bear Comes Home. In addition to these two principal character dancers, several members of the chorus who had advanced dance skills were utilized in leading the Circle Dance and Step Dance when these appeared throughout the production. The entire chorus was involved in both of these dances. The Hart Theatre is organized into three seating sections: left, center, and right. A wide aisle is located between each section. Ranaletta and Ramirez used the space in the aisles often throughout the opera, giving the audience a sense of being surrounded by the dramatic action. The stage was constructed on two levels, with the downstage level about two feet lower than the upstage level. The scenery was minimalist rather than realistic in design, which left maximum stage space available for the choreography. The costumes for this production consisted of moleskin (a suede-like cloth) in various shades of brown, tan and amber, constructed to resemble the deerskin clothing of the Iroquois tribe. The women wore mid-calf length dresses, some with long sleeves and some with short sleeves. The men, with the exception of Chief Wife Hunter, were costumed in tan and brown loose trousers, similar to traditional Iroquois deerskin ______

75Paul Stuart, electronic mail to Sandra Boysen, 27 October 2002.

56 leggings. All cast members wore leather moccasins. The singers’ hairstyles had individual variations, but were primarily styled as parted in the middle with one or two braids down the back, and wigs were used where needed. The loose costume design allowed maximum freedom of movement for the very active stage direction. The exceptions to this costuming design were Song Bird and Chief Wife Hunter. The Chief wore an elaborate headdress and a full-length robe, resembling various animal skins, with a long-sleeved ornate shirt, trousers and moccasins. In keeping with his character’s pompous nature, his movements were minimal and never hurried. Song Bird provided a contrast, since her character was never still. She was costumed in a short- skirted, belted suede dress and moccasins. She was fitted with a feathered breastplate, flexible feathered bands along the entire length of both arms, and a mask-like headdress symbolic of the wood thrush, the bird used for this magical character. The three opening dance segments began with the Prelude, in which Song Bird led the chorus onstage from the rear of the auditorium as they sang the first appearance of the “nature” theme. Once the chorus is onstage, six dancers combined a traditional Step Dance with elements of modern dance while the rest of the chorus sang, after which the entire chorus joined the dancers for a traditional Circle Dance, moving counter-clockwise in center stage. The second dance segment, The Fight, used stylized mime techniques based on Native American animal representations for the fight to the death of the human warrior Kill Bear and the animal Bear Head. The third dance segment, Elegy, used a counter-clockwise slow ballet by Song Bird’s dance double as she circled the two bodies in an expression of grief. The dancer froze in position during the blackout preceding Act One. At this point, the audience had been introduced to the two primary types of traditional dance used in the production, as well as the three primary musical themes: Nature, Kill Bear and Bear Head. Act One, Scene One opened with the lights coming up on the entire chorus of villagers, the Four Sisters, Hasty Girl and the Song Leader. This last character used a small tom-tom onstage and moved among the chorus as they were shown harvesting, cleaning foodstuffs and weaving. The staging in Numbers Four through Eight did not use any choreography, but instead employed a more traditional style of operatic stage

57 direction, in that the solo singers were assigned minimal stage movement. In Number Five, the Four Sisters were given some subtle comedic moments both upstage and downstage. Their comedy was enhanced by the use of a large carved mask, worn by each sister as a large breastplate, which signified their characters as being sour in attitude and decidedly unattractive in appearance. The remainder of the numbers in Act One, Scene One used traditional operatic staging for the soloists, and allowed them to use both the upstage and downstage levels of the main stage. In Number Fourteen, Interlude, six dancers took the stage and used stylized movements and symbolic animal headdresses to mime the movement of forest animals in the background. Act One, Scene Two kept these animal-dancers onstage during the recitative with Song Bird and Hasty Girl. In Song Bird’s aria, Holder of the Heavens, the dancers moved downstage and used stylized movement to show reverence each time that title was sung. The characters of Kill Bear and Bear Head were magically restored to life in Number Eighteen, during which they each used stumbling and erratic choreographed movements as they each tried to adjust to their new bodies, which had been mistakenly switched. The hesitation of the characters became more tense and the movements quicker as the characters’ bewilderment increased, until Bear Head ran from the stage and Act One ended with a full blackout. The lights came up in the theatre for a short intermission. Act Two opened with the optional dance prelude, discussed by the composer earlier in this chapter. Ramirez again chose to use traditional dances in this segment. The entire chorus and the dancers entered from the rear of the auditorium and went down both aisles in a Step Dance. After reaching the stage, the ensemble began a Circle Dance, moving in pairs counter-clockwise. As the chorus called out for the entrance of the character Cold Feet (Kill Bear’s wife), a male/female dance pair moved downstage to perform several ballet lift movements in celebration of the chief’s impending marriage to Cold Feet. In Number Twenty-Two, the transformed character of Kill Bear stumbled down the stage left aisle through the audience, as if wandering madly through the forest. He made his way onto the stage, bringing the dance to a halt. A confrontation between the

58 chief and Kill Bear was developed downstage center, pulling the chorus of villagers in closer to surround the two rivals for Cold Feet’s affections. During Number Twenty-Six, Interlude, the entire cast, with the exception of Song Bird, was choreographed in a chase sequence as Kill Bear escaped. Act Two, Scene Two opened with one of the few special effects used in the production. Kill Bear entered from the rear of the theatre, moving down the stage right aisle through the audience and onto the stage to a rock-like mound surrounded by mist, which was provided by a dry-ice fog machine. The remaining numbers in Scene Two utilized a more static staging as the Four Sisters switched their loyalty from the chief to Cold Feet and Kill Bear. During the short Interlude at the end of this scene, four female dancers took the stage, using a combination of ballet and Native American dance to heighten the sense of confusion and tension at this point in the dramatic narrative. Act Two, Scene Three opened with Song Bird perched on the rocky mound located stage right. During her aria, two female dancers with symbolic headdresses representing forest animals used lyrical ballet movement to emphasize Song Bird’s sadness and regret. Numbers Thirty-Two through Thirty-Five were used to bring the entire cast back onstage as the plot came to its conclusion. The Song Leader opened Number Thirty-Six with the “Nature” theme as the chorus of villagers began the Circle Dance. Song Leader remained downstage left, keeping time with the small tom-tom. As Song Bird prayed to the Holder of the Heavens, the chorus made gestures of reverence at each mention of that title, repeating the movements used by the dancers in Number Sixteen, Song Bird’s aria, Holder of the Heavens. The characters of Kill Bear and Bear Head disappeared behind the crowd of villagers. In the Finale, Number Thirty-Seven, Kill Bear and Bear Head emerged from the crowd, each restored to his proper shape and form. The dancer in the role of Bear Head was given a short solo dance of jubilation before he exited stage left. The chorus exited the stage in pairs and lined up down both aisles of the theatre singing the “Nature” theme, leaving the dancers grouped downstage left and downstage right, with Kill Bear and Cold Feet upstage center as the lights went to black and the opera ended.

59 Overview Kill Bear Comes Home provides ample opportunity for a stage director and a choreographer to draw on resources both ancient and modern for their respective purposes. The mystical qualities of the music and of the story opens itself up to either a realistic, literal representation, or one based solely on fantasy, for the set and costume designers. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem To gain a better understanding of the tenets of Judaism, the composer regularly attended Shabbat services at Temple B’rith Kodesh, one of the oldest Reform Jewish Synagogues in Rochester, New York. He was interested especially in the music, and had several long discussions on the subject with the temple’s long-time cantor, Martha Rock Birnbaum, who also performed and recorded Hebrew songs and literature. In addition, she was the director of the Rochester Jewish Chorale.76 When Stuart agreed with Sally Gall to collaborate on an opera using a Middle Eastern dramatic plot, he continued to apply his approach of using Western instruments to capture the Middle Eastern flavor in his music. “I did not try to recreate an historic artwork. Opera is clearly a Western art form.”77 However, he tried using unusual combinations, such as harpsichord with cymbals, to suggest the story’s exotic setting. Stuart did not intend to use spoken dialogue in his operas, as he had previously felt that it would be out of place. However, the role of the Peacekeeper in The Little Thieves of Bethlehem was an exception. The composer felt that if the Peacekeeper were the only one with spoken dialogue, he would stand out as being apart from the rest of the cast and consequently from the onstage drama. This was also agreeable to the librettist, who had based her story idea on medieval mystery plays which sometimes used a narrator. ______76Timeless Jewish Songs: Shirim La’ad, Sampler Records 9326, liner notes. 77Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 26 October 1999.

60 Stuart himself was the stage director for the premiere performance of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. Gall expressed concern in an early e-mail communication about his lack of prior experience in stage directing, and recommended several experienced operatic directors for him to contact for advice.78 This was the only time she expressed any concern for Stuart’s stage direction; later communications reveal that she was pleased with the final production. Rochester-based dancer Kathleen Eng was chosen as choreographer for the production. She had studied dance with Alvin Ailey in his New York City troupe and studied ballet privately with Mary Sisom, a former member of the Sadlers Wells Ballet in Great Britain. She had choreographed musicals for high schools in New York and Texas, for professional regional theatre companies in New York and New Hampshire, and her professional dance credits included working with Broadway star Julie Andrews in a salute to the Ziegfeld Follies at New York City’s Marriot Marquis in the early 1990s. This production did not require advanced dance skills from any of the cast members, and dances were limited to two numbers involving the characters of the Brother, the Sister and the Kings’ Retinue. In addition, the space in the performance location was limited and could not accommodate more than three people dancing as a group. In order to have the maximum amount of space available for the performers, no sets were used in the production. The site chosen for the premiere of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem was the Third Presbyterian Church of Rochester, New York. The main sanctuary of this building offered a central raised platform which was large enough for the orchestral ensemble needed in the opera. The adult chorus was seated in the choir pews to the left of this platform, and the children’s chorus was seated in the choir pews on the right. This left a staging area approximately six feet deep and fourteen feet wide, along with three wide steps leading up to the central platform, as the primary stage area. In order to draw the audience further into the dramatic action, the actors’ entrances, exits and segments of ______

78Sally M. Gall, electronic mail to Paul Stuart, 20 March 1997.

61 several scenes were staged in the two side aisles and in the wide center aisle. Due to limited space, the two choruses were not involved in the stage action, nor were they costumed. The adult chorus was dressed in black, and the children’s chorus was dressed in white shirts and black skirts or slacks. When singing, they stood on cue from the conductor, and were seated by him at the conclusion of each choral segment. The composer noted that production companies with limited space and production budgets could use this approach to reduce rehearsal time and costume costs. Since the production lasted only forty-five minutes, no intermission was scheduled. The organization of the opera was in two sections: Part One and Part Two. Part One contained fifteen numbers and Part Two contained eleven numbers. In the full score of the opera, these are numbered consecutively from one to twenty-six. The opera opened with the entrance of the children’s chorus from the back of the sanctuary going up the stage left aisle, and the adult chorus entering from the back and going up the stage right aisle. Both ensembles were followed by costumed cast members, with the exception of the two title characters. The choruses were seated and the principals arranged themselves in small groups on stage left and stage right. The first character to come forward was the opera’s only speaking role, the Peacekeeper, who introduced himself, the story and the characters to the audience. After Mary’s first aria, the two title characters entered running up the stage left aisle from the back of the sanctuary, with a stolen kaffiyeh, a cloth headdress used by men in the Middle East. The children’s chorus stood at this point and sang the accusatory “Dirty little thieves!” (Number Four) as the two characters cowered in fear downstage left. After the children’s chorus was seated, the Little Thieves gathered bits of wood (which had been pre-set near the orchestra platform) with the intention of building a fire. They met Mary and her infant when they crept into a nearby stable, represented by a wooden manger and a rough wooden stool placed downstage right of the orchestra, on the uppermost of the three steps leading to the central platform. Joseph, attempting to recover the kaffiyeh for its owner, the Innkeeper, chased the little brother down the stage right aisle and out through the back of the sanctuary. The

62 audience was further treated to the comedy of the Innkeeper stalking angrily down the center aisle toward the back, followed frantically by the Peacekeeper who tried to calm him. During these scenes, the little Sister remained seated at Mary’s feet in the stable area, rocking the infant in her arms. The Brother ran down the center aisle with the cloth and presented it to his Sister and Mary, filled with stolen food for them to share. The camaraderie among the three prompted the brother to wrap the child in the cloth, which resulted in Mary’s second aria, her “Song of Thanksgiving” (Number Fifteen). Although this number marked the end of Part One, the decision to dispense with an intermission caused the action to continue uninterrupted with Number Sixteen and the beginning of Part Two. The Mary-Sister-Brother trio remained clustered together upstage right, while Joseph and the Innkeeper’s Wife moved downstage left to examine roses which appeared on a nearby bush, which was miraculous since it was winter and no roses could possibly be blooming. The Innkeeper’s Wife recalled that she had spread the missing kaffiyeh upon the bush to dry after washing it earlier that day. Joseph moved stage right to join Mary and give the roses to her. In Number Nineteen, the three kings and the Retinue entered from behind the children’s chorus, where they had remained from the opening of the opera. The Retinue led them down the stage left aisle toward the back of the sanctuary, across the back and then up the center aisle to the staging area, during which the adult chorus stood, clapping rhythmically and singing with the Kings as they complained about how difficult their camels had been to manage during their long journey. The Kings moved stage left to meet the Innkeeper and his Wife as the Retinue, a pants role, was teased about his appearance by the children’s chorus. He responded by performing a whirling dervish style of dance, which intrigued the Little Thieves. After discovering that they couldn’t do such an intricate dance themselves, they became friends with the Retinue. The Innkeeper, with Joseph trying to calm him, confronted the Little Thieves about his stolen property. The Innkeeper’s Wife warmed to the two children and defended them as the Kings exited upstage left through the choir. They emerged during

63 Number Twenty-Three, seen for the first time in full royal regalia and crowns, without their hooded traveling robes. The conductor directed the children’s chorus to stand as Mary brought out the stolen kaffiyeh, now turned to cloth-of-gold after having been wrapped around the infant Jesus. This second miracle softened the Innkeeper’s heart, and he invited the Little Thieves to come live with him and his Wife from that time on. As the opera reached its conclusion, Mary moved downstage center to sing her third and final aria. The soloists lined up across the front of the orchestra platform during a brief interlude, during which the retinue and the Little Thieves danced a joyful jig together. The soloists, followed by the two choruses, divided into two groups which exited down the stage left and stage right aisles, while the Peacekeeper proclaimed a satisfactory ending and exited alone down the center aisle. Overview The Little Thieves of Bethlehem was premiered using deliberately uncomplicated staging in a limited space. The two short dance segments could be staged as simply or as elaborately as the skills of the singers in those roles will allow, and the entire production can be given fully realistic sets or can be performed with no sets at all, as in the premiere. The running time of less than an hour makes the production a good choice for either a college-level opera workshop or for a Christmas/Advent presentation during a liturgical service.

64 CHAPTER 7 COMMENTARIES ON SELECTED SOLO ARIAS AND EXTENDED SOLO SEGMENTS IN THE STUART/GALL OPERAS The solo arias in these commentaries are listed in the order in which they appear in the full scores of each opera. Pitch names, as established in Chapter Five of this treatise, are used to designate vocal ranges in each commentary. Timings for each aria were taken from the premiere compact disc recordings of each opera. The passages taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible were chosen by the composer after the final draft of the libretto for The Little Thieves of Bethlehem was delivered from the librettist. Stuart and Gall discussed inserting these portions into the libretto for use in the Marian arias, and Gall approved their use in her work. Apart from this, all texts are the librettist’s original work. Vocalists who are searching for new arias in English by American composers will find these seven selections to be a welcome addition to the solo vocal repertoire. Piano-vocal scores are available upon request from the composer. Singers are advised to become familiar with the original instrumentation for each aria as specified in the full score. Performance of the arias with instrumentation would require at least two instruments and, in some instances, a small chamber ensemble, but would provide a very satisfying recital segment for both performer and audience.

I WANT MY HUSBAND, MY LOVE, MY JOY from KILL BEAR COMES HOME YEAR PUBLISHED: 1996 CHARACTER: Cold Feet, wife of Kill Bear LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Act I, Scene 1, No. 11 TEMPO: Adagio: quarter note = 52 (measure one); Moderato: quarter note = 84 (measure sixteen) METER: 4/4 (measure one); 2/2 (measure twenty); 4/4 (measure twenty-one); 65 5/4 (measure twenty-four); 4/4 (measure twenty-five); 2/4 (measure twenty-nine); 4/4 (measure thirty); 2/4 (measure thirty-one); 4/4 (measure thirty-two); 2/4 (measure thirty-three); 4/4 (measure thirty-four) (NOTE: Although this aria is in duple meter, it is the purpose of this commentary to provide details regarding the composer’s specifications.) VOCAL RANGE: d’ to a-flat’’ VOICE TYPE: Soprano (lyric) ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Flute, clarinet, harp, glockenspiel, contrabass LENGTH: Thirty-eight measures; 2:28 minutes TEXT SOURCE: Original libretto by Sally M. Gall TEXT: I WANT MY HUSBAND, MY LOVE, MY JOY I want my husband, my love, my joy. We had each other only each other. Oh, Kill Bear, what happened to you? Where did you go? Please help me, if you’re alive. Don’t let me marry Chief Wife Hunter.

Spirits of the winds, seek out my husband if he lives; Spirits of the winds, You, fawn, wind from the south; You, moose, wind from the east; You, panther, wind from the west; You, bear, wind from the north.

Have pity, spirits of the winds, spirits of the winds, Spirits of the winds, find my husband if he lives!

It has now been one year since the young Iroquois warrior, Kill Bear, left his beautiful young wife, Cold Feet, to hunt for a bearskin in order to fulfill her wish for a warm bearskin blanket. Cold Feet has been warned by her younger sister that the tribal Chief plans to take her as his own wife, since the year’s passing without Kill Bear’s return makes her status that of a widow and leaves her free to be chosen by another mate. The Chief confronts Cold Feet just before the aria and makes it clear that he will take her as his wife the very next day, although she strongly protests that she does not believe Kill

66 Bear is truly dead. Left alone onstage, with her younger sister listening in the background, Cold Feet laments her lost love and calls upon the powerful spirits of the four winds to have pity on her and to seek him out. The call to the four winds is a reference to a basic tenet held by many Native American earth-based religions. The idea of invoking the winds is an ancient one, dating back at least to classical Greece and even earlier. The calling of the four winds and the use of animal totems continues to this day with little change in modern earth-based religions such as Shamanism and Wicca.79 The four directions from which the winds originate are believed to each have specific strengths and powers. The North Wind is cold and is considered the wind of change. The East Wind is a warm and bracing wind which blows from the direction in which the Sun rises, and is considered the wind of beginnings. The South Wind is hot, blowing in from the Equator, and is associated with fire. It is associated with power and sometimes danger. The West Wind blows from the direction of the setting of the sun and is considered a refreshing and gentle cleansing at the end of a day.80 Cold Feet’s choice of animal totems (symbolic associations) corresponding with each of the four winds relates the qualities she believes are necessary in order to find her lost husband. The fawn, associated with the South Wind, suggests speed, quick thinking and acute hearing, which are a deer’s primary defense against predators. The moose, associated with the East Wind, brings with it strength, intuition and the power of feminine energies. The panther of the West Wind contributes power, ferocity and “a symbol of the awakening to a heroic quest.”81 The bear of the North Wind is the great ______

79Scott Cunningham, Earth Power (Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 1996), 38.

80Ibid, 36-38.

81Ted Andrews, Animal-Speak: The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small (Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 1997), 297.

67 healer of not only the physical but the spiritual and the psychic as well.82 The aria opens with a four-measure introduction. A double bass reiterates b- natural on the downbeat of each measure while a harp outlines B-minor chords. A solo flute enters in measure two with a short poignant melody, which is immediately taken up by the soprano voice at its entrance in measure four. As the voice expresses longing for the lost love, a clarinet enters (measure seven) with the first half of the theme associated with the character of Kill Bear. At measure thirteen, the flute plays a three-measure unaccompanied reiteration of the vocal melody (from the lyrics “What happened to you? Where did you go?”), which acts as a transition from the opening section in B minor to a new section of a very different character, now in F-sharp major. The harp accompaniment changes from arpeggios to an urgent trilling figure, punctuated by single notes from the glockenspiel, as the soprano sings the melody of the Nature theme, one of the opera’s central musical motives. The text of the vocal line calls for help from the powers of the four winds at this point, and both the melody and accompaniment are now no longer mournful. Instead, the character is now that of determined decision. At measure twenty-five, the flute re-enters, echoing the Nature theme, followed by the clarinet in measure twenty-six with the same melody in the same octave. The duet of these melodies between the two instruments suggest that the second melody is never quite able to synchronize or “catch up” to the first melody, suggesting the thus-far futile search of Cold Feet for Kill Bear. In measure twenty-nine the harp and flute lead into the modulation of the melody to A-flat major. The vocal line repeats “spirits of the winds” three times, increasing in intensity with each repetition. The aria ends with flute, clarinet, harp, glockenspiel and double bass in a sonorous A-flat major chord as the soprano voice leaps one octave from A-flat’ to A-flat’’ on the hopeful words “if he lives!” This aria is best suited for a high female voice with expressive dramatic ability. ______

82Medicine Hawk and Grey Cat, American Indian Ceremonies (New Jersey: Inner Light Publications, 1990), 97.

68 HOLDER OF THE HEAVENS from KILL BEAR COMES HOME YEAR PUBLISHED: 1996 CHARACTER: Song Bird, a magical forest creature LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Act I, Scene 2, No. 16 TEMPO: Adagio: dotted quarter note = 54 – 58 (measure one); Moderato: dotted quarter note = 100 – 108 (measure thirty-seven) METER: 3/4 throughout except for measures thirty-one, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, and forty through fifty-six which are in 2/4. VOCAL RANGE: e’ to e’’ VOICE TYPE: Mezzo-soprano or Soprano (soubrette). In the original score, the composer noted that a mezzo-soprano was to sing this role. However, in both the premiere performance and on the compact disc recording, a soprano with a light voice was cast instead. ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp, glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, rattle, medium tom-tom LENGTH: Fifty-nine measures; 2:20 minutes TEXT: HOLDER OF THE HEAVENS Holder of the Heavens, Ruler of earth and air, fire and water, You who keep sun, moon, and stars on the paths of heaven, Only you can reverse these bones to life.

Holder of the Heavens, Now, if it is your will Restore Kill Bear to life…

Holder of the Heavens, Holder o…

Wait! Wait! Slow down! No! Hasty Girl! Wait! You have mixed them up! Wait! You have mixed the bones up. No! No! Don’t pour out the water! No! No! Wait, wait, Hasty Girl, wait!

69 Hasty Girl, younger sister of Cold Feet, can understand the speech of birds because she has not yet grown up and forgotten the magic of nature. She speaks with Song Bird, who brags that she has learned powerful magic from her friend Hermit Thrush, who often talks with the Holder of the Heavens. The cocky Song Bird and the clumsy Hasty Girl decide that they will use this magic to bring the long-dead Kill Bear back to life in order to make Cold Feet happy again. Song Bird sings this aria to call up the necessary magic, but Hasty Girl is true to her name and jumps in too soon, disturbing the bones of Kill Bear and the great bear who fought him to the death. The results set in motion a chain of events both comedic and emotionally moving. The aria is in the key of D minor. The orchestral introduction utilizes harp and glockenspiel in a deliberately bare accompaniment, which characterizes the drops of water used by Song Bird in her magical incantation. When the voice enters in measure twelve, it is followed by the bassoon in a mournful legato melodic line, punctuated at intervals by the flute. In measure twelve the harp begins with an octave tremolo, which continues through measure thirty with the exception of measures twenty-six and twenty- seven. This effect, used until the character of the piece changes, provides a mystical effect, which supports the magical power being called upon by Song Bird. Flute, clarinet and bassoon join the harp in measure twenty-six in a group of four E-minor chords, the first appearance in this accompaniment of homophony. These chords create an atmosphere of tension, foreshadowing the dramatic change at measure thirty, when the vibraphone plays the opening triads in the Magic Scene theme, another of the opera’s primary musical motives. The xylophone joins in with a melody in ascending and descending triplets, which is taken over in measure forty by the clarinet as the vocal line implores Hasty Girl to stop her destructive actions. In measure forty-eight, the xylophone introduces the next portion of the Magic Scene theme in the form of a “heartbeat” melodic line in triplets, underscoring the mounting dramatic tension. The flute and clarinet pick up this figure, supported by the contrabass, until the entire ensemble is joined in measures fifty-seven through fifty-nine by the bass drum and tom- toms in sharply articulated and rapid chords which bring the aria and, consequently, the action onstage, to a screeching halt.

70 Since this aria ends abruptly, in keeping with the dramatic scenario, a short explanation is needed if the piece is performed in a concert or recital setting. The vocalist should preface her performance with a short explanation of the story as it occurs at this point in the opera, or provide brief notes in a printed program. As noted earlier, this role was originally composed for a mezzo-soprano, although it was premiered and recorded by a soprano voice. This aria is suitable for either voice type. Versatility of expression is the key to successful performance of this piece, as the voice must have an authoritative air of command during the invocation, changing immediately to fear and confusion in measure thirty. I WANTED A BLANKET from KILL BEAR COMES HOME YEAR PUBLISHED: 1996 CHARACTER: Cold Feet, wife of Kill Bear LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Act II, Scene 1, No. 23 TEMPO: Andante METER: 3/4 throughout VOCAL RANGE: e-flat’ to f’’ VOICE TYPE: Soprano ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Harp LENGTH: Thirty-four measures; 1:45 minutes TEXT SOURCE: Original libretto by Sally M. Gall TEXT: I WANTED A BLANKET I wanted a blanket, warm off a bear, And now you’ve come home from heaven knows where, And dressed head to toe just like a bear… Welcome, welcome, Kill Bear!

Now I shall be warm, And I shan’t have to marry Chief Wife Hunter. Oh! Look at this skin, this wonderful skin!

Chief Wife Hunter has assembled his tribe to witness his marriage to Cold Feet, who reluctantly leaves her longhouse to follow her Chief’s orders. As the ceremony

71 begins, it is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Kill Bear, Cold Feet’s husband, whom all had thought dead. Cold Feet does not realize that the bear skin wrapped around her husband is now truly his own skin, as a result of Hasty Girl ruining the life-restoring magic of Song Bird. Cold Feet joyfully embraces her husband and welcomes him with this aria. The aria remains in A-flat major throughout and is accompanied solely by harp. The legato lyricism of the simple, straightforward melody acts as an oasis of love and calm in the midst of a musically and dramatically turbulent scene. The harp’s accompaniment pattern consists of two eighth notes on beat one of each measure, followed by either a half note or two quarter notes to complete the measure. The overall effect is one of gentle rocking and of peaceful comforting. Only in measures twenty-three and twenty-four does the voice continue without accompaniment, to highlight the words “Now I shall be warm.” It should be noted that the character is named Cold Feet because her feet are always cold, a fact which she mentions early in the opera when she divulges the fact that Kill Bear left the village on that fateful day a year ago with the intention of hunting a bear to bring back its skin as a blanket for his wife. This elegant and brief aria is ideal for the lyric soprano or lyric mezzo-soprano voice. The harp accompaniment is also easily transcribed into piano accompaniment. WHAT IS TO BECOME OF ME? from KILL BEAR COMES HOME YEAR PUBLISHED: 1996 CHARACTER: Kill Bear, a young Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) warrior LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Act II, Scene 2, No. 27 TEMPO: Largo (quarter note = 48-52) METER: 4/4 VOCAL RANGE: c to g’ VOICE TYPE: Tenor ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp, contrabass LENGTH: Sixty-two measures; 5:12 minutes

72 TEXT SOURCE: Original libretto by Sally M. Gall TEXT: WHAT IS TO BECOME OF ME? What is to become of me? Where can I go? The villagers are right. I am a monster. Cold Feet cannot love me.

I will starve to death in the woods alone, I will starve to death, starve to death, Starve, alone, alone, alone, And Bear Head, and Bear Head, will die too, Will die too, will die. I cannot live in his body, he cannot live in mine.

What is to become of me? Where can I go? The villagers are right. I am a monster. Cold Feet, Cold Feet, Cold Feet cannot love me.

The magically shape-changed young warrior, Kill Bear, has narrowly escaped the enraged mob of his own tribesmen, who fear his transformation and accuse him of being a demon. To escape them, he has run into the forest, coming to rest not far from Song Bird’s spring, where the transformation originally took place. He is in deep despair, lamenting his belief that his wife cannot love him now that his body is so changed, and lamenting the fact that he will starve alone, since he does not know how to forage for himself now that he is mostly in the form of a bear. The accompaniment consists of flute, clarinet, bassoon, harp and contrabass, providing warm colors throughout the aria. The bassoon opens with the Kill Bear motive in C minor, which is then picked up by the harp, followed by the clarinet. The vocal line enters on a chant-like lament: “What is to become of me?” on a repeated g, “Where can I go?” on a repeated e-flat, and “The villagers are right, I am a…” on a repeated d. Only when Kill Bear accuses himself of being a monster does the vocal line jump the interval of a ninth to a-flat’, expressing the anguish of the character. At measure sixteen (letter A in the full score), the bassoon plays the Kill Bear motive in its entirety (four measures), at which point the voice enters and sings “I will starve to death in the woods alone,” using the first half of the Kill Bear motive. On the repetitions of the words “starve to death” and “alone,” the melodic line breaks into

73 isolated segments, supporting the dramatic action onstage in which the character is near tears. Throughout this section, the harp continues in a slow eighth-note pattern while the flute and clarinet soar above. The effect is one of loneliness and despair. The vocal line becomes more subdued at measure twenty-nine, as the character laments the fact that Bear Head, the great bear with whom his own body was switched, will die too, since neither of them know how to live in their magically changed bodies. The aria draws to a close as the tenor voice rings out in the depths of self-pity that “Cold Feet cannot love me,” while the harp completes the piece with a three-measure postlude repeating the first four-note figure of the Kill Bear motive. The challenge in this aria is its tempo. The vocal line must be expressed with deep anguish and sadness, yet must maintain forward motion in this slow tempo. The lyricism of the Kill Bear motive in the vocal line is woven smoothly into the accompaniment, creating a work which looks simple but which demands considerable strategic planning in both legato phrasing and in breath control. The result is a work both aurally pleasing and vocally satisfying for the tenor voice. OH, I’M SUCH A FOOL from KILL BEAR COMES HOME YEAR PUBLISHED: 1996 CHARACTER: Song Bird, a magical wood thrush LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Act III, Scene 3, No. 31 TEMPO: Adagio (quarter note = 50) METER: 4/4 VOCAL RANGE: c’ to e-flat’’ VOICE TYPE: Mezzo-soprano (as indicated in the printed score; on the compact disc recording, this role was performed by a soprano) ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Flute, clarinet, harp, xylophone, vibraphone LENGTH: Seventy-four measures (including da capo and coda); 6:22 minutes TEXT SOURCE: Original libretto by Sally M. Gall TEXT: OH, I’M SUCH A FOOL Oh, I’m such a fool. I thought I was clever. Oh, I’m such a fool, oh, I’m such a fool, 74 I’m such a fool, I’m such a fool.

I thought I was clever to bring the dead to life, To bring the dead to life, to bring the dead to life. Why did I meddle? Why did I meddle? Why did I meddle? Why did I meddle? Why?

I’m only a little wood thrush, only a wood thrush, a wood thrush, Only a little wood thrush, Only a wood thrush, with a little magic. I’ll never meddle with nature again, Never meddle again.

(da capo) Oh, why did I think I knew enough magic, Oh, why did I think, oh, why did I think, why did I think, why did I think

I knew enough magic to work a powerful spell? To work a powerful spell? To work a powerful spell? Why did I meddle? Why did I meddle? Why did I meddle? Why did I meddle? Why? I’m only a little wood thrush, only a wood thrush, a wood thrush, Only a little wood thrush, only a wood thrush, with a little magic. I’ll never meddle with nature again, never meddle again.

Song Bird, the once-arrogant little wood thrush who bragged that she knew enough magic to bring Kill Bear back to life, has seen her magic spell turned into disaster when her human friend, Hasty Girl, clumsily falls and mixes up the bones of the dead warrior Kill Bear and the great wild bear who died beside him. With Kill Bear running throughout the forest to escape the enraged tribe, and the poor transformed bear nowhere to be found, Song Bird sees the havoc her pride has wreaked on the once contented forest. She perches on a rock near her magic spring, the scene of the attempted magical resurrection, and sinks into dejected self-pity and shame. The accompaniment consists of flute, clarinet, harp, xylophone and vibraphone. The clarinet’s opening motive in the key of c minor is that of a mournful birdcall, one of several birdcall patterns which the composer uses throughout this aria. It consists primarily of descending minor triads. A second bird song enters in measure twenty, when the xylophone makes its entrance with repeated eighth notes on a’. The vibraphone

75 punctuates this line on the second half of beats one and three in measures twenty-one through twenty-four with a triangle effect, reminding the listener that this character and her current location (the spring) is associated with magic. The flute introduces yet another bird-call motive in measure thirty-four: a rapid five-note descending scale, which appears twice in its echoing of the vocal line melody. Because this is a da capo aria, the singer can use her own discretion in making the second verse just as emotionally charged as the first verse. The composer does not allow for improvisation or variation to be made for the da capo, thus the singer may consider using subtle changes in dynamic levels and in a minimal amount of staging. The lyrics of this aria are the expression of a character who has learned a hard lesson and vows never to make the same mistake again. The vocal line takes up the opening motive of the descending minor triad triplet as the singer asserts that she will “never meddle with nature again.” The aria would be a good selection in a program which had a theme of songs/arias sung about animals or even by animals. It would also make a good inclusion in a set of arias dealing with magical events, and could be combined with its partner from Act I, Holder of the Heavens, in a shared recital set with several other voices. SONG OF THE SEA from THE LITTLE THIEVES OF BETHLEHEM YEAR PUBLISHED: 1997 CHARACTER: Mary, mother of the infant Jesus LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Part I, No. 3 TEMPO: Andante (dotted half note = 54) METER: 3/4 VOCAL RANGE: c’ to e-flat” VOICE TYPE: Mezzo-soprano ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Harp LENGTH: Eighty-six measures; 2:07 minutes

76 TEXT: Exodus 15: 2, 11, 13 (modern paraphrase by the librettist). New Revised Standard Version of The Holy Bible; text used by permission of the National Council of Churches.

SONG OF THE SEA The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. “Who is like you among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness? In your steadfast love you led the people you redeemed; You guided them by your strength to your holy abode.”

Li li li li li li li li, Li li li li li li li li, Li li li li li li li li, Li li li li li li li li.

“Who is like you, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness? In your steadfast love you led the people you redeemed; You guided them by your strength to your holy abode.”

Li li li li li li li li li.

“You guided them to your holy abode.” (Author’s note: quotation marks in this text are the librettist’s own.) To a Jew living in the Holy Land during the height of Rome’s powerful occupation and repression of that area, the most significant event in Jewish history was Jehovah’s liberation of the Hebrew people from the oppressive rule of Pharaoh. Every Hebrew mother throughout the following centuries made the story of this event a part of her children’s earliest memories. Composer Paul Stuart chose these verses from the Old Testament book of Exodus to be the text for the first aria in The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. It is now twelve days since Mary gave birth to the infant Jesus. (In the traditional liturgical calendar, it is Epiphany, the day on which the Kings/Magi arrive.) Mary is resting in the stable at the inn in Bethlehem, holding her baby, and gently singing this aria as a lullaby. While the victory song of Moses and the Israelites may initially seem to be an unusual subject for a lullaby, it is in keeping with the tradition of teaching Hebrew children, literally from birth, the history of their people. These verses also foreshadow

77 the conclusion of the opera, in which the two little thieves are guided by God to be taken into the family of the innkeeper and his wife. In this aria, as well as in the other two Marian arias in The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, the singer is accompanied by a solo harp, which is associated with the character of Mary throughout the opera. The simple F-minor melody in three-quarter time, punctuated by chordal harmonies in the harp, has a calming effect at the beginning of the opera. The melodic segments sung on “li li li” were included by the composer based on his research in traditional European Jewish folk music and lullabies. He remarked that he was specifically drawn to Ashkenazic folk song of Eastern European Jewish tradition.83 This aria is preceded by the opening processional, in which all the characters and chorus make their way through the audience and onto the stage, to be introduced by the spoken narration of the Peacekeeper. The harp accompaniment translates easily into a piano accompaniment, and the aria can be sung by either mezzo-soprano or soprano with equal ease. This aria is well adapted for use in modern liturgical services as a general anthem and could also be performed by a children’s chorus singing in unison. THANKSGIVING PSALM from THE LITTLE THIEVES OF BETHLEHEM YEAR PUBLISHED: 1997 CHARACTER: Mary, mother of the infant Jesus LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Part I, No. 15 TEMPO: no tempo indication METER: 4/4 VOCAL RANGE: a to d’’ VOICE TYPE: Mezzo-soprano ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Harp LENGTH: Forty-one measures (including da capo and coda); 1:47 minutes ______

83Paul Stuart, interview by Sandra Boysen, Pittsford, New York, 28 October 2002.

78 TEXT: Judith 16: 13-14 (modern paraphrase by the librettist). New Revised Standard Version of The Holy Bible; text used by permission of the National Council of Churches. THANKSGIVING PSALM I will sing to my God a new song: I will sing to my God a new song: I will sing, I will sing to my God, I will sing to my God a new song: Oh, a new song:

O Lord, you are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible. Let all your creatures serve you, for you spoke and they were made, they were made.

You set forth your spirit, and it formed them; there is none that can resist your voice. There is none that can resist, there is none that can resist, That can resist.

(da capo)

I will sing to my God a new song: I will sing to my God a new song: I will sing, I will sing to my God, I will sing to my God a new song: Oh, a new song:

O Lord, you are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible. Let all your creatures serve you, for you spoke and they were made, they were made.

It is interesting to note that the composer chooses to begin and end Part One of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem with a solo for the character of Mary. The Thanksgiving Psalm closes Part I at a point in the story in which the situation leaves little for which to be thankful. The townspeople are searching everywhere for the young Brother and Sister, two mischievous orphans who scrabble out an existence by stealing just enough food to keep themselves alive for another day. These Little Thieves have made the mistake of stealing a favorite kaffiyeh from the Innkeeper, along with some of his Wife’s provisions. The children have ducked into the stable to share their stolen food with Mary, who has not eaten for a while as she waits for Joseph to return. The children

79 approach the young mother and her child, and are immediately attracted to the beautiful infant. The Brother notices that the baby is cold and wraps the stolen headdress around him to help keep him warm. Mary is touched by the little ruffians’ acts of kindness and offers a song of praise. Stuart pointed out that this aria is set in the present, while the first aria was set in the past and the third aria is set in the future. He chose this to represent the three anchor points in the characters’ lives as “where I came from,” “where I am” and “where I’m going.”84 It is significant that Part I ends with “where I am,” leaving the audience to anticipate the events yet to occur in Part II. The text is taken from the Book of Judith, the second of twelve books comprising the Apocrypha. For the purpose of clarifying the source of this text, this author believes it necessary to present a brief explanation regarding the history of the Apocrypha. At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther did not regard these books as Scripture but as “useful and good for reading.” In his German translation of the Bible, he placed them at the end of the Old Testament with the heading of “Apocrypha.” Protestants continued this practice in many translations of the Bible. Although some Christians do not accept these books as Scripture, it is generally accepted that they provide valuable information on Jewish history, life and religious practice immediately prior to the birth of Christ.85 The text is from the thanksgiving song of Judith, a woman who became a heroic figure in Hebrew history for having the courage to kill Holofernes, a tyrant who oppressed the Israelites. It is a song of praise and gratitude, and is appropriate for Mary to sing, not only to thank her God for the blessing of food and kindness, but also to honor another woman of her people. The aria remains in the key of D minor throughout. It is the most lively of the three Marian arias in this opera, making use of occasional rapidly articulated sixteenth- notes in the vocal line. Although there is no tempo indication in the full score, the compact disc recording used an andante tempo, ca. quarter note = 100. The vocal line ______84Ibid. 85Good News Bible (American Bible Society, New York), 1045.

80 makes good use of the mezzo-soprano voice’s a-natural, providing a deep warmth to the joyful leaping of the vocal line. The harp accompaniment uses a sparse chordal style, and like the first Marian aria, is easily translated into a piano accompaniment. This aria is best suited for mezzo-soprano, although a soprano who has a comfortable low range could perform it with equal ease. It is a satisfying anthem of general praise and can be incorporated into both liturgical worship services and recital programs. SONG OF ASCENTS from THE LITTLE THIEVES OF BETHLEHEM YEAR PUBLISHED: 1997 CHARACTER: Mary, mother of the infant Jesus LOCATION IN FULL SCORE OF OPERA: Part II, No. 25 TEMPO: Moderato METER: 4/4 VOCAL RANGE: c’ to e’’ VOICE TYPE: Mezzo-soprano ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTATION: Harp LENGTH: Thirty-three measures (including da capo and coda); 1:28 minutes TEXT: Psalm 126: 1-3, 5-6. New Revised Standard Version of The Holy Bible; text used by permission of the National Council of Churches. SONG OF ASCENTS When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, We were like those who dream, those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with shouts of joy.

The Lord has done great things for us, The Lord has done great things for us and we rejoiced.

May those who sow in tears reap with shouts, with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping bearing the seed for sowing, Shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.

(da capo) When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, 81 We were like those who dream, those who dream. Then our mouth be will filled with laughter, And our tongue with shouts of joy.

The opera’s dramatic narrative has reached a satisfying conclusion due to a miraculous event associated with the infant Jesus’ presence in Bethlehem. The kerchief given to the baby by the Brother has now turned into a brilliant cloth of gold, and the shrub on which it was hung has bloomed with roses in the middle of winter. The three Kings have found the Holy Child and have presented their gifts to him, and now take their leave of Bethlehem. They offer to take the Little Thieves with them, but the Innkeeper and his Wife offer their love to the children, who decide to stay in Bethlehem and enjoy belonging to a real family. Mary sums up the happiness of the story’s ending in this third aria, which ends the opera with a reminder that “those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.” The term “song of ascents” refers to the Israelites’ song of praise as they ascended the hill or mound on top of which was the great temple of Jehovah. In terms of the plot of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, the Song of Ascents may also refer to the ascent from the depths of hopelessness and misery to joy and happiness as the Brother and Sister find a family at last. The composer chose to use open fifths in the chordal accompaniment of the harp for this aria in D minor, to evoke the sound of traditional Jewish music. The harp plays only chords with no third until measure sixteen, when it makes a brief change to a quarter note/eighth note ascending pattern during the middle section. The da capo returns to the chordal pattern. In this aria, the mezzo-soprano voice is placed in the highest range of the three Marian arias. It is appropriate, as one considers the “ascension” of the drama to a conclusion of happiness, that the voice should ascend musically as well. This placement makes the range of this aria comfortable for soprano voices as well. Any of these three arias would do well as a “stand-alone” selection, but all three performed together would make a refreshing addition to a mezzo-soprano or soprano solo recital.

82 APPENDIX A CAST AND CREW LISTING FOR THE STAGE AND RECORDING PREMIERES OF THE STUART/GALL OPERAS

Kill Bear Comes Home – Premiere performance Produced by VM Music, Inc. and The Opera Theatre of Rochester Glenn West, artistic director Paul Stuart, conductor Judith Ranaletta, stage director Ricardo Ramirez, choreographer John King, set design Christina Curren and James Lowe, coach/musical preparation Nic Minetor, lighting design Gail Argetsinger, costume design Performance location: The Alfred and Ida Hart Theatre at the Jewish Community Center in Rochester, New York Performed on Saturday, March 30, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. Additional performances at this theatre: Sunday, March 31, 1996 at 2:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, 1996 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 14, 1996 at 2:30 p.m. Cast KILL BEAR Mark Schmidt, tenor COLD FEET Mi-Kyung Huh, soprano CHIEF WIFE HUNTER Jason Smith, baritone (Author’s note: This singer changed his professional name shortly after this opera’s premiere, and now performs as Jason Grant.) HASTY GIRL Elana Gizzi, soprano SONG BIRD Therese Murray, soprano

83 BEAR HEAD Patrick Butler, Jr. FIRST SISTER Cherie Pfeil, soprano SECOND SISTER Renia Shukis, soprano THIRD SISTER Lucy Fee, mezzo-soprano FOURTH SISTER Riki Connaughton, mezzo-soprano SONG LEADER David Averbach SONG BIRD DANCE DOUBLE Mary-Lynn Sindoni VILLAGERS The Opera Theatre of Rochester Chorus

The Opera Theatre of Rochester Chorus Philip Accorso, Kristen Koch, Erin Cummings, Courtney Morris, Ron Kauffman, Kristen Kessler, David Averbach, Jeff Miller, Chris Johnson, Catherine Shoemaker, Jenny Armour, Mary Menzie, Lisa Fix, Michael Pincelli Dancers Jenny Lynn Armour, Courtney Morris, Erin Cummings, Michael Pincelli, Kristin Koch Orchestra Jenny Oh, flute Ricardo Ramirez, keyboards Berkeley Price, clarinet Kristen Tait, percussion Silagh White, bassoon Steve Owen, percussion Hsueh-Fen Wei, contrabass

Kill Bear Comes Home – Compact Disc Premiere Recording Produced by VM Music, Inc. and The Opera Theatre of Rochester Glenn West, artistic director Paul Stuart, conductor Compact disc recorded, engineered, and mixed at Dynamic Recording Studios, at 2844 Dewey Avenue, Rochester, New York Recording Engineer: David Ward Assistant Engineers: Maggie Perrotta and Mike Jaeger

84 Dynamic Catalog # DRK-154 Compact Disc mastered by Studio7, Rochester, New York Recorded on April 9 and 10, 1996 Official release date for broadcast purposes: September 15, 1996

Cast KILL BEAR Mark Schmidt, tenor COLD FEET Mi-Kyung Huh, soprano CHIEF WIFE HUNTER Jason Smith, baritone HASTY GIRL Elana Gizzi, soprano SONG BIRD Therese Murray, soprano FIRST SISTER Cherie Pfeil, soprano SECOND SISTER Renia Shukis, soprano THIRD SISTER Lucy Fee, mezzo-soprano FOURTH SISTER Riki Connaughton, mezzo-soprano

Orchestra Jenny Oh, flute Barbara Dechario, harp Berkeley Price, clarinet Kristen Tait, percussion Silagh White, bassoon Steve Owen, percussion Hsueh-Fen Wei, contrabass

The Little Thieves of Bethlehem – Premiere performance Produced by VM Music, Inc. and The Opera Theatre of Rochester Raffaele Ponti, conductor

85 Paul Stuart, artistic director Kathleen Eng, choreographer Barbara Williams, costumes Performance location: Third Presbyterian Church, Rochester, New York Performed on December 7, 1997 at 3:00 p.m.

Cast MARY Kelley Hamilton, mezzo-soprano JOSEPH Bryan Jackson, baritone BROTHER (first little thief) Susanna Adams, soprano SISTER (second little thief) Elana Gizzi, soprano INNKEEPER Mark Schmidt, tenor WIFE OF INNKEEPER Riker Connaughton, mezzo-soprano (listed in Kill Bear Comes Home as “Riki Connaughton”) FIRST KING Vitali Rozynko, baritone SECOND KING Ivan Griffin, baritone THIRD KING Andrew Nagel, bass RETINUE Linda Nourie Foster, soprano PEACEKEEPER Fred Nuernberg, speaking role VILLAGERS The Eastman Bach Children’s Chorus and the Opera Theatre of Rochester Chorus

Eastman Bach Children’s Chorus Karla Krogstad, director Michelle Andrews, Lindsay Antczak, Ashley Gilfus, Anna Kelley, Martha Kelley, Meghan C. Koch, Hannah LaBorie, Dianne LaBorie, Suzanne LaBorie, Stacey LaFountain, Lauren MacDonough, Trisha Louise Richards, David Rodriguez, Alison Schmitt, Zachary Summers, Vanessa Taylor, Elizabeth R. VanHouten, Rachel K. VanHouten, Vanessa Stuart

86 (Author’s note: Vanessa Stuart is deliberately listed out of alphabetical order in the Children’s Chorus in all published records of both the live premiere performance and the compact disc recording. She was the only child in the cast who was not a member of the Eastman Bach Children’s Chorus. As the daughter of the composer, she was invited to sing with the Chorus for this production. Her non-member Chorus status was subsequently indicated by listing her at the end of the chorus roster.)

The Opera Theatre of Rochester Chorus Raffaele Ponti, conductor John Ackerman, Victoria Ackerman, Rodger J. Bartman, Lucy Fee, Ed Hamann, Bill Hearne, Steven Hoagland, Daniel W. Johnson, Ron Kauffman, Kathy Kerr, Kristen M. Kessler, G. William LaDue, Peter Letson, Diane McBride, Ponchandra McEwen, Mary Menzie, Catherine A. Shoemaker, Gail Ann Weaver, Carol Weed, Jennifer Wells

Orchestra Diane Smith, flute Ingrid Bock, cello Erin Hannigan, oboe Lynn Williams, harp Bonnie Lindblom, trumpet Jerald Egger, harpsichord Peter Lindblom, trumpet Kristen Shiner McGuire, percussion Leah Schuman, trumpet Cheryl Paine-O’Connor, percussion Ricardo Ramirez, rehearsal accompanist

The Little Thieves of Bethlehem – Compact Disc Premiere Recording Produced by Paul Stuart Raffaele Ponti, conductor David A. Dusman, recording and mixing engineer

Compact Disc recorded on June 2 and 3, 1997, at Christ Church, Rochester, New York

87 Distributed by Centaur Records, Inc. Catalog Number: CRC 2424 © 1999 (Author’s note: This compact disc recording was originally released through VM Music, Inc. It was added to Centaur Records catalog in 1999.)

Cast MARY Kelley Hamilton, mezzo-soprano JOSEPH Bryan Jackson, baritone SISTER Therese Murray, soprano BROTHER Elana Gizzi, soprano INNKEEPER Mark Schmidt, tenor WIFE OF INNKEEPER Riker Connaughton, mezzo-soprano (listed in Kill Bear Comes Home as “Riki Connaughton”) FIRST KING Vitali Rozynko, baritone SECOND KING Ivan Griffin, baritone THIRD KING Paul Busselberg, baritone RETINUE Linda Nourie, soprano PEACEKEEPER Fred Nuernberg, speaking role VILLAGERS The Eastman Bach Children’s Chorus and the Opera Theatre of Rochester Chorus

The Opera Theatre of Rochester Chorus Raffaele Ponti, conductor Carol Weed, William Hearne, Janene Bostwick, Mary Menzie, Ponchandra G. McEwen, Eapen I. Leubner, Julie Hagen, Catherine Shoemaker, Gail A. Weaver, Kathleen Kerr, Brad Peloquin, Steve Hoagland, Vitali Rozynko, Ivan Griffin, Paul Busselberg, Linda Nourie, Kristen Kessler, Lucy Fee

Eastman Bach Children’s Chorus Karla Krogstad, director

88 Michelle Andrews, Lindsay Antczak, Ashley Gilfus, Anna Kelley, Martha Kelley, Meghan C. Koch, Hannah LaBorie, Dianne LaBorie, Suzanne LaBorie, Stacey LaFountain, Lauren MacDonough, Adrienne Mack-Davis, Trisha Louise Richards, David Rodriguez, Alison Schmitt, Zachary Summers, Vanessa Taylor, Elizabeth R. VanHouten, Rachel K. VanHouten, Vanessa Stuart

Orchestra Diane Smith, flute Barbara Dechario, harp Erin Hannigan, oboe Bonnie Choi, harpsichord Bonnie Lindblom, trumpet Cheryl Paine-O’Connor, percussion Peter Lindblom, trumpet Kristen Shiner McGuire, percussion Jeff Patterson, trumpet Kathleen Murphy Kemp, cello

(Author’s note: Rosters of the principal casts, choruses and orchestras are reproduced here in the order in which they were printed in the compact disc liner notes. This accounts for the discrepancies in the order of names in these rosters.)

89 APPENDIX B PRODUCTION BUDGETS FOR PUBLIC PREMIERES OF THE STUART/GALL OPERAS

Kill Bear Comes Home: Preliminary Budget Dated July 24, 1995 Drafted by Paul Stuart

FIXED COSTS VARIABLE COSTS

Set $200 Orchestra Performance $525 Costumes $200 Vocal Performance $0 Director $1,800 Musical Direction $0 Lighting Design $0 Theater Rental $350 Technical Director $0 Crew $150 Choreographer $200 Theater Rental $375 (4 rehearsals) Miscellaneous $150 Orchestra Rehearsal $1,400 (4 rehearsals) Vocal Rehearsal $200 (accompanist)

Subtotal $4,525 Subtotal $1,025

90 REVENUES PER PERFORMANCE

Capacity Audience 306 Ticket Price $12.00 Opera Theatre’s Percent 15% % Capacity 90% Opera Theatre’s Revenue $496

Subtotal $2,809

The Little Thieves of Bethlehem: Production Budget Dated July 11, 1997 Drafted by Paul Stuart

FIXED COSTS VARIABLE COSTS

Set $200 Orchestra Performance $1,000 ($100 each) Costumes $200 Vocal Performance $1,500 ($150 each) Director $0 Musical Direction $300 Lighting Design $0 Location Rental $300 Technical Director $0 Crew $0 Choreographer $0 Third Presbyterian $0 Miscellaneous $0 Orchestra Rehearsal $750 (10 instrumentalists @ $75)

91 Accompanist $350 ($50 per rehearsal) Conductor $300 Advertising $500 Subtotal $2,300 Subtotal $3,100

REVENUES PER PERFORMANCE

Capacity Audience 600 Ticket Prices $12.00 ($10 student/senior citizen) Opera Theatre’s Percent 0% % Capacity 90% Opera Theatre’s Revenue $0

Subtotal $6,480

These budget figures were provided to this author by Paul Stuart from his personal records.

92 APPENDIX C COPYRIGHT PERMISSION LETTER

93 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd Ed. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1972. Articles, "Jewish Music" and “Pitch Names.”

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Cantor, Norman F. The Sacred Chain: The History of the Jews. New York: Harper Collins, 1994.

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Daneman, Matthew. “Dance School Lands On Its Feet.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 14 February 2001.

Ferko, Frank. Electronic mail to Paul Stuart, 27 July 1997. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

Forman, Joanne. "Kill Bear Comes Home." Opera Quarterly 14. Autumn, 1997.

Gall, Sally M. Electronic mail message to Paul Stuart, 29 September 1995. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Electronic mail message to Paul Stuart, 21 February 1996. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

94 ______. Electronic mail message to Paul Stuart, 27 March 1997. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Electronic mail interview by Sandra Boysen, 10 November 2002.

______. Letter to Paul Stuart, 15 November 1992. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Letter to Paul Stuart, 3 December 1992. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Letter to Paul Stuart, 27 December 1994. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Letter to Paul Stuart, 5 July 1995. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Professional biography submitted to Paul Stuart. 30 October 1992.

______. Professional biography submitted to Paul Stuart. 9 May 1994.

______. Professional résumé submitted to Paul Stuart. 9 May 1997.

______. “Versification.” In Poetry in English: An Anthology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987, pp. 1138-81.

Gall, Sally M. and M. L. Rosenthal. The Modern Poetic Sequence: The Genius of Modern Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.

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______. "The Little Thieves of Bethlehem." Opera News 62, no. 11, 14 February 1998.

Goldenweiser, Alexander A. "On Iroquois Work" (1913). In An Iroquois Source Book: Volume 1: Political and Social Organization. Elisabeth Tooker, ed. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985.

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95 Idelsohn, Abraham Z. Jewish Music: Its Historical Development. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1929.

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Leary-Warsaw, Jacqueline. "Kill Bear Comes Home." Opera for Youth Journal 19, no. 4. Winter, 1997.

Lockard-Zimmerman, Barbara. "The Little Thieves of Bethlehem." Opera for Youth Journal 21, no. 1. Spring, 1998.

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Raymond, David. Script for on-air opera review of Kill Bear Comes Home. WXXI Public Radio: Rochester, New York, April 1996.

Reale, Johnathan. "Kill Bear Comes Home." RhythmMusic. July, 1997.

Review of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. The Opera Journal 31, no. 1. March, 1998.

Rothmüller, Aron Marko and Thomas Yoseloff. The Music of the Jews: An Historical Appreciation. Translated from the German by H. S. Stevens. South Brunswick, New Jersey, 1967.

96 Rubin, Ruth, ed. A Treasury of Jewish Folksong. New York: Schoken Books, 1964.

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Stainer, John, Sir. Music of the Bible. London: Novello and Co., 1914.

Stuart, Paul. "About Kill Bear Comes Home." Program commentary for premiere of Kill Bear Comes Home. Opera Theatre of Rochester program, 30 March 1996.

______. “About Kill Bear Comes Home.” Liner notes from Kill Bear Comes Home, premiere compact disc recording. Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996.

______. "The Composer's Role in Society." Notes for lecture presented on 28 February 1999.

______. Electronic mail to Sandra Boysen, 27 October 2002. Personal collection of Sandra Boysen.

______. Interview by Sandra Boysen, 26 October 1999. Pittsford, New York.

______. Interview by Sandra Boysen, 27 July 2002. Pittsford, New York.

______. Interview by Sandra Boysen, 28 October 2002. Pittsford, New York.

______. Interview by Sandra Boysen, 3 November 2002. Pittsford, New York.

______. Kill Bear Comes Home. Videotape of premiere performance from the composer's personal archives, 1996.

______. Letter to Jose Barriero, 3 October 1992. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Letter to Sally M. Gall, 2 November 1992. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

97 ______. Letter to Sally M. Gall, 21 December 1994. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Letter to Sally M. Gall, 23 September 1995. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. Letter to Tekaronianeken Jake Swamp, 3 October 1992. Personal collection of Paul Stuart. Used by permission.

______. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. Videotape of premiere performance from the composer's personal archives, 1997.

______. "Opera from My Perspective." Pre-concert lecture presented on behalf of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, January 1997.

______. Personal notes on The Little Thieves of Bethlehem (undated).

______. Preliminary budget notes for production of Kill Bear Comes Home, 24 July 1995.

______. Preliminary budget notes for production of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, 11 July 1997.

______. Presentation notes for discussion of The Little Thieves of Bethlehem to the Opera For Youth Convention at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 14 January 1998.

______. Presentation notes for panel discussion concerning the creative process. Presented on behalf of the Commission Project, Rochester, New York, 1998.

______. "Under the Sway of Public Taste." Editorial published in TheNew York Times, 21 February 1997.

Stuart, Paul and Sally M. Gall. Kill Bear Comes Home. Opera in Two Acts. Full Score. Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996.

______. Kill Bear Comes Home. Opera in Two Acts. Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1996. Compact disc recording.

______. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem. Opera in Two Acts. Full Score. Pittsford, New York: VM Music, Inc., 1997.

98 ______. The Little Thieves of Bethlehem, opera in one act. CRC 2424. Centaur Records, Inc., 1999. Compact disc recording.

“Tail Rhyme.” The School of Poetry, 2002. Glossary online.

Through Indian Eyes: The Untold Story of Native American Peoples. New York: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., 1995.

Timeless Jewish Songs: Shirim La’ad. Sampler Records 9326. Compact disc.

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Washington, Kathleen. "Take the Family to Kill Bear." Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 3 April 1996.

99 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Since her debut with Pensacola Opera as Despina in Cosí fan tutte, soprano Sandra Boysen has appeared with Palm Beach Opera, Mobile Opera, Florida State Opera, The Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera, and South Georgia Opera, among others, under conductors including Anton Guadagno, Stefan Minde, Benton Hess, and Roger Cantrell. Her roles range from Mozart heroines to women’s roles in contemporary works, with lighter roles from Gilbert and Sullivan to the title role in Evita. In 2000 she toured the Philippines, performing selections from opera and musical theatre, and appeared with Opera Rochester in Viktor Ullman's operatic allegory of the Holocaust, Der Kaiser von Atlantis. In 2002 she sang the role of Amy in the premiere of Paul Stuart's chamber opera, The Sisters of Manzanar, with the Equinox Symphony Orchestra. As concert artist, Sandra has been soloist with The Florida State University Symphony in Bruckner’s Te Deum, the Bach Aria Festival at SUNY-Stony Brook, Cornell University, Eastman School of Music, Westminster Choir College, Emporia State University and additional colleges and ensembles throughout the U.S. Her recitals have been heard throughout the southern and eastern U.S., and she was soloist in over 300 schools and churches from coast to coast during a three-year tour. In August 2001 she made her Manhattan cabaret debut in two shows at Don't Tell Mama Cabaret, and in 2003, sang in the New York premiere of The Journey of Sir Douglas Fir with the Orchestra of the Finger Lakes. She has appeared on Live From Hochstein broadcasts in Rochester, New York, through WXXI 91.5 FM, a National Public Radio affiliate. She was honored to be the soprano soloist for Mozart's Requiem at the Eastman Theatre, in a performance organized by Eastman School of Music faculty members Carol Webber and William Weinert as a benefit for the victims of September 11, 2001. She was the recipient of an Artist-Fellowship with the Bach Aria Festival and Institute at SUNY-Stony Brook, New York, and was one of twelve voice teachers from 100 across the U.S. and Canada chosen to participate in the 2000 Teaching Internship Program at Ithaca College, sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Also in 2000, she was chosen for a Group Study Exchange Team which spent five weeks teaching and studying in the Philippines, sponsored by Rotary International. Sandra currently resides in Rochester, New York, with her husband, Charles Boyd, a filmmaker, author and educator. She is on the voice faculty at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance in Rochester, where she also serves as Public Relations Coordinator. She holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Pensacola Christian College and the Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from The Florida State University.

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