Booklet Pdf Template.Qxd 29/04/2008 13:17 Page 1
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
booklet pdf template.qxd 29/04/2008 13:17 Page 1 Golem Music Projects / London Richard Bernas conductor booklet pdf template.qxd 29/04/2008 13:17 Page 2 Cast Maharal a Rabbi, leader of his community Adrian Clarke baritone CD1 (50’26) Golem a large figure made from clay John Hall bass baritone Miriam the Maharal’s wife Patricia Rozario soprano Prelude Ometh a wounded, chained person Christopher Robson countertenor 1 Introduction Four people from the town: Maharal Receive, remember 2’50 Stoikus a senior figure Paul Wilson tenor 2 Chorus Formed of ribs 1’33 Jadek an old man Richard Morris baritone 3 Maharal I made a golem 0’43 Stump a cripple Paul Harrhy tenor 4 Maharal He had youth and strength 1’15 Gerty a middle-aged woman Mary Thomas mezzo-soprano 5 Maharal From their fingers 0’49 6 Maharal Lust turned in him 1’16 7 Golem Where now, master? 3’15 8 Ometh Do not forget this naked man 1’29 Music Projects/London 9 Chorus Awake, arise 1’07 conductor Richard Bernas 10 Maharal Water, earth 1’11 11 Maharal Earth only, and water 1’31 flute/alto flute/piccolo Nancy Ruffer 12 Maharal Give me the splendid, silent sun 3’06 cor anglais Joseph Saunders clarinet/bass clarinet Colin Honour soprano saxophone/alto saxophone Stephen Cotterell Legend horn Judith Beswick trombone Roger Williams Scene 1 percussion David Hockings 13 Introduction 6’59 harp Hugh Webb 14 Maharal The dark air clings 1’05 violin Belinda McFarlane 15 Maharal Who? Who speaks? 1’23 cello Robert Irvine 16 Maharal No! Come he must! 0’52 double bass Sophia Preston 17 Maharal What clouds his coming? 1’24 18 Ometh Grind of bone 0’53 administrator Alan Davis 19 Ometh Three in one 0’58 electronic tape part created by the composer in the Electronic 20 Maharal How can this be? 1’42 Music Studio of the University of Durham 21 Maharal I know the pain you feel 1’54 2 3 booklet pdf template.qxd 29/04/2008 13:17 Page 4 Scene 2 14 Maharal His strength shall not be used for this 0’35 22 Maharal First, you must walk 1’23 15 Maharal Those ancient Gods 1’09 23 Maharal You, a man 1’23 16 Maharal Fists to smash the tyrants 1’04 24 Maharal Be still! Obey! 0’51 17 Ometh My heavy chains ring on 2’44 25 Maharal Now, a simple job 2’15 26 Maharal Now, to work 1’41 Scene 5 27 Maharal Swing your body 0’56 18 Introduction 28 Maharal A long journey 0’54 Stoikus My shining beauties 2’04 29 Jadek, Stump Swing… axe… cracks 1’01 19 Jadek Forever talking, forever weeping… 1’23 30 Maharal I found this man 1’33 20 Gerty Petal, petal… prattle, prattle… 0’52 31 Miriam He is that wanderer 1’08 21 Stump, Stoikus Eviction, persecution… 0’56 22 Stoikus We wait 1’04 23 Gerty I screamed, and screamed again 1’25 CD2 (48’39) 24 Gerty Fingers… night… river… 0’22 25 Stoikus You! What’re you doing here? 1’20 Scene 3 26 Golem No, no! My task is that of helper 0’42 1 Stoikus Axe? Axe? 1’21 27 Gerty, Stump, Jadek Join us! 0’29 2 Golem Flies away… 1’02 28 Jadek You old virus! 0’31 3 Stoikus Pah! You’ll never know 0’48 29 Stump, Jadek Goylem foil ‘em 1’22 4 Miriam White sheets, river deep 1’29 30 Golem Axe splits 1’29 5 Miriam Oh, it’s you Olem 1’28 31 Golem Gone. Where have you gone? 1’20 6 Miriam Wring them dry 0’37 32 Golem So much not done 1’19 7 Golem Her golden hair 1’38 33 Golem A wounded body 2’48 8 Golem And from a tree of holy fruit 1’06 34 Ometh I saw your lonely life here 1’39 9 Golem Sweet meadows through a gate 1’43 35 Golem At last I find in you my equal 1’26 10 Maharal The time has come for you to rest 1’18 36 Maharal It is me you need, me beside you 0’56 37 Maharal See beyond the visible 0’33 Scene 4 38 Maharal I am your father! 2’55 11 Miriam Another stranger here? 1’21 12 Maharal What intrusion is this? 1’19 13 Ometh The penalty for your deaf ears 0’55 Photo page 2: The Maharal (Adrian Clarke) - Ivan Kyncl Photo page 4-5: The Maharal and Ometh (Adrian Clarke and Christopher Robson) - Ivan Kyncl 4 5 booklet pdf template.qxd 29/04/2008 13:17 Page 6 Golem by John Casken Golem stories have been known in the became a way of coping with the outrage In developing the synopsis for my opera I creature who does not understand the Jewish communities of Central Europe of these accusations and the inevitable introduced a novel figure into my nature of his own disobedience has to be for hundreds of years, but much earlier persecution that followed. exploration of the legend, namely that of unmade and returned to clay. evidence for the idea of the golem can Ometh, Promethean figure of hope and be found in the Book of Psalms. In Psalm A golem is created by forming clay into conscience, wounded and chained. He The golem is a metaphor for all creation, 139 we find the image of life being the shape of a man, breathing life into the seeks a union with the golem, begging including artistic creation. It offers a shaped from the depths of the earth, an figure, and reciting all combinations of the him to break the chains so that they can comment on the power of things we image of creation that speaks to us 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is work together to cleanse humanity of create and their independent lives, it across the centuries to our own times, through this kabbalistic meditation that the evil, intolerance and persecution. The illuminates the relationship of creator and and that reflects on the divine mystery of Maharal communicates with the divine in Maharal, protective of his creation and created, and questions the role of God. creation and its consequences. But it is order to bring his creation to life. In order mindful of his mission, arrogantly refuses Like Faust, it echoes man’s eternal in the nineteenth-century version with the to control his creation, the golem has to to allow this and stops the golem from dream to have power over death, the legend of the Golem of Prague that the be made to rest on the Sabbath by helping Ometh. desire for eternal youth, and our need to story gained wider popularity. Here, Rabbi inscribing the letters emeth (truth) on his build insurances for the future. On a Loew (the Maharal: Moreynu Harav brow. Erasing the first letter spells the To the people from the town, the golem global level, as terrorism shakes the Loevy, or Our Teacher, Rabbi Loew), a word meth (death), and some versions of is a suspicious stranger. They treat him world, as nation continues to threaten famous sixteenth-century scholar and the legend show the rabbi forgetting to do scornfully as an outsider, interrupting nation, and as we pin our hopes on spiritual leader, creates a man from this, with the result that the golem grows their preparations to strike out against individuals, the legend of the golem has lifeless clay through the power of the too big, his strength out of control, and he their own miserable condition. Not able to powerful contemporary resonances. Not Kabbalah to defend his community has to be returned to clay. In other tellings understand their situation, or to only does the idea of artificial life raise against persecution. This man will use his of the legend, as in this opera, the golem comprehend his own role, he turns his the spectre of genetic technology and enormous strength to protect the develops a sense of curiosity and, rather strength against those he has come to cloning, it also extends to artificial innocent and to obey his master without surprisingly, begins to experience human protect, and he kills an innocent man intelligence and computers. By analogy, question. When Jews were being feelings, notably of desire. The parallels with his axe. The Maharal is faced with the story of the golem warns of the accused of murdering Christian children with how we control the future of our own the stark failure of his creation and is dangers of putting too much faith in and using their blood in Passover rituals creations, or anticipate the outcome of forced to realise that his golem must be technology, and assuming that a “star during the nineteenth century, this legend those things we create, are clear. destroyed. The innocent and inarticulate wars” solution will form the ultimate 6 7 booklet pdf template.qxd 29/04/2008 13:17 Page 8 John Casken’s Golem by Andrew Clements protection against the aggressor. The Puttermesser, H. Leivick’s play The At first sight the legend of the golem different, but the need to respond vividly story of the golem reminds us of our Golem, as well as the Tarot and The Tree appears an unlikely operatic subject for a and to match the imagery of the story tendency to create artificial totems in of Life. British composer whose roots have with equally powerful music remained order to make our feelings of outrage always been fixed very firmly in the north unchanged.