In 2017, I took a workshop offered by the Seattle Opera on how to write a
libretto. That means how to convert a story into words that will be
sung and spoken as a means of telling a story that is fundamentally
musical. Grand opera, chamber opera, operetta, oratorio, and musical
theater, such as Broadway shows, are various options.
The workshop was taught by Jessica Murphy Moo, who wrote the libretto
for "An American Dream," an opera that has been performed in Seattle
(where it was commissioned), Chicago and various other venues. Her
course materials focused on a three-act contemporary opera, but she told
the dozen or so participants they could do any form they wanted.
Not a
fan of contemporary operas, which are typically "sung through" as
opposed to having a number of often-memorable stand-alone arias, I
opted for a one-act operetta in neo-Baroque, or Baroque-influenced form.
Baroque operas and oratorios, and most notably those by G.F. Handel,
most definitely put singers first. Great vocalization was what 18th
century London audiences most wanted to hear and Handel knew how to
deliver it, often at great expense since while having one of the best
European choral traditions (which Handel exploited), the Britain of his
day was not known for producing opera singers, most of whom then came
from Italy.
Most useful for me were four points that Ms Murphy Moo emphasized: start
in medias res, or in the middle of an ongoing story; the main
protagonist must want something; there should be a twist in the plot,
and cut, cut, cut, cut, cut.
I used one chapter of a novel I had been
trying to write and boiled it down to rhyming lyrics that packed as much
meaning into as few words as possible. It was both a challenge and a
lot of fun to do so.
Unfortunately, the workshop did not involve any significant
collaboration with a composer, and what will follow in subsequent posts has
to do with that very significant shortcoming.
I will write more about this project, but meanwhile, if you would like to see whether the concept worked, click the link below.
www.youtube.com/@operetta-patricia
The two songs (about 7 minutes in total) are "All my
life I've been sensible" and "I'm good at my work." After
playing the first, YouTube may take you off to other stuff that has nothing to
do with me and you may have go back, perhaps by starting over. Be sure to
start each song from the very beginning because there are a few spoken words
that help to explain why the songs are being sung. There are also explanations
of the songs, including the lyrics, just below the pictures of the videos if
you are interested. Click on “more” when you see the text.
Comments are encouraged.
