RNY 1082 - David Lang - Love fail by Ricordi

david lang love fail

version for women’s chorus or eight solo voices

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stories by lydia davis, and words by david lang after gottfried von strassburg, beroul, sir thomas malory, marie de france, beatriz contessa de dia, thomas of britain, the yom kippur liturgy and richard wagner

score

Warning : Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited by Federal law, and subject to criminal prosecution. CopyrightbyRicordiNewYork

Four of the singers also play simple percussion, as follows:

singer from group 1 – also plays suspended sizzle cymbal

singer from group 2 – also plays glockenspiel

singer from group 3 – also plays ratchet and woodblock

singer from group 4 – also plays conch shell and concert bass drum

The glockenspiel sound two octaves higher than written.

Note : Throughout the score there are several passages marked ‘solo.’ It is preferable that these parts be distributed throughout the ensemble and not assigned to a single singer.

All voices and instruments may be amplified. It is also imagined that distortion, reverb, sound processing, lighting and staging may be useful in the performance of this work.

the duration is approximately 55 minutes.

love fail is dedicated, with love, to Joe Melillo.

love fail was co-commissioned by The Brooklyn Academy of Musicʼs 2012 Next Wave Festival, The International Festival of Arts & Ideas, The John F. K ennedy Center Abe Fortas Memorial Fund, The Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, The Secrest Artists Series at Wake Forest University, and Hancher Performances at the University of Iowa.

Movement 4, the wood and the vine, was commissioned by The Newman Center for the Performing Arts at University of Denver, The University of California at Riverside, and the Santa Fe Concert Association in Santa FE, NM.

Movement 10, I live in pain, in a different version, was originally written for “The Crossing,” Donald Nally, conductor.

love fail was premiered by Anonymous 4 on June 29th, 2012, at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas; New Haven CT with support from the Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven CT.

love fail was originally staged in collaboration with Jennifer Tipton (lighting), Jim Findlay (set and video), Suzanne Bocanegra (costumes), and Jody Elff (sound design), produced by Beth Morrison and directed by David Lang.

The choral version of love fail was written for the Lorelei Ensemble and premiered January 10th, 2016 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

The following works by Lydia Davis are used with permission of the Denise Shannon Literary Agency, Inc., and the author:

love fail

music by david lang

with stories by lydia davis and words by david lang

after gottfried von strassburg, beroul, sir thomas malory, marie de france, beatriz contessa de dia, thomas of britain, the yom kippur liturgyand richard wagner

program note

Why is it that people still like the story of Tristan and Isolde? It has been told repeatedly for almost 1000 years, in many different versions, with all manner of strange details added or changed. “The greatest love story ever!” But why? Of course, there is excitement, drama, love, lust, shame, death, dragons. I think the real reason why is because the love of Tristan and Isolde begins by accident—they drink a love potion. They didnʼt mean to drink it, and they didnʼt mean to fall in love. They drink and—BAM!—it starts. It is almost a laboratory experiment into what love might be like without any of the complications of how real love begins or works—without the excitement, embarrassment, frustration, guilt or competition present in the courtships of ordinary people.

I thought I might learn something about love if I could explore this in a piece, putting details abstracted from many different retellings of Tristan and Isolde next to texts that are more modern, more recognizable to us, more real. First I scoured the literature and took my favorite weird incidents from the originals; for example, in Marie de Franceʼs version Tristan carves his name on a stick for Isolde to find, she sees it and immediately knows what message Tristan means to convey, and that message—incredibly—is many many pages long. Another example: Tristan and Isolde drink the potion, thinking it is wine, and Gottfried von Strassburg writes, dramatically, that it isnʼt wine they are drinking, but a cup of their never-ending sorrow. (This, near the chapter in which Gottfried lists all the other Germanic poets working in the 12th century, and then tells you how he rates among them.) I compiled the oddest incidents from these versions of their romance, took out all the names or technological information that would make the texts seem ancient, and put them next to stories by the contemporary author Lydia Davis. These stories are oddly similar to the Tristan stories—they are also about love, honor and respect between two people, but they are much more recognizable to us.

I based my words on scraps of the text I found on the internet—thank you google translate! I do want to acknowledge the translations of Robert W. Hanning & Joan Ferrante, A. T. Hatto, and Alan S. Fedrick, whose versions of these texts I consulted more than once.

1. he was and she was (words by David Lang, after Gottfried von Strassburg)

he was a blessed man he was an understanding man he was an ecstatic man he was a joyful man he was a delightful man he was a free man he was a studious man he was a masterful man

she was so wise she was so fair she was so shining she was so lovely she was so studious she was so versed she was so young she was so fair

he was a persevering man (he was so persevering) he was a learned man (he was so learned) he was a skilful man (he was so skilful) he was a strong man (he was so strong ) he was a skilful man (he was so skilful) he was an excelling man (he was so excelling) he was a fortunate man (he was so fortunate) he was a rare man (he was so rare)

she was so m asterful she was so diligent she was so refined she was so polite she was so accomplished she was so lovely she was so excellent she was so dexterous

he was a fair man he was a blessed man he was an admirable man he was a successful man he was a noble man he was an excellent man he was a worthy man he was a cherished man

she was so sweet she was so soft she was so secret she was so wondrous she was so charming she was so lovely she was so good she was so young

break #1

(words by David Lang, after Beroul)

three years three years after it started it ended

2.dureth

(words by Sir Thomas Malory)

the joy of love is too short, and the sorrow thereof, and what cometh thereof, dureth over long.

3.A Different Man

(words by Lydia Davis)

At night he was a different man. If she knew him as he was in the morning, at night she hardly recognized him: a pale man, a gray man, a man in a brown sweater, a man with dark eyes who kept his distance from her, who took offense, who was not reasonable. In the morning, he was a rosy king, gleaming, smooth-cheeked and smooth-chinned, fragrant with perfumed talc, coming out into the sunlight with a wide embrace in his royal red plaid robe…

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4.the wood and the vine

(words by David Lang, after Marie de France)

now I’ll tell you a story that is also the truth –it is the truth the wood and the vine

we all know this story We have heard it before it was told to us by everyone and everyone told it to you

a man and a woman they loved so much and were so true and they suffered so much and on a single day, they died.

their love was forbidden he went back to the place where he was born. but being apart made him sick with despair.

don’t be surpriseda lover grieves when love is far away sadness can make us all sick with despair

he stayed there for years, until, at last, he went back, to get, to try, to hope to get a message to his love

he hid in the woods by where she lived and found a path where she might walk he cut a branch and, on it, he carved a single wordhis nameand left it on the path where she might find it. then she would know the message and she would know just what the message meant.

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later she came along the same path and saw the piece of wood she knew exactly what it was she saw the single word carved upon it and she knew.

this is what she knew:

“dearest love this is my message I send it to you I have waited for you I have waited to see you even now I am waiting for you in the woods

I cannot live without you I cannot live without you

“you and Iwe are like the vine that winds itself around the branch it twines and pulls and digs into the flesh, so tight that the two of them become one the two become one if someone pulls the two apart then both will die. so it is with us, my love, so it is with us. you cannot live without me. I cannot live without you. I cannot live without you. you cannot live without me.”

she went a short way into the woods and found him and they wept. they wept with joy when they were together and they wept with sadness when they left.

later he remembered the joy and the sadness and he wrote this song:

“the wood and the vine”

every word is true. all true.

5. Right and Wrong (words by Lydia Davis)

She knows she is right, but to say she is right is wrong, in this case. To be correct and say so is wrong, in certain cases.

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She may be correct, and she may say so, in certain cases. But if she insists too much, she becomes wrong, so wrong that even her correctness becomes wrong, by association.

It is right to believe in what she thinks is right, but to say what she thinks is right is wrong, in certain cases.

She is right to act on her beliefs, in her life. But she is wrong to report her right actions, in most cases. Then even her right actions become wrong, by association.

If she praises herself, she may be correct in what she says, but her saying it is wrong, in most cases, and thus cancels it, or reverses it, so that although she was for a particular act deserving of praise, she is no longer in general deserving of praise.

6. you will love me

(words by David Lang, after Gottfried von Strassburg)

you will love me me, alone above all others above all other things you will love me

we will live one life we will die one death we will share one joy we will share one sorrow it is not wine it is our lasting sorrow it is not wine it is our never-ending anguish and we drink it we drink it

7. Forbidden Subjects

(words by Lydia Davis)

Soon almost every subject they might want to talk about is associated with yet another unpleasant scene and becomes a subject they can’t talk about, so that as time goes by there is less and less they can safely talk about, and eventually little else but the news and what they’re reading, though not all of what they’re r eading. They can’t talk about certain members of her family, his working hours, her working hours, rabbits, mice, dogs, certain foods, certain universities, hot weather, hot and cold room temperatures at night and in the day, lights on and lights off in the evening in summer, the piano, music in general, how much money he earns, what she earns, what she spends, etc. But one day, after they have been talking about a forbidden subject, though not the most dangerous of the forbidden subjects, she realizes it may be possible, sometimes, to say something calm and careful about a forbidden subject, so that it may once again become a subject that can be talked about, and then to say something calm and careful about another forbidden subject, so that there will be another subject that can be talked about once again, and that as more subjects can be talked about once again there will be, gradually, more talk between them, and that as there is more talk there will be more trust, and that when there is enough trust, they may dare to approach even the most dangerous of the forbidden subjects.

8. as love grows stronger

(words by David Lang, after Gottfried von Strassburg)

as love grows stronger love holds us closer

as love grows stronger love holds us tight

as love grows stronger as love grows stronger

we become more beautiful to each other

this is the seed from which love grows from which love never dies until…. until….

as it ever was as it ever is as it ever will be

break #2 (instrumental)

9. The Outing

(words by Lydia Davis)

An outburst of anger near the road, a refusal to speak on the path, a silence in the pine woods, a silence across the old railroad bridge, an attempt to be friendly in the water, a refusal to end the argument on the flat stones, a cry of anger on the steep bank of dirt, a weeping among the bushes.

10. I live in pain

(words by David Lang, after Beatriz, Com tessa de Dia)

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I live in pain for someone I once had, for someone I once wanted for someone I once knew for someone I once loved, without measure. I see now that he left me because I did not give him all my love I see now I was wrong and now I sleep alone

I want to hold him in my naked arms I want to lie beside him

in my bed I want him more than any long-forgotten lovers ever loved before I want to give him everything my heart my love my senses my sight my life

good friend, kind friend, fearless friend when will I have you? when will you lie beside me? when will I give you my love? you know how much I want you. promise me you will do what I say please. do what I say

11. Head, Heart (words by Lydia Davis)

Heart weeps. Head tries to help heart. Head tells heart how it is, again: You will lose the ones you love. They will all go. But even the earth will go, someday. Heart feels better, then. But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart. Heart is so new to this. I want them back, says heart. Head is all heart has. Help, head. Help heart.

break #3

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(words by David Lang, after Thomas of Britain, and the Yom Kippur liturgy)

if I have to drown, I know, that you will drown if I have to burn, I know, that you will burn if God wills it

if I have to bleed, I know, that you will bleed if I have to be devoured, I know, that you will be devoured if God wills it

if I have to starve, I know, that you will starve if I have to thirst, I know, that you will thirst if I have to wander, all my days, I know, that you will wander, all your days

if I have to suffer, I know, that you will suffer

if I have to be impoverished, I know, that you will be impoverished if I have to be degraded, I know, that you will be degraded if God wills it if God wills it, so be it.

12. mild, light (words by David Lang, after Richard Wagner)

mild, light see him smile see his eye, open –do you see it?

he shines so bright like a star, rising do you see it? oh, yes, I see it

do you hear his heart? do you smell his sweet breath? do you? yes, I do

am I the only one who hears this music? oh, I hear it it is so soft it is so sad it comes from him through me, and up and rises all around me

I hear it, I breathe it in I drink it, It is so sweet will we just fade? buried in the raging storm? buried beneath the ringing sound?

drowned engulfed unconscious so sweet

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plainspoken,

1.he was and she was version for women's chorus

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sweetly,

2.dureth version for women's chorus

music

sweetly, and

3.a different man version for women's chorus

music by david lang story by lydia davis

4.the wood and the vine version for women's chorus

delicate and very evenlike folk music heard from a great distance always tell the story

words and music by david lang (after marie de france)

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conversational solo:

music by david lang text by lydia davis

6.you will love me version for women's chorus

very warm words and music by david lang

introspective and graceful seemingly out of time

7.forbidden subjects version for women's chorus

music by david lang text by lydia davis

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8.as love grows stronger version for women's chorus dark

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conch shell - f# is preferable but other notes will do

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as long as possible - hold until the breath runs out and the sound becomes broken and unstable

mysterious and

9.the outing version for women's chorus

pant or blow air heavily, breathing in and out. emphasize crescendi. use any syllables, open or closed mouth, etc

music by david lang text by lydia davis

breathy, urgent always moving forward

10.I live in pain version for women's chorus

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weary and all-knowing

11.head, heart version for women's chorus

music by david lang text by lydia davis

plainspoken, quietly strong flexible tempo,

break #3 (if I have to drown) version for women's chorus

music by david lang (words

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fragile and sincere music by david lang text by david lang, after richard wagner

one singer from each group plays the indicated percussion instrument

(group 2)

(group 1)

(group 4)

group 3 - woodblock

group 2 - glockenspiel

group 1 - cymbal

group 4 - bass drum