The Knife of Dawn
Chamber opera for baritone and small ensemble
2021
Libretto by Tessa McWatt, with words by Martin Carter Full Score
CopyrightbyG.Ricordi&Co./Forperusalonly
Corrected Version 19.09.2022
Sy. 9102/01
ISMN 979-0-2042-9102-1
Copyright © 2022 by G. Ricordi & Co.
Bühnen- und Musikverlag GmbH, Berlin
A chamber opera for solo baritone and small ensemble. Libretto by Tessa McWatt, with words by Martin Carter, used with permission from Bloodaxe Books.
First performance on Thursday 6 October 2016, at the Roundhouse Sackler Space, London, by
Eric Greene (baritone)
Anna Snow (soprano 1)
Sarah Dacey (soprano 2)
Kerry Andrew (alto)
Tamara Young (harp)
Mandhira de Saram (violin)
Clifton Harrison (viola) Zo ë Mar tlew (violoncello)
conducted by Rebecca Miller
Director: John Walton
Designer: Martin Thomas
Lighting Designer: Zo ë Spurr
Movement Director: Svetlana Biba
Producer: Rhuti Carr
Stage Manager: Catherine Fowles
With thanks to Belinda Jones (r é pé titeur).
Supported by Ambache Charitable Trust, Arts Council England, Mayer Brown LLP, PRS for Music Foundation, RVW Trust, The Boltini Trust, Trinity Laban Conservertoire of Music and Dance, Minerva Arts Foundation, The Opera Awards Foundation, The University of Stirling, and generous individual donors via crowdfunding.
INSTRUMENTATION
Baritone
2 Sopranos (S.1 also plays egg shaker)
1 Alto
Harp
Violin
Viola
Violoncello
DURATION c. 60'
Score in C
COMPOSER'S NOTE
The Knife of Dawn explores the life and mind of Guyanese poet and political activist Martin Carter as he boldly fights for his country's independence.
In this, my operatic debut, I have taken inspiration from one of the Caribbean's most influential writers, setting six of Carter's own lyrical and evocative poems, 'In a Great Silence; 'Listening to the Land'; 'This is the Dark Time My Love'; 'Number Two'; 'The Knife of Dawn' and 'Not Hands Like Mine', which have been drawn into a moving new libretto by Tessa McWatt.
Set in 1953 during Carter's imprisonment The Knife of Dawn vividly reveals the personal struggles of a courageous artist, exploring cultural, political and social issues still very relevant today.
HK. September 2016
Libretto by Tessa McWatt, with words by Martin Carter
The Knife of Dawn
SCENE 1A December 21, 1953 (winter solstice) – Guyana Prison cell. Day 28 of hunger strike – dusk
Martin throws off the sheet as he tries to turn, in pain. He sits up, holding his feet that seem to pain him. He sits straighter, alert, as though having heard something through the walls. He gets up slowly. Listens. He sits back on the cot and searches for something, which he doesn’t find. He needs to write something down. He remembers something and touches his waist, pats what he feels there inside the secret pocket. A tray of food gets shoved into a hatch in the door. He looks at it. He rises slowly, painfully. He bends with difficulty to pick up the fork. He tries to carve words into the wall, but he can’t. He looks out.
‘In a Great Silence…approaching rain…’ q = c.56
Martin Carter (Baritone)
Violin Viola
Violoncello
He throws the fork down on the tray.
He looks back at the tray.
He lifts up his shirt, feels his protruding ribs, then takes from a small pocket inside his trousers a letter.
He weakly looks around the cell, as though hearing something, still searching for it.
He picks up the knife from the tray and moves very shakily to a part of the wall that is marked with scratches for each day of his imprisonment. He hasn’t got the strength to carve another day...
too weak to pick it up again.
hedoesnotlivetoseethatday, hisson willseeit. We
A voice comes from the distance - simple, short-lived. He looks up, but then shakes his head clear. He must sit; his legs can't hold him.
Martin lowers himself to the floor near the tray and looks at it. He touches the letter in his small pocket, as though making sure it's still there.
withmyownheart'sfire.
poco vib.
A voice comes in faintly from the distance, barely audible. It is impossible to make out words.
He looks at the tray of
He touches his ear, stands, and looks around again for the voice.
le mf - ction; - theBritish - over - -turned it.
Martin forces himself up, fighting his weakness. He tries to find the source of the voices, visibly disturbed that his mind is playing tricks on him.
con sord., con vib.
S.2
Doyouknowme? Areyoumocking
withmyownheart'sfire.
He stops and listens, hears nothing but silence.
He touches the letter. He looks up and around and says the next line in the direction he believes the voices came from.
He pauses and waits for them to answer.
He stands again and moves to the wall with notches.
youwaitforrainandthunder - andyouthinkofhome withpain.
OhPhyllis - mydearwife, whose
q = c.84 Withdrawn
(nn)
newsofagulag. - They drinkthe blood ff ofblackwomen. -
He goes searching again for something to write with.
SCENE 2A Prison cell. Night – darkness
S.1
Martin lowers his head. He closes his eyes, concentrated on memory.
-thing. Yes. Butourworldisnotfree.
Martin lies back down on the cot, resigned to passing the time.
SCENE 2B
Martin is weakened, dispirited. The rain is harder.
He sits up to the sound of boots outside.
He feels for the letter in his pocket and opens it again.
He hears something at the door. He pushes himself up.
He hears the guards shove another tray in through the hatch in the door. He stands up to look at it. He becomes agitated, more deranged.
Anddancelikeyoumad!
I amagirl withordi - na - ry - dreams.
Martin is trying to carve a line in the wall where the days are marked out. The rain has stopped.
SILENCE. Martin notices it, notices that the voices are not there. He becomes agitated. But still, nothing comes. The silence is longer than we might be comfortable with.
Isslave - ry - stillwithus?
Ifonly - theywouldgiveme mypen.
insterile - syntax. - Your p cutlass - is
Yes. p (ss) f sub. Yes. p (ss) f sub. Icutcane. Fromdawntodusk.
thekindeagle - soars
andwheels inflight.
He collapses from the expense of energy (without falling).
q = c.112)
From here to the end, the light of dawn is opening up the scene and illuminating the stage.
Another tray of food is slid under Martin's door, along with a pen. Martin gets up from the bed, weakly.
rouse turning - tothesun. and mf morefiercerain will and mf morefiercerain will pp mf 82 pp mf
BLACK OUT
We do not see if he eats or not.