Daniel Nelson
Text: Charles Chaplin
Chaplin Songs
for soprano solo, mixed choir and orchestra
SCORE
Daniel Nelson
Text: Charles Chaplin
Chaplin Songs
for soprano solo, mixed choir and orchestra 2020
SCORE
Text by Charles Chaplin from The Great Dictator (1940)
(The original text has been edited here for the purpose of the musical work.)
1 – I’m sorry
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible.
2 – Jew, Gentile
Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, Not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone.
3 – Greed
Greed has poisoned men’s souls, Has barricaded the world with hate, Has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.
4 – The good earth
And the good earth is rich And can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, But we have lost the way. We have developed speed, But we have shut ourselves in.
5 – Machinery
Machinery that gives abundance Has left us in want.
6 – Our knowledge
Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little.
7 – More than machinery
More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life would be violent And all will be lost.
8 – The aeroplane and the radio
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions Cries out for the goodness in men, Cries out for universal brotherhood, For the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching Millions throughout the world, Millions of despairing men and Women, and little children, Victims of a system That makes men torture And imprison innocent people.
9 – To those who can hear me
To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair.
10 – The misery
The misery that is now upon us
Is but the passing of greed, The bitterness of men Who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, And dictators die, And the power they took from the people Will return to the people.
11 – So long as men die
And so long as men die, Liberty will never perish.
12 – Soldier, soldier Soldier!
Don’t give yourselves to brutes, Men who despise you, enslave you, Who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, What to think and what to feel. Who drill you, diet you, Treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, Machine men with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men.
You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate.
Only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural! Soldier,
Don’t fight for slavery. Fight for liberty.
13 – Let us fight #1
Let us fight for a new world, A decent world
That will give men a chance to work, That will give youth a future And old age security.
14 – By the promise of these things
By the promise of these things, Brutes have risen to power. But they lie. They do not fulfil that promise. They never will.
15 – Let us fight #2
Let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, To do away with greed, hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, A world where science and progress will lead To all men’s happiness. In the name of democracy, let us all unite.
16 – You the people
You, the people Have the power, To create machines. The power to create happiness. You, the people, Have the power
To make this life free and beautiful, To make this life a wonderful adventure.
17 – The clouds are lifting
The clouds are lifting, The sun is breaking through. We are coming Out of the darkness into light. We are coming Into a new world, A kindlier world, Where men will rise above Their greed, their hate, and brutality.
18 – The soul of man
The soul of man’s been given wings And at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow, Into the light of hope, Into the future. The glorious future.
19 – The glorious future
The glorious future That belongs to you, To me, Belongs to all of us.
INSTRUMENTATION
2 Flutes (2nd alt. Piccolo)
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in Bb (2nd alt. Bass Clarinet)
2 Bassoons
4 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in C
2 Trombones
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Percussion 1
Timpani, Ratchet, Brake Drum, Tubular Bell (E4), Dubaci or similar (E4)
Percussion 2 (1–2 players)
Glockenspiel, Vibraphone (with and without motor), Crotales, Tubular Bells, 3 pitched Gongs (Ab 3, C4, E4), Brake Drum, Low Metal (sheet metal or large tin can), Woodblock (small), Washboard, Floor Tom, Gran Cassa, Tam-tam
Harp
Piano/Celesta
Soprano solo SATB Choir (32 minimum)
Strings
Score in C
• Piccolo, Glockenspiel, Crotales, Celesta, and Double Bass sound in their respective octave transpositions.
Duration: 45 min
Chaplin Songs is a joint commission by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and the Gävle Symphony Orchestra.
World premiere 21 October 2022; Berwaldhallen, Stockholm Camilla Tilling, soprano, The Swedish Radio Choir
The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Andrew Manze
ISMN 979-0-070-13897-0
Score: GE 13897 Study score: GE 13899 Vocal score: GE 13900 Parts available on hire
The Great Dictator by Charles Chaplin © Roy Export S.A.S.
Used with kind permission from the Chaplin family.
Copyright © 2020 Gehrmans Musikförlag AB, Stockholm Stema Specialtryck, Borås DN/MM 2025
Vibra. (arco) Dubaci
14 – By the promise of these things