Issuu

Matthew Aucoin

Libretto: Sarah Ruhl

EURYDICE

Piano/Vocal Score

New York, NY

Associated Music Publishers, Inc.

Matthew Aucoin Libretto: Sarah Ruhl

EURYDICE

Piano/Vocal Score

commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera. Developed by The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program with support from the Opera America Repertory Development Grant

Originally commissioned in 2014 by The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program

Associated Music Publishers, Inc. New York, NY

3 Flutes (2nd doubling Piccolo, 3rd doubling Piccolo and Alto Flute in G)

2 Oboes

2 Clarinets in B b

Bass Clarinet (doubling Contrabass Clarinet in B b )

2 Bassoons (2nd doubling Contrabassoon)

4 Horns in F

3 Trumpets in B b (1st doubling Piccolo Trumpet in B b )

2 Trombones

Bass Trombone

Tuba

Timpani

Percussion - 5 players

1: Glockenspiel, Marimba (shared with 2), Snare Drum, Hi-hat, Flexatone, Castanets, Cabasa, Chains, High Whip, Kazoo

2: Marimba (shared with 1), Crotales (2 octaves, shared with 5), 4 Tom-toms, 2 Suspended Cymbals (high and low), Crash Cymbals, Sleigh Bells, Castanets, Guíro, Egg Shaker

3: Vibraphone, Xylophone, Tubular Bells, Small Bass Drum (“kick”), 3 Suspended Cymbals (high, medium, low), Large Crash Cymbal, Finger Cymbals (high, unpitched), Wind Chimes, Triangle, Sleigh Bells, Police Whistle, Maracas, Cabasa, Kazoo

4: Large Concert Bass Drum, Small Bass Drum (“kick”), Geophone (or Ocean Drum), Bongos, Tambourine, 3 Suspended Cymbals (high, medium, low), Crash Cymbal, Sizzle Cymbal, Wind Chimes, Triangle, Bell Tree, Trash Can Lid, Wood Blocks, Ratchet, Kazoo

5: Crotales (2 octaves, shared with 2), Snare Drum, 4 Tom-toms, Tuned Gongs*, Large Tamtam, Ratchet, Claves, Sandpaper Blocks, Guíro, Cabasa, Egg Shaker, Rainstick, Trash Can Lid, 2 Whips (high and low), Kazoo

Piano

2 Harps

Eurydice - Soprano

Orpheus - Baritone

Orpheus’ double - Countertenor

Father - Bass-Baritone

Hades - High Tenor

Little Stone - Soprano

Big Stone - Mezzo-Soprano or Contralto

Loud Stone - Tenor

SATB chorus (with solo Soprano)

Strings

*Gong tunings:

duration ca. 2 hours 5 minutes

For Clay. I met you and never looked back.

Act I

Overture .................................................................................................................................1

Scene 1, Orpheus and Eurydice .............................................................................................3

Scene 2, “Dear Eurydice ........................................................................................................33

Scene 3, The Vows.................................................................................................................39

Scene 4, A Dance ..................................................................................................................51

Scene 5, By the Water Pump .................................................................................................55

Scene 6, At the Interesting Man’s Apartment ......................................................................69

Act II

Scene 1.1, Introduction .........................................................................................................85

Scene 1.2, The Stones ...........................................................................................................88

Scene 1.3, “There was a roar…” ............................................................................................113

Scene 1.4, “Eurydice” / “At last, a porter…” .........................................................................132

Scene 1.5, “You’re dead now. I’m dead too.” .........................................................................136

Scene 1.6, “I’m suddenly hungry!” ........................................................................................149

Scene 2, Orpheus Writes to Eurydice ....................................................................................154

Scene 3.1, A Room Made Out of String ...............................................................................158

Scene 3.2, “Thank you. That will do.” ..................................................................................161

Scene 4.1, Eurydice Learns to Read Again............................................................................168

Scene 4.2, “We two alone will sing…” ..................................................................................169

Scene 4.3, “Orpheus never liked words.” ..............................................................................177

Scene 4.4, “This is what it is to love an artist.”.....................................................................179

Scene 5, Orpheus Makes a Plan ............................................................................................184

Scene 6, No One Knocks at the Door of the Dead ...............................................................190

Act III

Scene 1.1, Orpheus at the Gates of Hell ...............................................................................206

Scene 1.2, “Felix, qui potuit boni…” ....................................................................................213

Scene 1.3, “Don’t you think you are enjoying your grief just a little too much?” .................220

Scene 2.1, “I hear him at the gates!” .....................................................................................227

Scene 2.2, “Wait, come back!” ..............................................................................................234

Scene 2.3, The Walk .............................................................................................................243

Scene 2.4, “You startled me.” .................................................................................................247

Scene 3.1, “Eurydice is gone.” ...............................................................................................258

Scene 3.2, “I remember.” .......................................................................................................263

Scene 3.3, “Where’s my room?” .............................................................................................267

Scene 3.4, “Is there a problem here?” ....................................................................................285

Scene 3.5, “Well, well! You had better prepare yourself…” ..................................................292

Scene 3.6, “Dear Orpheus…” ................................................................................................295

Scene 3.7, Two Forgettings ....................................................................................................302

Eurydice was first performed on February 1st, 2020 at the Los Angeles Opera:

Eurydice – Danielle de Niese

Orpheus – Joshua Hopkins

The Father – Rod Gilfry

Hades – Barry Banks

Orpheus’s Double – John Holiday

Little Stone – Stacey Tappan

Big Stone – Raehann Bryce-Davis

Loud Stone – Kevin Ray

The Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Matthew Aucoin, Conductor

Mary Zimmerman, Director

[Orpheus makes a sweeping gesture with his arm, indicating the sky.

[Orpheus stops. Eurydice runs and jumps into his arms.]

doesn’t quite catch her and they fall down together.]

Whenwillyouhavean

Orph. better-tieastringaround-yourﬁnger-toremind-you.

[He takes a string from his pocket.]

[He wraps string deliberately around her

[He takes her left hand.]

-er-ring...agoldone...

(roll your eyes, at least to yourself,before singing this line)

[In the underworld, the Father, dressed in a grey suit, reads from a letter.]

Fa. write.That’sasecret.-Iftheyfoundout,they’ddipme

Moderato con moto, with a sad sense of frustration q = ca. 88

Fa. Iwriteyouletters.-Idon’tknowhowtogetthemtoyou.

Orph. dbl.

Orph.

A touch broader, with gentle, liquid motion q = 69–72

I p dolciss. -magine-ourloveasmusic-thatﬁllsafoun mp -tainand

51 I p dolciss. -magine-ourloveasmusic-thatﬁllsafoun mp -tainand I p dolciss. -magineourloveasmusic-thatﬁllsafoun mp -tainand loco

sempre p, dolciss. mp

Eur.

Orph. dbl. Orph.

reﬁlls,-re mf -ﬁllseve f non troppo, warmly -rytimewemeet. (q = ca. 72)(q = ca. 76)

reﬁlls,

f non troppo, warmly -rytimewemeet.

reﬁlls,

Moderato, solemnly q = ca. 88–92

With mp deciso, sonoro theserings

[Orpheus and Eurydice dance. They have eyes only for each other.]

*Note:theexactpointatwhichthepulsingbassﬁgure fadesalnienteislefttothepianist’sdiscretion.

thoughttherewouldbemoreinter-est-ing-people-atmywedding.

[Hades appears suddenly, as an “interesting man.”]

[Eurydice begins to exit. Hades notices a letter on the ground.]

[Hades picks the letter up and reads it to himself.]

[Trailing off slightly, as if thinking very hard.]

[He snaps his ﬁngers.]

[Orpheus appears, looking for Eurydice.]

[A giant loft apartment with no furniture. Hades and Eurydice enter, panting.]

[He doesn’t like what he hears. He changes the station. Terrible mood music.]

before (the tempo of terrible mood music)

[He pours champagne for both of them.]

Eurydice:

[She runs for the stairs. She wavers, off balance.]

Orpheus’ Double:

falls from a great height. She follows her letter down, down, down...]

Herearesomeofthedead. in

Herearesomeofthedead.

[The sound of an elevator ding.]

[The elevator door opens. Inside the elevator, it is raining. Eurydice gets rained on inside the elevator.]

[She looks bewildered. She steps out of the elevator. The elevator door closes.]

[She shakes out her umbrella and approaches the audience.]

[She tries to speak.]

ActII,Scene1.2

ffff [A great humming noise from the chorus, as if she is being censored, bleeped out.]

[Eurydice shuts her mouth.][She tries to speak again.]

ehh (ffff) [Again a great humming noise.] 92

ehh (ffff)

ehh (ffff) ffff loco

ifthey

justair,nopitch.

(quasiSprechstimme, withthequalityofachokedsob)

[She tries to cry and ﬁnds that she can’t.]

last,aporter-tomeetme!

didn’t-even-bringtravel-ers’-checks’causeIleftinsuchahurry.

Act II, Scene 1.5

“You’re dead now. I’m dead too.”

stones. Broadly, but poco a poco animando q = 82 (

stones.

stones. You’re p deadnow. p sempre p

I’m p quasi recit. sudden-ly-hungry!-Where mf istheporter-whometmeatthestation?Free, ﬂuid q = ca. 108 Deciso, more deliberate

Thank p you.Thatwilldo.

[She nods to her father. He doesn’t leave.] Oh. mp Isuppose a little disdainfully -youwanta

doesn’t

Act II, Scene 4.1

[The Father whispers her mother’s name into Eurydice’s ear. She remembers, and feels a large grief.]

[Up above, Orpheus begins to slowly, carefully lower a heavy book down into the underworld on a string.]

[The book lands gently in the underworld. The Father picks it up. It is the Collected Works of William Shakespeare. He reads to Eurydice from King Lear.]

Iwrote: banishsomeone,-theywrotethenameofthebanished-person-onawhitepieceofpotter-ycalled

Orph. dbl.

Act II, Scene 4.4

itistoloveanartist:

Someone-calltheboss!

*Note:frombar19tobar26,thechorusaltos,tenors,andbassesneednotsingexactlythewrittenrhythms. Eachmemberofthechorusshouldsingtheirownapproximationoftheserhythms(usingthewrittenpitches)tocreateamurmurin

p (murmuring, as if slowly waking up, becoming conscious)

(Sopranossingbothrhythmsandpitchesaswritten.)

[The chorus sings ecstatically, driven into a kind of frenzy by Orpheus’s voice.]

Nooneknocksatthedoorofthedead!Nooneknocks,

Singing-isnotallowed-here!No

Sing f -ingisnotallowed!-Singing-isnotallowed!Singing...-Ah

knocksatthedoorofthedead!Nooneknocksatthedoorofthedead!No

knocksatthedoorofthedead!Nooneknocksatthedoorofthedead!No knocksatthedoorofthedead!Nooneknocksatthedoorofthedead!No knocksatthedoorofthedead!Nooneknocksatthedoorofthedead!No AhAh

-lessyousinginadeadlanguage.

[Little Stone and Loud Stone look at Big Stone, annoyed.]

ActIII,Scene1.2

[No longer able to contain himself, Orpheus speaks in his own language.]

gates are now fully open. The Stones weep.They look at the tears, bewildered.]

Act III, Scene 1.3

[She follows him, several steps behind.]

[She follows him with precision, one step for every step he takes.]

[He turns toward her, startled.]

Act III, Scene 2.4

[Orpheus looks at Eurydice Eurydice looks at Orpheus. The world falls away.]

Orpheus’ Double:

Father: ∑ Spoken: Iremember. ∑ TakeTri-StateSouth ∑∑ twoninety-four ∑ toRoute88West. ∑∑

You’llgooverabridge.

Gothreemilesandyou’llcometotheexitforMiddleRoad.

You’llpassatreegoodforclimbingontheright.

Crossthe traintracks.

Roll p dolciss. upyourjeans.Countto Tempo I q = 69–72 Adagio, freely

Crosstheroad.

Watchfortrafﬁc.

[He dips himself in the river.]

Stones shrug their shoulders. Eurydice turns back to her father.]

Act III, Scene 3.4

Pensareforbid-den-here.

Pens

areforbid-den-here.

Pens

areforbid-den-here.

Tomyhusband’s-nextwife:

[The sound of water. Eurydice lies down next to her father, as though asleep.]

(staggerbreaths)

Gently più mosso: vivo, the tempo of the opera’s ﬁrst scene q = 112

[He stands on it.][He closes his eyes.]