Thursday, January 1, 2009
Sex and the Bible: The Opera, Op. 169
Op. 169 SEX AND THE BIBLE: THE OPERA
(January 1, 2009)
For Voices and Instruments
PART I - GENESIS
1. THE CREATION
III. Let the waters be gathered VII. Let us make man
2. QUARTET FOR THE BEGINNING OF TIME: ADAM AND EVE AND CAIN AND ABEL
II. Vocalise for the Disobedience at the Beginning of Time
III. Abyss of Separation
IV. Ragtime Intermezzo of Expulsion
V. Lounging in an Eternity of Strife
VI. Blues Dance of Fury
VII. Fathering Hope
VIII. Lounging in Mortality (Baby Boom Boogie-Woogie Begats)
3. NOAH'S FLOOD ("Noah, Noah"): A MYSTERY PLAY
I. Wicked Prelude
VII. The Flood / Te Deum (The Little Death Raindrops Keep Falling Mainly in Mesopotamia)
IX. Rainbow / Te Deum / Postlude
4. BABEL
I. And the whole earth
II. Behold, they are one
III. And the Lord scattered them
5. ABRAHAM AND ISAAC
II. The Separation
IV. The Covenant / V. The Slave Girl
VI. The Circumcision
[LOT IN LIFE]
VII. The Plea (Lottery)
VIII. The Destruction (Lotsa Luck / Parking Lot's Wife / Lotherio)
IX. The Deception
X. The Birth / The Banishment
XI. The Sacrifice / XII. The Burial / XIII. The Wife / XIV. The Death
6. ISRAEL IN TROUBLE
I. If It Is Thus
III. Eyes Dim IV. Fly Away
V. Well, Well, Well, Well, Well
VI. Shouldn't Work for Nothing
VII. How To Depart
VIII. On His Way IX. One Day Dinah X. If It Is Thus
7. AMAZING JOSEPH I. I Had a Dream
II. Meanwhile, Judah
III. Now the Ishmaelites (Potiphar's Wife)
V. Pharaoh Had a Dream
VII. Take My Youngest Son
VIII. I Am Joseph
IX. Now I Can Die
[PART II - EXODUS-JUDGES
8. MOSES AND AARON
EXODUS / LEVITICUS
(13 Letters and a Postlude)
I. Recitative - "And There Arose"
II. Barcarolle - "Woman Conceived"
III. Battle - "And He Spied"
V. Duet - "What Is In Your Hand?"
VI. Trio - "Let My People"
VII. Nine-Plague Twelve-Tone Passacaglia-Quodlibet - "River Is Blood"
IX. Storm/Tempest - "At Midnight" (The Tenth Plague)
X. Caccia/Tableau - "And the People Fled" (The Parting of the Red Sea)
XI. Duet and Chorus - "Sing to the Lord / Bitter Water" (Songs of Moses and Miriam)
XII. Quartet - "Thou Shalt" (The Ten Commandments)
XIII. Bacchanale - "This Gold Image" (The Golden Calf)
XVI. Postlude - "Be Gone"
NUMBERS / DEUTERONOMY (7 Letters)
XVII. Ritournello - "Would That We Had Died"
XVIII. Interlude - "How Long" (Wander in the Wilderness)
XIX. Procession - "Let Us Pass" (Balaam's Ass)
XX. Chorus - "There Shall a Star"
9. SAMSON AND DELILAH (THE FRANK JUDGES)
Scene 1 - Start I. Digits (Adonibezek)
III. Disemblance (Ehud and Eglon)
IV. Deborah
VI. Downfall (Abimelech)
VII. Daughter (Jeptha) Scene 2 - Samson
VIII. Death (The Lion)
IX. Defeat (The Ass's Jaw)
X. Delilah
XI. Dagon Scene 3 - Stop
XIII. Disunity (The Levite's Concubine)]
Performances: March 5-7, 12-14, 2010
San Francisco Cabaret Opera / Goat Hall Productions
Community Music Center, San Francisco, CA