Venerable Doe. [Original opera].

Abstract

This work is a setting of "Venerable 'Doe,' " and original story and libretto by the composer. "Venerable 'Doe' " is the temporary appellation of Javanese music spirit whose true name is not known. It is also the name of the gamelan over which the spirit reigns and in whose pusaka gong he resides. The work combines traditional Western dance, instruments, orchestration, notation and theory and traditional Javanese court dance, instrument, instrumentation, performance practice and theory with the composer's innovations created to facilitate the combining of two divergent worlds of music. The language of the libretto and the selection of pitch material have been determined by an original, extended, soggetto cavato technique. This technique accommodates all letters of the English alphabet and all pitch classes of both the Western and Javanese scales used in the work. While the soggetto cavato technique expands upon techniques used in the works of J. S. Bach, Venerable Doe's continuous rather than sectional deportment, devotion to symbolism and personification of specific sound patterns as 'motives' continue innovations of Richard Strauss. Venerable Doe is an opera containing two major formal divisions, a fantasy-ballet "Overture," the score of which constitutes the "original composition" portion of this dissertation, followed by four acts of the opera's main body. The "Overture" is designed to be performed with the main body of the opera or as an independent composition. The programmatic content of the "Overture" is drawn from the first half of the story, "Venerable 'Doe,' " while the program of the four acts is from the second half. The work is set in English, and uses Javanese terminology, as well as Swedish, German and Latin translations of Psalm 23. It is scored for full Western orchestra, Javanese gamelan, chorus, soloists, Western and Javanese dancers. Lighting, costuming, dance, stage and visual projection directions appear on the score and in preliminary pages.