For a long time, now, I've had an idea
for an opera. I even started planning and writing parts of it. A
reading of a couple of bits of it taught me two things:
- I like the direction this is going.
- I need to rewrite it.
Yep. Rewriting a supposedly finished
song is a pain, but so is surgery. The hope with both is that by
enduring the pain and effort you'll not only recover from the
surgery, but come out in better shape than when you went under the
knife. In this case, it's more like plastic surgery. I've got to trim
away some bits to slim them down and put in implants to fill other
bits out.
My original goal for this summer was to
finish the opera. I've got a feeling I won't get it done, though.
Writing an opera is a big deal for a composer. It's a massive
undertaking and everything seems to hinge on the libretto. How do you
tell the story, within a reasonable amount of clarity and time, and
still make it musical? How do you explore all the aspects you want to
without writing several operas? Series might be all the rage in
movies and books these days, but I don't want to follow Wagner's
example or writing a multi-part debacle like the Ring cycle. I'll be
content to write just one opera per story, thank you.
Part of the problem is I've never
written an opera. The prospect is a little intimidating, honestly.
I've studied a few operas and written vocal and orchestral music so,
I'm not exactly flying blind. It's more like I'm flying through heavy
fog with a malfunctioning locator beacon. I need a flight plan.
And that's my plan of attack, really.
I've got a three act outline created, with various scenes blocked
out. It's a historical subject, so I've done some research and have
some text selected to use for some parts. Now I just need to isolate
different bits and get started.
I'll try and keep you posted.
