SYNOPSIS
SYNOPSIS
In the words of the composer:
This is the story of flight: of humanity’s quest to break the bonds of earth, challenge the heavens, and claim our rightful place among the stars.
It’s the story of men and women who strapped on helmets and boots; who braved the longest distances just to leave their footprints on new lands. But it’s also the tale of those who made their journeys possible: like the astronomers who showed us our place among the stars, and the poets who showed us our place between heaven and hell. Or the 19th-century French novelist who invented science fiction, and awoke a public desire for space exploration—and the American president who, a century later, harnessed that desire into putting a man on the moon.
This is a story of courage: the courage to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic, or the first man launched across the threshold of space. But it’s also a story of failure: of the fall of man, whose hubris made him reach for forbidden knowledge. It’s a story riddled with cataclysmic disaster; where the soaring inventions of great men and women plummet to earth in fiery wreckage. And at its darkest moments, it’s also a story of death: one where airplanes built to soar among the clouds are used instead for dropping bombs; or on one day of extreme darkness, become the bombs themselves.
Humans are resilient, though, and the call of the sky will not be denied. And each time we find ourselves deep in that darkest night, the dream of flight beckons us—to emerge from the darkness, and to re-behold the stars.
This is the story of flight told through music, and the words of 11 of history’s pioneers: pilots and engineers, storytellers and scientists, stargazers and statesmen; men and women who freed us from the shackles of gravity, and stretched the limits of our imagination. It’s a tale of ingenuity and industriousness that spans centuries and continents; of shared human accomplishment like none other. It is the history of our ascent to magnificence; a testament to the power of the human spirit, and in the words of John F. Kennedy, the greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.
One of the more unique features of 'To Shiver the Sky' lies in its orchestration; to parallel the march of aviation progress across the centuries, the musical language similarly evolves through the many eras of classical music: ranging from medieval to classical, impressionism to romantic, modern to post-classical.
I: Sogno di Volare ("The Dream of Flight") From Leonardo da Vinci's writings on flight (Adapted by Chiara Cortez).
II: The Heavenly Kingdom From Hildegard von Bingen: "Scivias".
III: Daedalus and Icarus From Ovid's "Metamorphoses".
IV: The Fall From Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy".
V: Astronomy From Nicolaus Copernicus' "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" (Polish translation and poeticization by Janusz Mrzigod).
VI: To the Stars From Jules Verne's "De la Terre à la Lune" (Adaptation by Gabriel Majou).
VII: Oh, the Humanity From speeches by Ferdinand von Zeppelin (Adaptation by Evita Wagner).
VIII: Courage A setting of Amelia Earhart's poem 'Courage'.
IX: Become Death From the Bhagavad Gita, as quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer.
X: The Power of the Spirit From quotes by Yuri Gagarin.
XI: We Choose to Go to the Moon From John F. Kennedy's Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort.
I: Sogno di Volare ("The Dream of Flight")
Lyrics from Leonardo da Vinci's writings on flight
Adapted by Chiara Cortez
Large Chorus (SSATBB)
Sung in Italian
Una volta che avrai
Spiccato il volo, deciderai
Sguardo verso il ciel saprai:
Lì a casa il cuore sentirai.
Once you have taken flight,
You'll decide
Gaze towards the sky, you'll know that
That is where your heart will feel at home.
Prenderà il primo volo verso il sole il grande
uccello
Sorvolando il grande Monte Ceceri
Riempendo l'universo di stupore e gloria.
The first great bird will take flight towards the
sun,
Sweeping over the great Mt. Ceceri,
Filling the universe with wonder and glory.
Una volta che avrai spiccato il volo,
Allora deciderai
Sguardo verso il ciel saprai:
Lì a casa il cuore sentirai.
Once you have taken flight
You'll decide
Gaze towards the sky, you'll know that
That is where your heart will feel at home.
L'uomo verrà portato dalla sua creazione
Come gli uccelli, verso il cielo ...
Riempendo l'universo di stupore e gloria.
Man will be lifted by his own creation,
Just like the birds, towards the sky,
Filling the universe with wonder and glory.
Gloria!
Glory!
II: The Heavenly Kingdom
Lyrics from Hildegard von Bingen: "Scivias"
Medieval Trio, Chamber Chorus (SATB)
Sung in Latin
"Qui sunt ii qui nubes Volant, et quasi columbae
ad fenestras suas?"
Quod dicitur: Qui sunt ii qui pleno desiderio et
plena devotione ad superna volant.
Hi enim sunt, qui propter supemum amorem
terrena regna conculcant, et coelestia
quaerunt.
"Who are these who fly like clouds, and like
doves to their homes?"
That is to say: Who are these who fly full of
longing and devotion to heavenly things.
For these are they who, in celestial love, abandon
earthly kingdoms, and seek heavenly ones.
III: Daedalus and Icarus
Lyrics from Ovid's "Metamorphoses"
Tenor, Chamber Chorus (SSATTB), Large Chorus (SSATBB)
Sung in Latin
"Terras licet et undas obstruat:
et caelum certe patet; ibimus illac:
omnia possideat, non possidet aera Minos.
Icare, me duce carpe viam!"
"Although the lands and waters are blocked,
the sky at least lies open; we will fly there.
Minos may possess everything, but he does not
possess the air.
Icarus, lead the way!"
Caelum certe patet
non possidet aera Minos.
Caelum certe patet
Icare, me duce carpe viam!
The sky is open
Minos does not possess the air
The sky is open
Icarus, lead the way!
Dixit et ignotas animum dimittit
in artes naturamque novat.
Nam ponit in ordine pennas a minima coeptas,
longam breviore sequenti,
ut clivo crevisse putes:
sic rustica quondam fistula
disparibus paulatim surgit avenis;
tum lino medias et ceris alligat imas
atque ita conpositas parvo curvamine flectit,
ut veras imitetur aves.
He spoke and sends down his mind
into unknown arts and changes his nature.
For he puts feathers in a row beginning with the
small ones,
and the shorter ones following the long ones,
so that you should think it has grown on an
incline;
in the same way that a countryman's pipe
gradually builds up with reeds of different
lengths.
Then he binds the middle ones with thread and
the last feathers with wax
and then bends what he has created by a small
curvature as
to mimic real birds.
lnstruit et natum: "medio" que "ut limite curras,
Icare,"
ait "moneo, ne, si demissior ibis, unda gravet
pennas,
si celsior, ignis adurat:
inter utrumque vola."
"Me duce carpe viam!"
He taught his son: "Travel the middle course,
Icarus,
I warn you, if you go too low, the water will
weigh down your wings,
too high and the sun will scorch you:
stay between both."
"Lead the way!"
Dedit oscula nato non iterum repetenda
suo pennisque levatus
ante volat comitique timet.
He gave to his son kisses, never again to be
repeated,
and having lifted himself up on his wings
he flies first, yet fears for his companion.
Dedit oscula nato non iterum repetenda
suo pennisque levatus
ante volat comitique timet.
He gave to his son kisses, never again to be
repeated,
and having lifted himself up on his wings
he flies first, yet fears for his companion.
Et iam lunonia lreva parte Samos
dextra Lebinthos erat fecundaque melle
Calymne,
cum puer audaci ccepit gaudere volatu
deseruitque ducem crelique cupidine tractus
altius egit iter. Rapidi vicinia solis
mollit odoratas, pennarum vincula, ceras;
tabuerant cerre: nudos quatit ille lacertos,
remigioque carens non ullas percipit auras,
oraque crerulea patrium clamantia nomen
excipiuntur aqua.
And now Juno's Samos was on the left side
and on the right was Lebynthos and Kalymnos
rich in honey,
when the boy began to rejoice in his bold flight
and deserted his leader, and attracted by a desire
for the sky
he took his path higher. The vicinity of the sun
softened the fragrant wax, the chains of the
feathers;
the wax melted: he shook his bare arms
but lacking wings he took up no air,
and his mouth, shouting his father's name,
was swept up in the blue sea.
"Icare, Icare, ubi es?
Ubi es, Icare?"
"Icarus, Icarus, where are you?
Where are you, Icarus?"
IV: The Fall
Lyrics from Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy"
Translation by Charles Eliot Norton
Medieval Trio, Tenor, Large Chorus (SSATBB)
Sung in Italian
O gente umana, per volar sù nata,
perché a poco vento così cadi?
0 human race, born to fly upward,
wherefore at a little wind dost thou so fall?
"E però leva sù; vinci I 'ambascia
con l'animo che vince ogne battaglia,
se col suo grave corpo non s'accascia.
"And therefore raise thee up, o'ercome the
anguish
With spirit that o'ercometh every battle,
If with its heavy body it sink not.
Più lunga scala convien che si saglia;
non basta da costoro esser partito.
Se tu mi 'ntendi, or fa sì che ti vaglia."
A longer stairway it behooves thee mount;
'Tis not enough from these to have departed;
Let it avail thee, if thou understand me."
(Una volta che avrai
Spiccato il volo, deciderai
Sguardo verso il ciel saprai:
Lì a casa il cuore sentirai.)
(Once you have taken flight,
You'll decide
Gaze towards the sky, you'll know that
That is where your heart will feel at home.)
Salimmo sù, el primo e io secondo,
tanto ch'i' vidi de le cose belle
che porta 'I ciel, per un pertugio tondo.
We mounted up, he first and I the second,
Till I beheld through a round aperture
Some of the beauteous things that Heaven doth
bear;
E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.
Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.
V: Astronomy
Lyrics from Nicolaus Copernicus' "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium"
Polish translation and poeticization by Janusz Mrzigod
Chamber Chorus
Sung in Polish
Astronomio, gwiezdna drogo,
Tyś jest matką wszelkiej wiedzy.
Choćby człowiek żył ubogo,
Jego domem kosmos świetny.
Astronomy, you're a path of stars,
The mother of all knowledge.
Even the poor
Have the Universe as their home.
Nic czystszego ponad gwiazdy.
Sięgaj wyżej, gdy nad sobą
Przewspaniałe śledzisz
Widowisko.
There is nothing purer than the stars.
Reach higher, and follow
This most exquisite
Spectacle.
Astronomio, piękne nieba
Ty poznajesz, masz za swoje.
Wobec twojej szlachetności
Bledną ziemskie niepokoje.
Patrząc w gwiazdy
widzisz dzieło
Boże.
Astronomy, beautiful skies
Are yours to study.
Your dignity is so great
That all earthly troubles are nought.
Looking at the stars,
You see the work
of God.
Gwiazdy, księżyc, I planety.
Stars, moon, and planets.
VI: To the Stars
Lyrics from Jules Verne's "De la Terre à la Lune"
Adaptation and translation by Gabriel Majou
Children's Chorus (SSA), Chamber Chorus(SSATBB)
Sung in French
L'homme a commencé par voyager à quatre
pattes,
et puis un beau jour, sur ses deux pieds, puis en
charette.
Rapidement, il bâtit la patache et prit la mer.
Le lendemain, partit en diligence puis en chemin
de fer.
Man began by traveling on all fours,
then one day, on his own two feet, then in a cart.
Soon after, he built a vessel and took to the seas.
The next day he went by stagecoach, and then by
train.
On va voyager sur la Lune,
on ira aux planètes,
on ira aux étoiles!
We shall travel to the Moon,
we shall travel to the planets,
we shall travel to the stars!
L'homme a commencé par voyager à quatre
pattes,
puis il a continué par voyager sur ses deux pieds.
Man began by traveling on all fours,
then he continued on his own two feet.
On établira prochainement des trains en forme
de fusées
dans lesquels se fera commodément
le voyage de la Terre à la Lune.
Soon, we will create trains made of rockets,
in which we will comfortably make
the journey from the Earth to the Moon.
L'homme a commencé par voyager à quatre
pattes,
puis il a continué par voyager sur ses deux pieds,
avancer en charrette, en coche, patache, et
diligence.
Aujourd'hui c'est les chemins d'fer, les
montgolfières, les aéroplanes,
demain l'on construira pleins de fusées dans
lesquels se fera
prochainement le voyage de la Terre à la Lune!
Man began by traveling on all fours,
then he continued on his own two feet,
travelling by cart, carriage, vessel, and
stagecoach.
Today it's trains, hot air balloons, and planes,
tomorrow we build rockets in which
we will soon travel from the Earth to the Moon!
De la Lune vers les cieux,
et des cieux aux nuages,
des nuages à la Terre,
et de là, s'élancer loin dans l'espace aux étoiles!
From the Moon to the sky,
from the sky to the clouds,
from the clouds to the Earth,
and from there, we launch ourselves into space,
to the stars!
VII: Oh, the Humanity
Lyrics from speeches by Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Adaptation and translation by Evita Wagner
Tenor, Large Chorus (SSATBB)
Sung in German
Es gibt mir die Zuversicht,
dass mein Werkzeug ausgenutzt wird
zum Segen und zum Vorteil des Deutschen
Reiches.
It gives me confidence
that my instrument is being used
for the blessing and advantage of the German
Empire.
Die Wissenschaft wird sich der Sache annehmen,
die Technik wird sie vervollkommnen,
die Naturkunde
wird die Gesetze klarlegen,
die Erd- und Völkerkunde
wird es als ganz besonderes Instrument
ausnutzen,
die Volkswirtschaft
wird die Notwendigkeit, den Vorteil und Nutzen
einer Investition zeigen.
Science will adopt this project,
technology will perfect it,
natural science will
unearth the laws,
geography and ethnology will
use it as a special instrument,
the economy will
show the necessity and the advantage and
benefits of investments.
Die Luftschifffahrt wird sich zum friedlichen
Austausch
der Völker ausbilden lassen!
Air travel will be used for peaceful interaction
between nations.
Oh, Unglück!
Oh, the misfortune!
VIII: Courage
A setting of Amelia Earhart's poem 'Courage'
Soprano
Sung in English
Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting
peace.
The soul that knows it not, knows no release
from little things:
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear,
Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear
The sound of wings.
How can life grant us boon of living, compensate
For dull gray ugliness and pregnant hate
Unless we dare
The soul's dominion? Each time we make a
choice, we pay
With courage to behold the resistless day,
And count it fair.
IX: Become Death
Lyrics from the Bhagavad Gita, as quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer
Medieval Trio, Large Chorus (SATB)
Sung in Sanskrit
divi sūrya-sahasrasya
bhaved yugapad utthitā
yadi bhāḥ sadṛśī sā syād
bhāsas tasya mahātmanaḥ
If the radiance of a thousand suns
were to burst at once in the sky,
that would be like the splendor
of the mighty one.
kālo ‘smi loka-kṣayakṛt pravṛddho
Now I have become death, destroyer of worlds.
X: The Power of the Spirit
Lyrics from quotes Ьу Yuri Gagarin
Medieval Trio, Large Chorus (SATB)
Sung in Russian
OЬletev Zemlyu v koraЫe-sputnike,
уа uvidel, kak prekrasna nasha planeta.
Lyudi, budem hranit i preumnozhat etu krasotu,
а ne razrushat ее!
Orbiting Earth in the spaceship,
I saw how beautiful our planet is.
People, let us preserve and increase this beauty,
not destroy it!
Ved glavnaya sila v cheloveke -
eto sila duha !
The main force in man -
is the power of the spirit!
XI: We Choose To Go To The Moon
Lyrics from John F. Kennedy's Address at Rice University оn the Nation 's Space Effort
Medieval Trio, Soprano, Tenor, Children's Chorus (SSA),
Chamber Chorus (SSATBB), Large Chorus (SSATBB)
Sung in English
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon in this decade
and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon in this decade
because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept,
one we are unwilling to postpone,
and one which we intend to win.
We set sail on this new sea,
because there is new knowledge to be gained.
New rights to be won, and they must be won
and used for the progress of all people.
For space science, like nuclear science
and technology has no conscience of its own.
Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man.
Whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace
or a new terrifying theatre of war ...
a theatre of war!
For the eyes of the world now look into space,
the moon and the planets beyond,
with hopes for knowledge and peace.
We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons,
but with instruments of knowledge.
We have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag,
but with a banner of freedom and peace.
There is no strife, no prejudice, no conflict in outer
space.
Its conquest deserves the very best of all mankind.
We choose to go to the moon!
But why some say the moon? Why choose this as our goal?
Why thirty-five years ago fly the Atlantic?
And they may well ask why climb the highest
mountain? Why?
Many years ago the great British explorer George
Mallory,
who was to die on Mt. Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it.
He said: "Because it's there."
Space is there and we're going to climb it!
Space is there and the moon and the planets!
Space is there, and new hopes for knowledge and
peace are there!
And therefore as we set sail,
we ask God's blessing
on the most hazardous and dangerous
and greatest adventure on which man has ever
embarked.
We choose the moon,
We choose the stars,
We choose the sky ...
We choose to go!