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| Hegemony: Scenes | |
| Text Author: | Thomas Piechowski |
| Date Completed: | January 12, 1986 |
| Duration: | about an hour |
| Instrumentation: | five singer/actors (three women and two men) and piano |
| First Performance: | First performance was given by Music on the Edge: Roger Zahab Portrait Concert, October 5, 2019 performed by Kara Cornell, mezzo soprano (Glorianna) Alexandra Johnson, soprano (Sandra) Anna Elder, soprano (Peg) John Teresi, tenor (Stanley) Mitch FitzDaniel, baritone (Alexander) Rob Frankenberry, director & pianist |
| Comments: | libretto by Thomas Piechowski. Originally an opera in six scenes, for soloists, chorus, dancers and orchestra, Hegemony was sporadically recast and revised until New Years Eve, 2007, when it completed its transformation into a streamlined work for five singers and piano. |
| Program Notes: | Hegemony: Scenes libretto by Thomas Piechowski Characters: Glorianna: soprano or mezzo 20 years old, over-educated journalist; addictive personality Sandra: soprano 17 years old, boy-crazy; blind acceptance of the new reality Peg: soprano 15 years old, super-intelligent introvert; sexually hung-up Stanley: tenor 15 years old, a romantic Alexander: baritone 17 years old, a realist Time: the near future Place: the Great Lakes Zone; a large city Setting: a living room; later the back yard outside that same living room I: The stage is dark. The lights come up very slowly on the spacious room. A large table is situated stage right. On it are scattered newspapers, books - some opened, a decanter of brandy and a television set which is playing without sound. Behind this collection sits Glorianna who is playing solitaire and drinking, occasionally glancing with interest at her surrounding media. She is occupied thusly throughout the opera. Upstage center is a rickety card table littered with rock and fossil specimens, filing boxes and note-cards. Behind these sit Stanley and Peg, each examining the materials before them with small magnifying glasses. Downstage center rests a low but long coffee table bearing three ornate pillboxes at its center and a decanter of brandy with four glasses on a tray. Stage left is a love-seat which holds Alexander and Sandra who wait impatiently for Glorianna to continue with the monologue she has previously begun. II: The backyard of the house in the Great Lakes Zone. Night. Upstage, the living room's outer wall, French doors in the center. A wooded area off to the sides. A garden area nearest the house, a bench stage right. Two passages are quoted from Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley, used with kind permission granted by Laura Huxley, Executrix of his Estate. Preface This work, called Hegemony: Scenes, is a cycle extracted from the opera Hegemony. It consists of the scenes involving precocious characters I fondly call the kids, who are either innocent puppies or vicious monsters, depending on circumstance and whim. Over the years since the completion of the opera (as yet unproduced) they have grown increasingly insistent that they should be given a fair hearing - even to the point of reassembling in my dreams - the three sisters shrill and nasty, the two boys increasingly haggard and despondent. Alex has even declared that failing a captive orchestra, life with a lone overworked piano is better than no life at all. Accordingly we beg forbearance from the pianist. When it was possible to decide I put in some pedal markings. For the rest, the notation reflects an ideal picture that can be approached by ingenious employment of all three pedals and an occasional helping hand from the page-turner. RZ (1992) Notes from the premiere: Hegemony: Scenes In 1982 or '83, Tom Piechowski called me up and said he wanted to run a script by me for a possible collaboration. He had shown it first to his long-time friend and collaborator, Ricky Ian Gordon, but Ricky passed on it - perhaps immersed in other projects and also wondering - as I soon wondered - how one could set such a curious story. But Tom had already put a great deal of work into it, crafting an entire scenario and much of the text cast in various poetic forms and meters, and I foolishly took it on. We poured all of our youthful cockiness and inexperience into a saga that went through many versions (and was at one point recast for forces that only the Met could have mustered) and for me would continue for 24 years. We both learned a great deal from this adventure, and I had earnestly hoped that I could round up the forces so that Tom could hear it at last, but... he passed away in 2013. I haven't been able to stop thinking about bringing Hegemony to performance - even if only once - and now the moment has finally come..... Dear Tom, I hope I haven't messed up too badly! |