No WM Krishna fs A3 complete 30 Oct 23 - WM (Wasfi)

JohnTavener

KRISHNA

Krsnalīla

(The Play of Krishna)

A

MysticalPantomime forsoloists,chorusandorchestra,withmimesanddancers

“The one who when dying, is only aware of Me, unites with My essence.”

LordKrishna

CONTENTS

Page

Prologue 1

SceneI TheBirthofKrishna 44

SceneII Krishnaplayswithmud 70

SceneIII KrishnaandRadhameetaschildren 86

SceneIV KrishnastealstheclothesofthebathingGopis 110

SceneV KrishnadanceswiththeGopis 122

SceneVI KrishnadisappearsfromtheGopis 146

SceneVII ThesacredmakingloveofKrishnaandRadha 149

SceneVIII Entr’acte:Krishnaﬁghtstheevilintheworld 187

SceneIX Krishnasubduestheserpent 193

SceneX KrishnaabductsRukmini 204

SceneXI RadhaandRukminimeltintoKrishna 213

SceneXII Krishnabidsfarewell 234

SceneXIII KrishnareturnstoParadise 242 Epilogue 268

CHESTER MUSIC

October2023

CHARACTERS

Krishna– asachild treble,oryoungsoprano asanadolescent countertenor asayoungman tenor asaman baritone

Radha– asachild youngsoprano asawoman soprano

Bhumi ‘weepingcow’ mezzo-soprano

Yashoda Krishna’smother soprano

Rukmini soprano

Putana sorceress dancer

CelestialNarrator baritone

Groupofbassvoices maytakenfromthechorus

Chorus

S.A.T.B.

Children’schorus(optional) youngsopranosandtrebles (S.Tr.Tr.Tr.)

ORCHESTRA

4ﬂutes(3°doublingpiccolo,4°doublingpiccoloandaltoﬂute5°*)

4altoflutes*(3°doublingflute6°and4°doublingflute5°) (flutes and alto flutes should play from a raised position)

Oboe(doublingoboed’amore*)

4hornsinF*

4trumpetsinC(1°and2°doublingpiccolotrumpet)

3tenortrombones

Basstrombone

Timpani

Percussion(3-4players): Pow-wowdrum(2playerssharing),3Tibetantemplebowls(h.m.l.), 2gongs(m.l.),verylargetam-tam,2dholaks,handbells

Piano

Celesta

Strings

Pre-recordedmusicintheEpilogue,usingforcesfromthoselistedabove.

*NotatedinCinthescore

Note: and  denotemicrotones,thecharacteristic“breaksinthevoice”ofEasternchant.

MetaphysicalNote

ThereisonlyoneAbsoluteBeing,whethercalledGod,AllahorBrāhman.Godgavetoeachtradition diﬀerentSavioursorAvatars.ChristisGodfortheChristianworld,asKrishnaisGodforHindus,but therearemanymoreAvatarsforHindus.Indeed,Hinduismmultipliesnamesandforms,fromwhich ittakesasmanystepstothepyreoftheAbsoluteBeing.

SymbolicChoreography

Themusiciswritteninahighlysymbolicway.Thereforethestagingmustﬁndasymboliclanguageto correspondwiththemusic.Forinstance,everytimeLordKrishnasings,heisaccompaniedbyup to eightﬂutes,certainrhythmicinterpolations,andarhythmicmantra.AsintraditionalOrientaldrama, eachmovementmustcorrespondtothe music insome way, and no gesture should be ‘naturalistic’, as nothing in the ‘interior drama’is natural.The Celestial Narrator acts as the ‘bridge’between the supernaturalandthenaturalworld.ĀTMĀ-MĀYĀ–theAbsolute andtheRelative.

DebtofGratitude

Iamdeeplygrateful toDrDominikWujastyk for his generoushelpwith theSanskrit.The singersshouldworkwithaSanskritistsuchasDrWujastykwhentheyarelearningthepart, inordertoachievetherightsounds.

J.T.

“The one who when dying, is only aware of Me, unites with My essence.” – Lord Krishna

KRSNALĪLA

(ThePlayofKrishna)

Amysticalpantomimeforsoloists,chorusandorchestra,withmimesanddancers

IntroductionandSynopsis

Thewholeworldof Krsnalīla (thePlayofKrishna)shouldbepresentedonstageasmagicalandsupernatural, andthatiswhyIcallitaMysticalPantomime.ThelifeofLordKrishnaistoldintheBhagaradGita,Bhagavata PuranaandincountlessotherHindumysticalpoemsandtexts.Ihaveselected14scenesor‘vignettes’fromthe lifeofKrishna,introducingeachonewithasomewhat‘improvisatory’passagefortheCelestialNarrator,who willrecountthestorythroughoutinEnglish,exceptforthe13thnarration(SceneXII)inSanskrit.

Krishna,anincarnationofVishnu,manifestsprimarilythe‘playful’and‘blissful’natureofGod(LīlaAnānda). Krishnaasachild‘playswith mud, his motherscoldshim,butwhenheopenshismouth she sees‘allheaven and the universe’inside Him’. He ‘makes love’to the Gopis (cow-girls) and ‘adores’Radha, the chief of the Gopis.The fact that Radha is adored by God (Krishna) gives huge emphasis to the central scene (SceneVII) wheretheholylove-makingofKrishnaandRadhaiscelebrated.Thissceneisthelongest,andthecentralpoint of Krsnalīla,withthe scenesoneithersidebeingmusically‘isorhythmic’toeachother.Thus,the structureof Krsnalīla isveryimportant,andtheproductiononstageshouldmirrorthisstructure.EverytimeKrishnasings, a sacred mantra (Om namō narāyanāya) is chanted, which connects him to the God-Head, and he is always accompaniedbyuptoeightﬂutes,whichshouldbe positionedaeriallyasakindof‘halo’tohisvoice.Soitis God who is ‘playing’, ‘making love’, ‘dispelling evil’, ‘subduing the serpent’and telling us to think ‘only of Him’,becauseifwedothishewillalwaysbewithus,nowandeternally.

Krishna appears as a child (treble), as an adolescent (countertenor), as a young man (tenor) and as a revered teacher(baritone).Atcertainpointsthroughthework,allfourvoicessingtogether:inthe‘incarnating’,inthe sacred‘Round-Dance’ofthe Gopis whenhe manifestshimself toall ofthem,at the centralpointof the‘holy love-making’*andﬁnallyattheend(Epilogue)whenhereturnsto‘HisParadise’.

The ethos of the whole piece is close to traditional drama, thus the voices sing the parts which mimes and dancersenactonstage.Nothingshouldberealistic,andeverymovementshouldbeideallystylisedandsymbolic,mirroringthe mathematicalstructure ofthe music.There are twolevels;one literal,the other esoteric, and thus the central ‘love-making’must be both realistic and symbolic of the soul’s union with God.This is thecase with alloftheScenes.

TheimportantpartoftheCelestialNarratorshouldbesungandactedbyacolourfulandimaginativebaritone. He keeps the audience ‘in touch’, so to speak, with the ritual that is being enacted onstage, describing each sceneassimplyaspossible,asthemimesenactina‘cartoon-like’waywhatheisdescribing.Hemovesfreely among the audience, explaining the double-meanings, charming, frightening and consoling us.The music is intensely vivid and highly dramatic, the rhythms are approximate, and he may use improvisational devices suchasspontaneouslyspokennarrative,inconsultationwiththedirector.

Ishouldsaythatwhilstcomposingthemusic,IsurroundedmyselfwithHinduminiatures,thatmostsacredof allart-forms,sosimpleandchild-like,foraboveallIhavetriedtopresentthevignettesfromthelifeofKrishna inachild-likeandsimplemanner.

J.T.

September2005

*RefertoBhagavataPurana

(Mirrors)

THESTRUCTUREOF KRSNALĪLA

Epilogue  Prologue Atamomentofunbearablecyclicaldegeneracythereisacryforhelpbythe‘earth’, symbolised by a weeping cow (Bhumi) in front of a ‘sea of milk’. Incarnation of Krishna.

SceneXIII  SceneI TheBirth ofKrishna.Paradisial.The sorceress Putana,disguisedasa beautifulwet nurse, tries to poison Krishna with her poisoned breasts. Krishna knows this, and sucksoutthe poison, sendinghersoulto heaven.

SceneXII  SceneII Krishnaplayswithmud.Hismotherscoldshim,thenseesallheaven,andtheuniverse, insidehismouth.

SceneXISceneIII KrishnaandRadhameetandfallinloveaschildren.

SceneX SceneIV KrishnastealstheclothesoftheGopiswhiletheyarebathing,sothattheywillcome tohim,nakedinbodyandsoul.

SceneIX SceneV Rāsalīla.TheRound-DanceoftheGopis.KrishnadancesﬁrstwithRadha,thenwith alltheGopis,ashemanifestshimselftoeachofthem.

SceneVIII  SceneVI KrishnadisappearsfromtheGopis.TheyseektheirBelovedLordandlover.

SceneVII THESTILLCENTRE(nomirror).Thesacredlove-makingofKrishnaandRadha(choreographed). (Referto Bhagavata Purana forpoetic,eroticdescription)

SceneVI  SceneVIII Krishnaisseenﬁghtingthroughthecosmicevilintheworld.

SceneV SceneIX Krishnasubduesspeciﬁcevilintheformofthe‘serpent’andwhatitsymbolises(the poisonedearth).

SceneIV SceneX KrishnaabductsRukminitobehischiefwife.

SceneIII  SceneXI RadhaandRukminimeet–unitedintheirlovefortheLordKrishna,theirsoulsmelt intoeachother,astheirbodiesmeltintothesingle-being-Krishna(God).

SceneII  SceneXII Krishna bids farewell to the world, and tells us that if we think of Him, we will never die.

SceneI  SceneXIII KrishnareturnstoParadise.Hisdevoteesforsaketheirloved-onesandjumpontothe funeralpyretobewithhimthere.

Prologue Epilogue (Somesubtlesuggestionsofthepresentage,anothermomentofcyclicaldegeneracy.) Weare(today)livingintheKaliYuga(DarkAge).Flashbackstothe‘cryforhelp’as KrishnasingsfromParadisethat“whenevilprevailsandtruthdeclines,Hewillcome backtotheworld...”

KRISHNA

JohnTavener

Dignified,butwithaterribleburdenofsuffering (q=c.48-52)

gently,moltoespress.

Dignified,butwithaterribleburdenofsuffering (q=c.48-52)

cresc.pocoapoco

senzasord. unis.

mpcresc.pocoapoco

pcresc.pocoapoco (q=c.48-52) &senzasord.unis.

pcresc.pocoapoco

senzasord.

div.pcresc.pocoapoco

senzasord.

pcresc.pocoapoco ? (senzasord.)

div.pcresc.pocoapoco ? (senzasord.)

pcresc.pocoapoco

cresc.pocoapoco

SCENEI TheBirthofKrishna

C1

pocoflegato,espress.

mplegato,espress.

pocoflegato,espress.

mplegato,espress.

pocoflegato,espress.

mplegato,espress.

pocoflegato,espress.

mplegato,espress.

pocoflegato,espress.

mplegato,espress.

œœœœ#œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ #œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœ #œœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœœŒ

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mp(cresc.pocoapoco)

p(cresc.pocoapoco)

(cresc.pocoapoco)

dancing–alwaysfreely,guidedbythewords

TheGopisseektheirLord

Lost,bereft–withgreatlonging(e=c.50) Conmoltointensità

Sodesolate

Vln.II

Vla.

J3

Vln.II

Vla. Vlc.

Vln.II

Vla. Vlc. D.B.

L3

N3

C4

J4

pplegato

plegato

mpmoltoespress.

Hn.

Picc.Tpt.

mpmoltoespress

moltoespress mpmoltoespress mpmoltoespress mpmoltoespress

Naghadet ta karadhatirakitadha tirakitatakata tirakitatakati rakitatakadhatit

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