DaVinci at the River - 12/5/2021 Program

A new cantata written for the university’s 150th anniversary celebration.

2 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021 Leach Theatre and streamed via YouTube

This concert is presented by the arts, languages, and philosophy department at Missouri S&T as part of the university’s 150th anniversary celebration.

DaVinci at the River (2021) Prologue I. ....................................................................................Aerial Screw

Composed by Dr. Kyle Wernke, assistant teaching professor of music Libretto written by Taylor Gruenloh, assistant teaching professor of theater John Francis, bass solo (The Ghost)

II. ..................................................................................The Master III. .................................................................................The Lost Leonardo IV. ..................................................................................Virgin and Child with Saint Anne V. ...................................................................................The Unfinished Mural at Palazzo Vecchio

SYNOPSIS An ancient power conjures the ghost of Leonardo da Vinci and demands that a machine be built. The ghost of da Vinci has doubts about this machine and will languish for over a hundred years caught between innovation and purpose, forced to remember his great deeds and his unfinished promises in life.

PROLOGUE CHORUS And will you not come again?

You spectator of the sky!

Witness the changes of the rivers and come again with hopes to fly.

CHORUS Leonardo! Leonardo, fall!

And will you not come again?

Your mind and your instruments!

A legacy of your mastery, a past with profits of wickedness.

Raise the boat and raise the dead!

Raise the boat and raise the dead!

And will you not come again?

You well watcher of natures!

Make us the beholder of beauty and your faults and face your failures.

Yes! Yes! Up from your death bed!

Leonardo! Leonardo, fall!

We will witness the self-judgment And you will answer the call.

Raise the boat and raise the dead!

Why must I be bothered and woken?

THE GHOST

MOVEMENT 1: AERIAL SCREW ; Manuscript B, Folio 83V (1489) ; in service to the Duke of Milan ; through the Battle of Fornovo ; with the Lady with an Ermine

THE GHOST: My mourning continues over with this cyclical cruelty!

I recoil from being history’s Sisyphus and scapegoat.

Let me go!

CHORUS: Leonardo! Leonardo, fall!

THE GHOST: No!

CHORUS:

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS

First on the road to Egypt.

Last with the word of betrayal.

A holy family on the road.

Christ with mother and cousin.

THE GHOST

THE GHOST I came to imagine weapons.

I gave them plans for a city.

I can’t go on remembering as I am.

I captured flight like Aristotle.

I reshaped the passage of water.

But came to Milan with Andrea.

Where is Andrea?

THE GHOST: I don’t want the air to breathe me in again.

CHORUS: Leonardo! Leonardo, call!

THE CHORUS

THE CHORUS “Furia francese!”

“Furia francese!”

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS

CHORUS: Leonardo! Leonardo, fall!

Leonardo! You are the master!

Where is Andrea?!

I made the Duke his Supper.

But I came with Andrea.

THE GHOST: I can’t go on remembering as I am.

You will come again.

THE CHORUS I find myself in Milan.

One hundred and eighty miles with Andrea.

You will come again.

You will come again.

Leonardo! Leonardo, fall!

Leonardo! Leonardo, call!

Your dark thoughts, Leonardo!

Your demons, Leonardo!

THE GHOST My dark thoughts, oh!

I see halves of men and blades with blood.

I draw broken bodies and death in color.

I create the mechanisms of death.

But they are only dark thoughts!

My dreams are given to me!

THE GHOST War! My fingers are with the mistress Cecilia.

Where is my lady with the ermine?

Is she safe again from war?

THE CHORUS See clearly, Leonardo. See!

THE GHOST I can’t go on remembering as I am.

Is this world not done with me?

MOVEMENT 2: THE MASTER ; The Baptism of Christ (1475) ; in service to Verrocchio ; through The Last Supper

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS

I still believe this is our sin A bastard paying his penance A boy to so many fathers

The city is sinking, Leonardo

THE CHORUS Don’t be angry, Leonardo

THE GHOST My mother a poor angel Holding a robe in the river I cover eggs with oils and rise I create the landscape and rise

THE CHORUS Rise, Leonardo

THE GHOST Let me be the closing of an age

THE GHOST

Working machines unsaid But I leave for the rivers I leave for the wars I leave to be perfect for the Lord If I was masterful My mother was marked

THE CHORUS You are the master, Leonardo

THE GHOST

The city is always sinking!

Where is my equal in death?

Who can cure me of this curse?

Let me be with my mother Here in this river of nothingness

I am the master of nothing!

THE CHORUS

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS You recreate the Lord for us You recreate us, Leonardo

Be here to save us Be here to lift us Be here…

I recreate my broken image I paint the cancer in my bones

THE GHOST

We need a machine, Leonardo

I will only save half-ways The price of perfection is Never being a good son I create unfinished fates

MOVEMENT 3: THE LOST LEONARDO ;The Battle of Anghiari (1505) ; in service to the Guild of St. Luke ; coinciding with the war machines in the Codex Atlanticus

THE CHORUS THE GHOST No! Save us! Lift us! Rise up!

THE CHORUS No one shares your name.

THE GHOST

Take what you need, Leonardo.

THE CHORUS

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS THE GHOST I know I am alone!

Victories bleed into death Bleed into nothingness I fall!

I rise!

Alone!

THE CHORUS Build, Leonardo!

THE CHORUS You have nothing.

Don’t suffer at the river.

Build again, Leonardo…

A machine to end all wars!

THE GHOST There is no end!

Only the unfinished!

So many things unfinished…

THE GHOST You betray me at the river

THE CHORUS Save us, Leonardo Then rest, Leonardo

THE GHOST No! The Ghost will not be the machine!

(The Ghost paces at the river for forty years.)

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS

No!

You’re alone, Leonardo.

THE CHORUS Don’t hide, Leonardo The machine, Leonardo

Rise, Leonardo!

I have no standard of me Deals with the devil and payments accepted in full To be the Ox of Luke In Feast for the healer I have lost myself Where is my friend?

The one painting beside me In the hall of melting war?

Does he too have to answer to the crimes of defense?

THE GHOST

THE GHOST Where is Andrea?

I came with Andrea.

A bastard’s curse…

The mark of genius…

THE GHOST

Tempted with rest Tempted with peace For me to build again…

Is it the way back to my mother?

Is it the way back to Andrea?

I knew in life What alludes me now…

THE CHORUS You’re our master, Leonardo A mother’s son, Leonardo

I will build your machine…

THE GHOST

Rest in peace, Leonardo.

It’s always a machine!

I won’t.

I refuse.

Another deal with a devil…

I know what you will bring…

THE CHORUS We will deliver a future.

THE GHOST You will bring the end!

You are the moon without the light of the sun!

Trying to control darkness!

There is no future in darkness!

THE CHORUS

THE CHORUS THE GHOST Mother! Recognize my face!

Tell me I’m clean when you see me again.

THE CHORUS Build, Leonardo!

THE GHOST I am air and fire…

Not of the divine…

THE CHORUS Bring an end, Leonardo!

THE GHOST

You will see your mother, Leonardo.

I am the earth.

THE GHOST

You are tide, Leonardo!

Don’t tempt me with this!

THE CHORUS You will be released, Leonardo!

THE CHORUS THE GHOST I am death

MOVEMENT 4 ; Virgin and Child with Saint Anne ; in service to Cesare Borgia ; through Machiavelli

(The Ghost toils away at the machine for one hundred years.)

THE CHORUS Witness Leonardo…

Finish, Leonardo.

Stop the rivers, Leonardo.

Finish, Leonardo!

So, we can dedicate it!

THE GHOST I am the lamb.

No lap to sit on.

THE CHORUS There is no Virgin, Leonardo.

THE GHOST I could be a daughter, too.

Nurturer instead of destroyer?

I have this machine for you from both of my minds.

THE CHORUS You cannot escape time.

You will finish before you die again.

THE GHOST I imagine a thousand ways to end this… but you deny all of them out of blindness.

You don’t need a master.

You won’t have a son.

You need obedience with no name.

I have a machine for you!

THE CHORUS You are in service, Leonardo!

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS

THE CHORUS

You are a bastard.

Finish, Leonardo.

No, Leonardo.

THE GHOST

My mother on her mother’s lap.

But my mother keeps me from the edge.

I should be numb of death and plight.

Find the taste of blood underneath my fingernails…

Mix the blood of whores and gold, extasy in the feeling of rust.

Take what I have built!

You want a machine, so take it!

Yes, Leonardo.

THE CHORUS

THE GHOST

We want death in our name, Leonardo.

THE GHOST But does it have to be death in my name?

Take from me my memories so I can build for you.

Take away my questions so I can create for you.

Take away my humanity that I may give you death.

THE CHORUS Ignorance is slow, Leonardo.

You are in service, Leonardo.

It has been one hundred years, Leonardo!

Be with your mother, Leonardo…

THE GHOST All of my fathers brought me to this…

THE CHORUS

Revel in the bodies with a horse’s head and half a skull.

THE CHORUS Yes, Leonardo.

THE GHOST Keeping the water from the living dead.

THE CHORUS Yes, Leonardo!

THE GHOST Lust on behalf of the state.

THE CHORUS Yes, Leonardo!

THE GHOST THE CHORUS No, Leonardo!

THE GHOST My mother keeps me from the edge.

THE CHORUS Your mother is a whore, Leonardo.

THE GHOST And so am I.

THE CHORUS Don’t toil, Leonardo!

Keep working, Leonardo!

THE GHOST Take my answers!

Take this machine!

THE CHORUS You will suffer, Leonardo!

THE GHOST I only know suffering.

THE CHORUS You are not Christ, Leonardo.

THE GHOST But yet I die for your sins.

THE GHOST Be the lamb.

DR. KYLE WERNKE Kyle Wernke is a composer of thrilling music that has been performed at home and all over the world. An avid composer of music for large ensemble, Wernke’s 2017 tour-de-force orchestral piece, Burst, has been recorded by the Brno Philharmonic for Ablaze Record’s album “Orchestral Masters, Vol. 6” and been performed by the Tampa Bay Symphony and the Musique en Seine Orchestre in Paris, France.

In 2020, in honor of Missouri S&T’s 150th Anniversary, Wernke was commissioned to compose a cantata based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci alongside theatre professor and librettist Taylor Gruenloh. The resulting piece, DaVinci at the River, is a celebration not only of da Vinci, but also the spirit of Missouri S&T where Wernke serves as the Director of Orchestras.

Upcoming projects include Symphony No. 1 and a double concerto for viola, double bass, and orchestra both commissioned by the New England Film Orchestra. Additionally, he is working on two operas, Potiphar’s Wife and MacArthur.

MOVEMENT 5 ; the unfinished mural at Palazzo Vecchio ; in service to King Francis I ; whereabouts unknown

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS

You don’t deserve to hear their pleas!

And will you not come again?

Lower the boat and lower the ghost!

THE CHORUS You will build, Leonardo!

THE GHOST

THE GHOST

Where is Andrea?

Through the pain…

Through the lies…

You are denied by a ghost.

THE CHORUS Build, Leonardo.

THE GHOST So many things unfinished.

THE CHORUS Leave the magic for the lesser.

No more colors or Virgins.

Finish the war, Leonardo.

THE GHOST I wanted to see the face of my mother.

THE CHORUS That life is done with you.

Give us what we want, Leonardo.

Then rest, then sleep, then disappear.

THE CHORUS You deny us peace, Leonardo.

THE GHOST I deny you power.

Put me back in the river.

THE CHORUS

THE GHOST Where is my body?

Where are my remains?

THE CHORUS

THE GHOST No!

THE GHOST

Build, Leonardo!

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS

THE CHORUS Most deserve death, Leonardo!

THE CHORUS We will come for you again.

You will never be found, Leonardo.

You will stay at the river, Leonardo!

Fall again, Leonardo!

I was not put here to live!

Am I hear at all?

No! Let the faces eat!

Let them go home!

Make them believe a life after sin!

THE GHOST Leave me to disappear!

Fall to rise again, Leonardo!

THE GHOST

THE CHORUS When all is forgotten.

We will raise the boat and raise the dead.

Fall, Leonardo!

The master will finish building.

THE GHOST I am the master of nothing.

(The Ghost is lowered into the water and disappears.)

The river takes me and I only think of Andrea.

Where is my mother?

JOHN FRANCIS Rolla native John Francis received his Bachelor of Music in voice and music education from the University of Idaho. He has spent his career working in radio — first at Missouri S&T’s former public radio station KMST, and most recently at Mid Missouri Media in Rolla. He has recently retired from full-time work, and now spends his time playing banjo and singing in the Bluegrass band Dixie Union, as well as working as a part-time sound engineer at Greentree Church in Rolla. He is married to Missouri S&T music professor Lorie Francis.

TAYLOR GRUENLOH Taylor Gruenloh is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Theatre at the Missouri S&T and currently the Artistic Director of the Tesseract Theatre Company in St. Louis. His plays have been produced in cities across the country including St. Louis, New Orleans, Asheville, Roanoke, and New York City. He won the 2017 St. Louis Fringe Festival with his play Hot for T-Rex, his play Adverse Effects was adapted as an audio play for Audible and iTunes, and his new play The Length of a Pop Song will premiere in St. Louis next July.

Da Vinci, Leonardo. (dated c. 1480–1490). Saint Jerome Praying in the Wilderness, an unfinished painting representing Jerome (A.D. 347–420), a saint and theologian of the Christian Church. The scene is based on the story of his later life, which he spent as a hermit in the desert, according to the thirteenth-century Golden Legend.

Wikimedia Commons free media repository (November 30, 2019). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_Saint_Jerome.jpg.

JOHN FRANCIS, BASS SOLO (THE GHOST)

CHOIR PERSONNEL DIRECTOR — Lorie Francis SOPRANO

ALTO

TENOR

BASS

Piper Ancell

Jillian Schubert

Alex Lunceford

Isaac Veltkamp

Cecilia Fugaro

Samantha Thompson

Jerrett Martin

Billy McKenzie

Grace Echele

Rosalyn Schuster

Will Reicher

Jackson Marlett

Esther Frayling

Gabrielle Watson

Gabe Alden

Messiah Moultrie

Katherine Wright

Chambre Garcia

Patricia Lock

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL DIRECTOR — Dr. Kyle Wernke FLUTE

HORN

PERCUSSION

VIOLA

Natalie Cummins, principal

Heather Slane, principal

Emily Howe, principal

Thomas Francois, principal

Megan Benkendorf, piccolo

Daniel Ripp

Cameron Ray

Kristin Nyenhuis

Robert Viguerie

OBOE Dan Willett, principal Caitlin Selle, English horn

CLARINET

Brandon Sullivan

TRUMPET Alexander Newett, principal Rachael Lietz Piper Monnig Bailey Schoenike

Kylie Braun, co-principal

Mariah Vasquez

Veronica Lee, co-princiapl

TROMBONE

Matthew Luebbe Ravi Shastri, bass clarinet

BASSOON Connor Jones Richard Sankovich

Michael Ford, principal Laura Monks Jack Fletcher, bass trombone Ryan Siggins

TUBA Will Ziehm

David Miloshewski

Erik Bergstrom

Garrett Vejraska

Luke Biernbaum

HARP

Dalton Moss

Terri Langerak

VIOLIN I Jason Xu, concertmaster Calvin Heend Winky Luo Joseph Nguyen Joshua Santy Grace Schlie

Andrew J. Budd

CELLO Jack Vande Polder, principal Grant Hoevelmann Adam Johnson Luke Souders Sage Wood

BASS

Madison Washington

Willem von Hombracht

VIOLIN II

Merrick Schnider

Eric Duong, principal Madeline Allen Angeliz C. Lopez Tyler Reelitz Lindsay Manteufel Mary Moss

Ben Wang

UPCOMING EVENTS SUNDAY, DEC. 12 | 2 P.M.

SUNDAY, APR. 10 | 2 P.M.

S&T Music Ensembles Holiday Concert (Leach Theatre)

Band Concert (Leach Theatre)

FEB. 11–12 | 7 P.M. Gruesome Playground Injuries (Black Box Theatre)

SUNDAY, FEB. 27 | 2 P.M.

APR. 21–23 | 7 P.M. AND APR. 24 | 2 P.M. Legally Blonde: The Musical (Leach Theatre)

WEDNESDAY, APR. 27 | 12 P.M.

399th Band Concert (Leach Theatre)

Outdoor Band Concert (Havener Center Lawn)

MAR. 10–12 | 7 P.M. AND MAR. 13 | 2 P.M.

FRIDAY, APR. 29 | 12 P.M.

Last Five Years (Black Box Theatre)

Outdoor Band Concert (rain date — Havener Center Lawn)

FRIDAY, APR. 8 | 7 P.M. Jazz Concert (Leach Theatre)

SUNDAY, MAY 1 | 2 P.M. Orchestra/Choir Concert (Leach Theatre)

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS, LANGUAGES, AND PHILOSOPHY Arts, Languages, and Philosophy is a vibrant and diverse department dedicated to enhancing the education of Missouri S&T students through immersion in philosophy, languages, art, film, music, and theatre courses. Students in ALP pursue degrees in philosophy (B.S.) and multidisciplinary studies (B.A.). We also offer a variety of minors. Our faculty are dedicated teachers and active scholars and artists who strive to cultivate enriching experiences for our students and for the community.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: alp.mst.edu alp@mst.edu 573-341-4869