ISSUU Version for Weir perusal only Judith King Harald’s Saga for solo soprano (1979)
Engraved edition (2026)
Novello
ISSUU Version for perusal only
This work was commissioned by Jane Manning, with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain, and first performed by her on a Scottish Arts Council Network tour at Dumfries Music Club on the 17th May 1979. The London premiere took place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Contemporary Music Class) on the 30th November 1979. Duration: c. 10 minutes
PERFORMANCE NOTES Accidentals apply only to the note they precede, immediately repeated notes or those comprising a melisma.
, (,)
A substantial pause for breath A short, unobtrusive break for breath may be taken
Order No. NOV17037-01 EAN 5020679011010 © 1982 Novello & Company Ltd Published by Novello & Company Limited 14-15 Berners Street, London W1T 3LJ Tel. +44 (0)20 7612 7400 Exclusive Distributors: Hal Leonard Europe Limited Dettingen Way, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3YB www.wisemusicclassical.com e-mail: promotion@wisemusic.com All rights reserved No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of Novello & Company Limited
ISSUU Version for perusal only COMPOSER’S NOTE
King Harald’s Saga is a 3-act opera based, as is a good deal of 19th century grand opera, on an actual historical event; in this case, the Norwegian invasion of England in 1066 led by King Harald ‘Hardradi’, which ended in defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, 19 days before the successful Norman invasion at the Battle of Hastings. As King Harald’s Saga is scored for solo soprano only and lasts for just under 10 minutes, a certain amount of compression has been necessary. The soprano sings 8 solo roles, as well as the part of the Norwegian army; and none of the work’s musical items last over a minute. Furthermore, since it would be difficult to stage a work which progresses so quickly, the soprano gives a short spoken introduction to each act to establish the staging, as might happen in a radio broadcast of a staged opera. The musical items are as follows: Act 1 King Harald [‘Hardradi’ of Norway]
aria
Fanfare Earl Tostig
[brother of King Harold of England]
aria
Act 2 St Olaf
aria
King Harald
aria
Harald’s wives
duet
[of Trondheim, King Harald’s brother]
[Elizabeth & Thora]
Act 3 The Norwegian Army
chorus
A Messenger
recitative
A Soldier
aria
Epilogue An Icelandic Sage
recitative
Much of the detail in the libretto has been taken from the account of the invasion in the 13th century Icelandic saga Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241). Judith Weir
ISSUU Version KING HARALD’S SAGA for perusal only for Jane Manning
JUDITH WEIR
Act 1
spoken (as on a radio announcement – at a moderate pace and with even delivery): King Harald’s Saga, act one. It is the year 1066. In the royal palace at Oslo, King Harald of Norway recounts his previous triumphs on the field of battle. To a fanfare of trumpets, Earl Tostig arrives from England. Tostig is a traitor. He persuades King Harald to invade England.
Fervent, freely q = 69 f sempre
&
KING HARALD ‘HARDRADRI’ OF NORWAY
, # œ n œ œ # œ b œ œ œ <n> œ b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ I,
Ha
-
rald
by
3
bœ œ œ œ œ & œ œ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 3
King
of all
3
3
the north
-
,
3 b œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ # œ ™™ œ n œ œ œ œ œ œ &
of mail
™™ œ œ œ œ œ & strode
3
the grace
œ bœ œ œ#œ œ nœ J
deliberate mp
œ œ œ œ œ œ ™ œ œ œ œ œ#œnœ ™™ œ œ J œ ™ ‰ nœ œ œ œ ™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J bœ 5
3
bϪ
and sailed
strong - est king that e
-
ver
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 3œ œbœ ™ J bœ œ R
‰
mf
the rest
f
˙ œ œ œ œ œ™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & Most mer - ci-less fight - er
God,
5
and held a sharp-edged sword,
a long-ship’s prow
of al-might-y
3
ern lands, might - iest war - rior that e-ver donned a
3
coat
3
5
that e -ver killed a liv - ing man
© Copyright 1982 Novello & Company Limited
mp
3
-
less sea
œ ‰ œ œ œ œ œj œ J J J J J J p
Where-as my bro-ther the
ISSUU Version for perusal only
EARL TOSTIG BROTHER OF KING HAROLD OF ENGLAND
& bœ bœ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ >
> √ b œ œ œ & <n>œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ #˙
mp 3″
mf
q = 60
Take,
rit. mp
A tempo (q = 60) p
& <n>œ <n>œ œ œ œ œ œ œ '
<,>bœ
5
Ɯ ,
5
œ œ bœ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œÆ ≈ ≈
Sail
& œ <n>œ ™™ >
œ œœ œ œ œ bœ ™™ >
Fight
,
Kill
Win
œ™™
Ϯ
3″ ,f √ >˙ # œ œbœbœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ' > > > > >
>
f
5″ √ > b ˙ œ œ œ œ
f
Hail,
5
5
œ
œœœœœ
sf
˙ >
œ '
<,>
,
2″ <,> mf √ √ > <,> & bœ bœ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ b˙ bœ bœ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ b˙ > > > 3″
mp
Go
o
f
4″ √ > b˙
& bœ bœ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ o
>
<,> pp bœ
√ b ˙ bœ bœ œ œ
Go
5″
ISSUU Version for perusal only
6
Act 2
spoken: Act two. It is the middle of the night. King Harald is asleep. He dreams that he is in Trondheim, and meets his dead brother, St. Olaf, who warns him that his expedition to England is ill-fated. King Harald is not afraid of dreams: he leaps from his bed and orders his navy to make for England. The ships sail out of the fjord, into the open sea, and out of sight. Harald’s two wives bid him farewell.
e = 120 with absolutely equal stress on each note mezza voce, sempre p possible, molto legato
<,> j œ œ œ # œ œ j œ œ <n> œ # œ œ j œj œ OF TRONDHEIM, j J J J J J & œ #œ #œ J J J J J bœ KING HARALD’S J ST. OLAF BROTHER
Sleep
Ha - rald sleep on,
I
fear
<,> #œ œ bœ œ œ j j #œ #œ œ bœ œ j j j j j j j œ œ œ J J J J J #œ #œ #œ & J J J J J œ <n>œ j bœ nœ a - waits,
that death
I
hear
<n>œ <n>œ œ <,> œ #œ œ j j j j & J J J J J J œ #œ #œ #œ moun - tains,
I
the
see
wolves’
the
wolves
cry
in the
j j #œj #œj #œj j j #œj œ #œ # œ- <n> œ
jaws
red
with
blood;
bœ œ # œ œ œ <n> œ # œ œ # œ œ œ # œ # œ œ # œ # œ œ œ<n>œ œ ‰ & œJ J œJ <n>œ œ œ œ œ<n>œ œ œ œ œ œ # œCon moto
I see
&
black
poco rit.
ra
vens, birds of car
-
A tempo (e = 120 / q = 60) pochissimo più f
œ
œ
I
died
#œ #œ
#œ #œ
at home, a
#œ
ho - ly
<n>œ
man;
-
rion fly
to the west.
3 œ bœ j 3 j bœ œ b œ œ ‰ ‰ J J J J œ bœ J
to my bles-sèd me-m’ry be true;
,
ISSUU Version for perusal only
9
sf p sf p sf p ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pp sub. , , 3 3 3 3 3 3 √ √ & œ œ<n>œ #œ œ œ bœ bœ œ #œ b œ b œ œ œ œ œ bœ œ bœ œ > œ bœ bœ œ > œ bœ bœ œ > > > > pp sub.
Ha
-
rald,
We
plun - der
and
we
steal,
our
pp sub. sf p ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ pp sub. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 U 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 √, 3 j <n>œ ‰ & bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ<n>œ#œ œ # œ > > >œ > b œ œ œ œ b œ bœb œ œ œ œ b œ bœb œ œ > > > >and >our zeal. war - riors’ strength is fa - mous, our cou - rage
√ , & œ #œ œ b œ b œ <n> œ œ œ œ œ > œ bœ œ > œ bœ œ > œ bœ œ > œ bœ œ > œ bœ œ > Tempo I (q = 60) f sempre
We
p
glad
-
ly
kill
for
Ha
Faster cheerfully f sempre
-
rald,
(f sempre)
j™ ≈ œ & œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ <n> œ œ œ > œ œ > œ œ > œ œ > œ œ > œ We
3
slaugh
-
ter
Recitative with relish f
all
& œj œj œj œj œj œj
his
j œ
foes
(Recit.) At a moderate pace rapt, shimmering
j j œ œ œ
First we beat them to the ground, and then we
A MESSENGER
#œ nœ <,>#œj œ ™#œ#œnœ , mp sub.
&
O Sir! O Ha - rald;
œ #œ nœ#œ œ nœ , œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ , œ œ œ #œ œ œ nœ#œ#œ nœ , J J & J J J J J J J J J J J J J I bring fate - ful news; your ar my lies in great pe-ril
the sun is bright but the fates are black.
ISSUU Version for perusal only
10
Faster: più agitato , p
- œ œ œJ œ #œ # œ J J J mf
œ & J
We thought to meet no dan - ger;
but
as
we
œ <n> œ #œ <,>#œ nœ #œ nœ #œ J J J
#œ & J we
saw
mf
(mf)
dust,
a
cloud
of
mf œ œ # œ #œ #œ #œ œ œ J & ‰ and be - low
it
the gleam
#œ ‰ J &
œ nœ #œ ™ J J
and
we could see
p
mp
& œJ
mp
œ J
œ J
œ J
#œ J
œ
œ œ œ J
the hooves
an
ar - my,
ar - my
men;
œ #œ #œ
& #œ œ œ œ œ 5
men
Ϫ
at- tacked;
<,>
œ
#œ ™
-
,
œf
an
of
œ œ #œ #œ œ
˙sfp
a
ice
mf
field
œ #œ œ œ œ <n>œ bœ J
Side by side the ar
œ #œ #œ
of
bro - ken
Fast: very rhythmically; with great energy q = 96 f <,> 5
œ™ bœ œ A SOLDIER &
hor - ses;
œ ™ #œ #œ # œ œ
œ œ J
mf
and their glit - ter - ing wea - pons spar - kled like
3
of
œ #œ #œ
œ J
that it was
œ , J
œ #œ J J
œ
of hand - some shields and white coats of
œ œ #œ œ J J
œ œ J
ap-proached the town of York,
dust, raised by
p
œ œ œ #œ J J J
œ
œ œ œ œ J J J J
<,>
mp
#œ <n>œ ™
mies fought. Shoul - der
#œ œ
to shoul - der their
3 3 3 œ™ œ j # œ # œ # œ j œ œ œ œ
the storm of ar - rows raged
œ œ
3
a - round the King;
<,>
œ
and
ISSUU Version for perusal only
13
Epilogue
spoken: Epilogue. Back in Oslo, an ancient Icelandic sage ponders Harald’s violent end.
Recitative gravely mp
, U œ j j j j j j AN ICELANDIC œ œ œ œ œ œj & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ J J J J J SAGE I have seen this all
j j j j œ & œ œ œ œ un-load ing not live
œ
œ j œ U J œ
men, but corp- ses.
be - fore;
j œ
ships re - turn-ing to the har - bour
, j j U , j j j j j j œ œ œJ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Wo-men weep- ing,
chil-dren who have ne - ver
U j j j j U , j j œ œ ‰ œj œj œj œ #œ œj œ #œ & œ œ œ œJ ‰ œ œ œ œ œ J seen their fa - thers;
it seems to hap-pen of - ten
j j #œ # œ œ ‰ <n> œ œ J & J J
j ‰ j j j j j œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
since so ma - ny were killed
j œ™ & œJ œ
but they do!
and al-ways they say the same thing:
<,>
j j œj œ œ œ ™ œ œ J J
we will ne - ver for - get, and make the same mis- take;
j j j j j œ œ œ œ œ œ™
Œ
, U j œ œ œj J œ œ œ j j J J œ œ
and it hap-pens a - gain
Why did Ha-rald bo - ther?
j j U j j j j j j & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
, j j œ œj œ œJ œJ œJ œJ
stayed at home and made the best of
it.
j œ
he should have
œ œ œ J J J
I could have told him it would end like this.
ISSUU Version for perusal only