Mechem PRIDE AND PREJUDICE vocal score

Pride&Prejudice

Opera in Two Acts

Based on the novel by Jane Austen piano - vocal score

G. SCHIRMER / New York

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II m m p p o o rr tt a a n n tt N N o o tt ii cc e e

Kirke Mechem

Pride & Prejudice

Opera in Two Acts

THE BACKGROUND

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” So begins Jane Austen’s novel, but 21st century audiences may need to be reminded that in Austen’s time, it was also true that a woman with no fortune needed to marry well, as there were few opportunities for her to make a living herself. The Bennets must find husbands for their daughters, who have no dowry. By law, Mr. Bennet’s estate can be inherited only by the nearest male heir, the ridiculously pompous vicar Mr. Collins. We must also remind ourselves that in the England of 200 years ago, social classes were more distinct and immutable than they are today.

THE STORY

A wealthy and single young man from London, Charles Bingley, has just moved into the Netherfield estate. At a ball he gives for his neighbors, Mrs. Bennet is overjoyed to see that Bingley is attracted to her eldest daughter, Jane. But her second daughter, the witty and independent Elizabeth, is slighted by Bingley’s even wealthier friend, the proud and aristocratic Darcy. The spirited courtship between Darcy and Elizabeth who at first cannot abide one another is the main story of the opera. They not only misjudge each other, but are both victims of their own pride and prejudices. Only after much sparring and indignant misunderstandings do they come to recognize their true feelings, and can forgive themselves and each other.

ACT I

Duration

Scene 1: Netherfield mansion, early spring 17’

Scene 2: Longbourn, drawing room & garden, two weeks later 19 Scene 3: The same, several weeks later 32

ACT II

Scene 1: Rosings, garden and park, two months later: July 17 Scene 2: Longbourn, drawing room and garden, one week later 11

Scene 3: The same, one month later 11

Scene 4: The same, six weeks later: mid September 18

TOTAL 2 hours, 5 min.

(in Jane Austen’s own words)

ELIZABETH BENNET, mezzo (second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet): Although not so handsome as her older sister, her face was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. She had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous, with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, Jane. There was a mixture of sweetness and archness in her manner which made it difficult for her to affront anybody.

MR. DARCY, baritone (friend of Mr. Bingley): Possessed of a fine tall person, handsome features, noble mien and ten thousand a year from a large estate in Derbyshire. Clever and haughty, reserved and fastidious.

JANE BENNET, soprano (eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet): She unites with a great strength of feeling a composure of temper and a uniform cheerfulness of manner.

MR. BINGLEY, tenor: Just what a young man ought to be: handsome, sensible and good humored. Lively with happy manners, ease and perfect good breeding.

MRS. BENNET, high soprano: A woman of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper. The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.

MR. BENNET, bass: An odd mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humor, reserve and caprice. Fond of the country and of books.

MR. COLLINS, bass baritone: A clergyman. His air was grave and stately, and his manners very formal. A mixture of pride and obsequiousness, self importance and servility.

LADY CATHERINE DE BOURGH, contralto: Darcy’s aunt and patroness of Mr. Collins. A tall, large woman, with strongly marked features, which might once have been handsome. Her air was not conciliating. Whatever she said was spoken in so authoritative a tone as marked her self importance.

LYDIA, soprano (youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet): A well grown girl of fifteen, with a fine complexion and a good humored countenance a favorite with her mother, whose affection has brought her into public at an early age.

MR. WICKHAM, baritone (an officer in the militia): Endowed with all the best parts of beauty a fine countenance, a good figure, and a very pleasing address. As false and deceitful as he is insinuating.

CHARLOTTE LUCAS, soprano: Elizabeth’s intimate friend. A sensible, intelligent young woman, about 27.

MISS BINGLEY, mezzo: Sister of Mr. Bingley. A very fine lady, but proud and conceited.

ORCHESTRATION

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone (tenor bass), Timpani, 1 other percussion, harp, strings.

CHORUS

SATB in first and last scenes; TB at end of Act I, Scene 2

PREFACE TO THE OPERA

“AN OPERA on Pride and Prejudice?” I’ve been asked. “After all the films, plays and books, who needs an operatic version?” I can answer this question only with a more difficult question: “Why has no one ever written an opera on Pride and Prejudice before?”

It is the most beloved novel in the English language; it has strong and varied characters, humor, opportunities for dancing, for ensembles and scenic beauty, and above all, it is built around one of the most fascinating love stories of all time. These are the hallmarks of opera. While films have the technique to open up action in ways the stage cannot, opera can more powerfully convey the passions and nuances of human emotions. The language of love is music.

Why then, for two centuries, was Pride and Prejudice overlooked by opera composers? Could it be because the soprano doesn’t die? In 19th century opera that seems to have been obligatory, except for comic operas, which Pride and Prejudice could never have become. In spite of its frequent irony the book has important scenes of anguish and even anger. As Somerset Maugham observed in naming Pride and Prejudice one of the world’s ten greatest novels, Austen “had too much common sense and too sprightly a humor to be a romantic.”

But what about 20th century English composers? Benjamin Britten, the greatest and most prolific, was interested mainly in the uncommon. Austen was not interested in the uncommon, but in the common, according to Maugham. “She made it uncommon by the keenness of her observation, her irony and her playful wit.”

For American composers, opera except for Porgy and Bess was relatively unimportant until the latter half of the 20th century. After Menotti’s post Puccini period, our composers concentrated on American subjects and idioms. The last quarter of the century saw the rise of what one critic called “CNN operas.” A 200 year old British love story hardly seemed relevant to American composers and impresarios of that mind set. But I agree with Anna Quindlen: “Jane Austen wrote not of war and peace, but of men, money, and marriage, the battlefield for women of her day and, surely, of our own.”

Another reason 20th century composers ignored Pride and Prejudice probably had to do with musical style. Austen’s novels are so rooted in their time and place, it is hard to imagine them being sung to atonal or dissonant tonal music. I did not consider this a problem, as I have always tried to respect not only the words themselves but the style in which the original works were written. That is not to say that I have limited myself in this opera to the musical styles of the early 19th century (the novel was published in 1813).

While I have imitated certain stylistic characteristics of the period, particularly in the dances, I was writing to engage a 21st century opera audience, which is just another way of saying that I was trying to compose inventive and expressive music that I would like to hear if I were in the audience.

As one would expect, the music of Pride and Prejudice is tonal and melodic, but because the characters and situations are multifarious, so is the music. Like the novel, the opera changes gradually from comedy to poignant drama. Act I is full of gaiety, irony, humor and flirtation. Act II is deeper in feeling, suspense, and the possibility of tragedy before things get sorted out. It comes close to being a “grand opera.” It uses chorus and dancers and sometimes calls for a split stage, i.e., there is occasionally action in both the house and the garden at the same time. The orchestra, however, is only slightly larger than that of a Mozart or Stravinsky opera.

It is not by accident that this is my most lyrical opera. My first three operas are quite different one from another: a satirical comedy (Tartuffe); a historical drama (John Brown); and a comic opera/musical (The Rivals). For my fourth opera I had my heart set on finding a play or novel with a great love story one which also offered the variety of characters and situations that I always look for. Additionally, I hoped my source would be an American work, preferably from the middlewest where I grew up. But several months’ reading turned up nothing that I thought would make a good opera. Then I happened to see the old 1940 Pride and Prejudice film and a bell rang in my brain. I was not very fond of that adaptation, but it reminded me of how much I loved the book. I immediately read it again and was delighted to find how theatrically Jane Austen set up many of her scenes. (I later learned that her family and friends regularly produced plays at home.) I realized that Pride and Prejudice satisfied all my requirements except for being set in small town England, not mid America. I briefly considered transferring the story to America, but quickly realized that would be a great mistake. Can you imagine Darcy as a Kansas cattle baron?

To compress 400 pages of words into two hours of music is daunting. The 1995 television version ran over five hours. My project was so formidable, in fact, that I told no one about it until I had written several scenarios, gradually whittling them down to workable size, then trying out several provisional librettos until I thought I had achieved one short enough to leave room for music. And now that the work is finished, I tremble that hard core Pride and Prejudice fans there are millions of them will not forgive me. I apologize in advance for the necessary cuts, the telescoping of scenes and characters and the occasional rearrangement of locales: in the opera there are only three Bennet daughters, not five; scene 1 does not begin at the Bennets’ house nor at the first assembly. In order to get the action moving quickly, we plunge right into the ball at Netherfield. I have tried to arrange all this so that the important words and actions occur in about the same order as in the novel. I use Jane Austen’s own words wherever possible, only making changes necessary for modern comprehension or in the interest of brevity, or for musical reasons. I also put some of the choral passages into verse. (The chorus represents the townspeople and friends of the Bennets.)

Finally, I want to assure fans of the novel that I love it as much as they do and have tried my best to remain true to its characters and its story. I sorely regret the cuts I had to make. But please remember: only Wagner could get away with five hour operas.

K. M.

ACT I, Scene 1

Opening scene (chorus, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet) 1 Good evening, Mr. Bingley (Bingley, Jane, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet) 16 That is Mr. Bingley’s friend (chorus, Darcy, Miss Bingley) 18

Minuet: Mrs. Bennet, chorus, Charlotte, Eliza, Miss Bingley, Bingley 22 Duet: Come, Darcy (Bingley, Darcy) 33

Poor Eliza! (Charlotte, Mrs. Bennet, Eliza, Lydia) 36 Oh, well, I don’t care (Eliza, SA chorus) 40

Finale: Ladies and gentlemen (Bingley, chorus) 45

Scene 2

Mrs. Bennet, Charlotte, Eliza 51

Duet: You’re in no hurry (Bingley, Darcy) 58

Gavotte I: (Mrs. Bennet, Bingley, Eliza, Darcy, Miss Bingley) 65

Gavotte II: Quartet (Charlotte, Eliza, Darcy, Miss Bingley) 68 Scottish reel (Darcy, Eliza) 72

It seems your wedding . . . (Miss Bingley joins Eliza, Darcy) 75 Variations on a sarabande by Handel (Eliza, Darcy) 85 Ah, what a perfect couple (Mrs. Bennet’s coloratura variation) 89

Finale: A soldier boy, a soldier boy (Lydia, Mrs. Bennet, TB chorus) 94

Scene 3

A lovely garden, Cousin (Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet) 99 Mr. Wickham? Surely he’s too old for Lydia. (Jane, Eliza) 109 La la la la. / Madam, you seem to have recovered. (Mrs. Bennet, Jane, Eliza) 114 Ah, your modesty only adds to your perfection. (Collins proposes to Eliza) 120 Lizzy, go to your father at once! (Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bennet, Collins, Charlotte) 129 Good morning, Miss Elizabeth. (Wickham, Eliza) 140 Aria: I was his godson (Wickham) 145 Aria: Let it be forgotten (Jane) 153 Finale: Did you hear the news? (Lydia, Mrs. Bennet, Eliza, Jane, Mr. Bennet) 155

ACT II, Scene 1

Cousin Elizabeth, we are almost there (Collins, Eliza, Charlotte) 165 Is your family connected at court? (Lady Catherine, Eliza, Darcy, Charlotte) 172 Duet: Darcy proposes to Eliza 181

Scene 2

Do you like it, Lizzy? (Lydia, Lizzy, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet) 200 Duet: letter scene (Darcy, Eliza) 205 Aria: But what if it is true (Eliza) 214

Scene 3

Scene 4

Duet with projections: Eliza tells Jane about seeing Darcy at Pemberley 219 What is the news, Father? (Eliza, Jane, Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet) 234

I congratulate you, Jane. (Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Eliza, Jane) 242

Lady Catherine visits Eliza 248 Lizzy, you look as if you’d seen a ghost. (Jane, Eliza) 257 Love duet: Mr. Darcy, I am a selfish creature. (Eliza, Darcy) 260 Finale: Chorus, Eliza, Darcy, Bingley, Jane, Mr. and Mrs. Bingley. 270

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