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The Miracle at Constance' is a largish TV opera production that I have been working at off and on for nearly ten years [not yet finished in 1998], and of which the first fruits to be given a public airing are these three songs arranged for chamber orchestra. The opera’s libretto is by the dramatist Juha Siltanen, and is an original libretto text and not an adaptation of an existing play. The plot is a complex skein of comings and goings and operates on several levels — the number of events is exceptionally large — and hence it would be foolish for me to try to expain it all here. What can be said is that the story is linked to the Council of Constance, held in 1414–18. The Council was convened — at least in the view of the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund — to bring a satisfactory end to the Great Schism in the Catholic Church, which had led to there being rival popes and antipopes in Avignon and Rome. Sigismund’s motives for arranging the event also extended to securing for himself a large slice of political influence and to removing the troublesome Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus. The Council only succeeded in pan, but in any event Hus was summarily tried as a heretic, and was burned at the stake. The Great Schism was a more problematic affair: the number of popes was reduced from three to one, but nobody was very convinced by the results.In the opera 'The Miracle at Constance', we tend to deal rather more sketchily with the historical facts, in great pad because not an awful lot is known about Sigismund, the Council itself, the various popes and antipopes taking part, or even about Jan Hus and we know even less of Sigismund’s half-brother Wenceslaus, who is one of the central figures in the opera. This former uncrowned Emperor and German king should not be confused with the ‘Good king Wenceslaus’ of English Christmas carols. Apparently our Wenceslaus was something of a tyrant, but after being deposed he makes his return to society as a reformed sinner, in the guise of mystery-play actor Simon of Darmstadt, who together with his ten-year-old son amazes people with his ‘wondrous theatrical feats’.Both of the central female roles are imaginary figures: Queen Anna, Sigismund’s present wife and the former lover of Wenceslaus, and the mysterious Hermitess, a fair young beauty who lives out a curious double-life. By day she delivers prognostications for the people of Constance from a tiny window in her shack by the graveyard, and by night she travels to assignations with her beloved.The collection of three songs combines these two women, though they are to be sung by the same artist. In the first, we hear Anna’s aria, derived from the early pad of the opera. Anna sits by the window in her castle, pondering on life and lost loves; her misfortune is that the temperamental and dynamic Wenceslaus has disappeared and been replaced by Sigismund, an at together indecisive and cowardly figure. The second song is a prophecy from the Hermitess, a kind of blend of satirical song and philosophical inquiry, the target of which is the scared Emperor Sigismund. The Hermitess mocks the monarch’s political ambitions and finally asks him if his life is as whole as it should be.The third song is the Hermitess’s lullaby to Wenceslaus’s son. She carries the boy in her arms through the forest, with the aim of taking him to safety in a secret lair; at the same time the boy hears a manifesto for setting the world in better order. From the child’s point of view, the situation can be seen as some kind of initiation rite.© Jouni Kaipainen, 1993(Helsinki Festival)(Translated by © William Moore and © Susan Sinisalo)"Konstanzin ihme" on kirjailija Juha Siltasen ja minun yhteinen oopperaprojekti, joka on ollut vireillä jo pitkään ja jonka ensimmäinen julkinen tulostus olivat nämä kolme kamariorkesterille sovitettua aariaa. Niiden kantaesitys oli Helsingin Juhlaviikkojen järjestämässä sävellyskonsertissa elokuussa 1993, jolloin Avantia johti John Storgårds ja solistina oli Marja-Leena Varpio.Oopperan juonena on fantasiatarina, joka sijoittuu todellisen (joskin hieman muunnetun) historian kehyksiin: Konstanzin kaupungissa pidettyyn kirkolliskokoukseen, jossa vuosina 1414–18 ratkottiin katolisen kirkon ns. suurta skismaa, surkeaa hajaannustilaa, jossa paavejakin oli kolme. Kokouksen taustoihin liittyi suuri määrä erilaisia valtapoliittisia pyyteitä, ja oikeastaan ainoa asia, josta onnistuttiin olemaan todella yksimielisiä, oli ajatus houkutella böömiläinen saarnamies ja kansankiihottaja Jan Huss paikalle ja polttaa hänet roviolla.Tarinan keskushenkilöitä ovat Hussin ohella kokouksen koollekutsuja, Böömin ja Saksin kuningas Sigismund, hänen kadonneeksi luultu veljensä Wenzel, kuningatar Anna sekä salaperäinen Erakko, omalaatuista kaksoiselämää viettävä kaunis nuori nainen. Näistä molemmat naiset ovat fiktiivisiä; historiankirjoitus ei ole juuri muistanut naisia. Sivurooleissa nähdään mm. kolme paavia hilpeässä tertsetissä.Ensimmäinen aaria ("Odotus") on kuningatar Annan ajatusäänen roolissa. Anna on aikanaan ollut Wenzelin rakastajatar ja on sittemmin, tämän kadottua, joutunut epätyydyttävään liittoon pelkurimaisen Sigismundin kanssa. Anna lukee kirjaa ikkunansa ääressä ja huojuu realististen ajatusten ja eroottisten haavekuvien välillä; hän ei tiedä, miten asiat ovat, mutta hänellä on käsitys siitä, miten niiden pitäisi olla.Kaksi muuta aariaa ("Kysymys" ja "Kehtolaulu") ovat Erakon laulamia. Ensimmäinen on peräisin oopperan alkupuolelta tilanteesta, jossa metsässä harhaileva Sigismund törmää yllättäen lammesta nousevaan kaunottareen. Erakko, jolla on huomattavia ennustajanlahjoja, paljastaa kuninkaalle koko tilanteen kurjuuden ja tekee lopulta tälle kysymyksen, joka jää vaivaamaan kuningasparan mieltä koko oopperan ajaksi: onko tämän elämällä ollut jotain merkitystä. "Kehtolaulu" puolestaan on oopperan lopusta. Erakko löytää Wenzelin pojan loukkaantuneena nukkumasta metsästä ja vie tämän omaan salakammioonsa hoidettavaksi. Tuutulaulusta kasvaa moraalifilosofinen kannanotto maailman menoon.© Jouni Kaipainen, 1994"Miraklet i Konstanz" är mitt och författaren Juha Siltanens gemensamma operaprojekt, som har pågått en längre tid och vars första offentliga resultat var de här tre, för kammarorkester arrangerade ariorna. Uruppförandet ägde rum vid min kompositionskonsert, som hölls i augusti 1993 inom ramen för Helsingfors Festspel. Marja-Leena Varpio var solist och Avanti! leddes av John Storgårds.Intrigen i operan är en fiktiv historia, som är placerad inom den reella – om än något modifierade – historiens ram: det i staden Konstanz hållna kyrkomötet, när man under åren 1414–18 penetrerade den s.k. Stora Schismen inom katolska kyrkan, det splittringsskede när det fanns t.o.m. tre påvar samtidigt. I kulisserna fanns en mängd olika maktpolitiska intressen och den enda sak som man egentligen lyckades vara ense om var idén att locka den böhmiske predikanten och folkuppviglaren Jan Huss till Konstanz för att bränna honom på bål.De centrala personerna i berättelsen är, förutom Huss, mötets sammankallare, Böhmens och Tysklands kung Sigismund, hans broder Wenzel som trotts vara försvunnen, drottningen Anna samt den mystiske Eremiten, en vacker ung kvinna, som lever ett säreget dubbelliv. Av dessa är de båda kvinnorna fiktiva; historieskrivningen har överlag inte kommit ihåg kvinnor. I birollerna förekommer bl.a. de tre påvarna i en munter terzett.Den första arian ("Väntan") återger drottning Annas tankar. Anna har tidigare varit Wenzels älskarinna och har sedermera, efter dennes försvinnande, hamnat i ett otillfredsställande förhållande med den räddhågade Sigismund. Anna sitter vid sitt fönster och läser en bok och vacklar mellan realistiskt betonade tankar och erotiskt färgade drömbilder; hon vet inte hur saker och ting förhåller sig men hon har en uppfattning om hur de borde förhålla sig.De två övriga ariorna ("Frågan" och "Vaggsång") sjungs av Eremiten. Den första av dem är hämtad från operans första halva och en situation, där den i skogen irrande Sigismund överraskande stöter på en ur en damm uppstigande skönhet. Eremiten, som besitter en betydande spådomsförmåga, avslöjar situationen i hela sin uselhet för konungen och ställer honom slutligen en fråga som stör den stackars konungens sinnesfrid för resten av operan: har hans liv haft någon betydelse."Vaggsången" åter är hämtad från operans slut. Eremiten finner Wenzels son skadad och sovande i skogen och för honom till sin egen hemliga kammare för att ta hand om honom. Ur vaggsången växer det fram ett moralfilosofiskt ställningstagande över världens gång.© Jouni Kaipainen, 1994The textsThe Question (The Hermitess)You think, hungry King,that the world is a plate.A few peppers in the Danube,throw the Danube into the potand in the pot you canmake a meal of Attila!Germany is liverSardinia sardines,Athens your pâtéand Poland your salt!Capers from Capri!And three papal cooksto hoe the royal stewwhere the meat and blood of Europethe mad king's last gourmet meal,roast over the fire wherepoor Jan Hus feeds the flames!For dessert Constance’s buffetserves a Nazarene souffléand for an orthodox reading of the Biblea devil’s-horn parfait topped with grace!But King, mad King,before you condemn anyone,answer my question:Is death’s plate the size of life?And when you bottle the wine of lifein the flagons of deathand cast them into the sea of emptiness,will there be any wine left over?Is your embrace the extent of emptiness?Lullaby (The Hermitess)Don’t call it a miracle.It’s like taking a grain of sand,for everything, everything is a miracle.Cry, my child, cry,your crying is a steep shore:you will fall over it into laughter.It is a miracle;Everything, everything is a miracle.From a sigh to a song, from a path to the depths of the forest,from the shore to the cool water,from a sigh to a song,so short is the step down from the shore of crying.The sea of laughter is sacred.The worldly princes see not all that rises from the sea:strange, laughing creatures, sacred,and they come like a shadow,come as a tree becomes fire, as land becomes water,as corn stooks in rows from the fields become bread.Sleep now, and wake, and rise to join those who cry.Shake off the drops of waterand tell of all this behind the princes’ backs.When the prince asks about day and night, order him to be silent.When the prince asks about mercy, show none.When the prince asks about peace, do not make peace with him.When the prince asks about life, about death,show him the face of life and death.He buys wood as gold and gold as wood,But one thing he does not know how to do:to turn one into the other,to step from crying into his laughter’s embrace.translated by © Susan Sinisalo, 2004

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Movements

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Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin

Three Arias from "The Miracle at Constance" Op. 30b