The Ones Who Walk Away from Sélvehm

for soprano, baritones, electric guitar, drum set, and live electronics

2022 BabelScores

An allusion to Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story that inspired my former stage name Omelas, The Ones Who Walk Away from Sélvehm depicts the final scene in my opera The Ghost. It was recorded at HQ studios in Western Sydney after the Australian Covid lockdowns. I conducted the performance after working with each performer: the vocalists for their Greek and Sélvehm pronunciations, the soprano for her microtones, and the drummer and guitarist for their spontaneous living responsiveness to each other. The electronic musician performs using Max for Live and Ableton Push 2.

This scene depicts the tragic hero leaving the underground city via a long and narrow tunnel. Forced to look down as he walks slowly past rotting corpses while holding a candle, the tunnel swerves and swallows his pursuers amidst several explosions. The chorus of ghosts expresses the collective fears, beliefs, desires, and wisdom of the city, which I have named Sélvehm. Flying ahead and waiting for him at the end of the tunnel before the flooding moonlight, the soprano appears to him as a beautiful angel child before turning back into a demon.

Text and translation

Ancient Greek and Sélvehm	English
SOPRANO	SOPRANO
συνήθης κόροις γενοιο, πραότητα ἐν αυταῖς νοεῖτε,	Get used to my eyes, imagine kindness in them,
είτε αὐτὰς νομίξετε.	Whether you see it.
CHORUS	CHORUS
ἄνθρωπος, χρῆμα μέρων.	A human, a thing of parts.
ἐλάσσων συμφωνία.	The lesser your Unity.
SOPRANO	SOPRANO
τοῦ δαιμονος ἔκτοθεν ἔ ένδοθεν!	To the demon from outside or from within!
CHORUS	CHORUS
ἄνθρωπος, χρῆμα μέρων.	A human, a thing of parts.
ἐλάσσων συμφωνία. Όἱῷ!	The lesser your Unity.
ἄνθρωπος, χρῆμα μέρων.	A human, a thing of parts.
ἐλάσσων τάξις οἰσίας. Όἱῷ!	The lesser your degree of Being.
SOPRANO	SOPRANO
Όρος ἦσθα,	You were a mountain,
ὁ Φόβος προ σου ἔστη σύν τιμηὶ καὶ Αἰσχύνῃ.	Fear stood before you with his sisters, Honor and Shame.
Νάπην γενου,	Now, become a valley,
tὸν ἐμέ λείπε άγειν ὅτου ἡ ψῦχη χρῄζει.	leave self behind to keep whatever the soul needs.

 

 

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