Gumiho: how I tried to give up eating human livers and love someone: an opera in two acts
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Gumiho (pronounced goo-mi-ho) is an opera based on an ancient Korean folktale about a 5,000 year old fox-monster with nine tails whose only source of nourishment is human livers. The complete opera will be in two acts with five scenes and a libretto in English, and will be scored for chamber orchestra with six singers: Gumiho (lyric soprano), Woodman (bass-baritone), God (lyric tenor), Mother (mezzo-soprano), and three villagers/visitors (Villager 1 - tenor/counter-tenor, Villager 2 - bass/bass-baritone, Villager 3 - baritone). This document includes the overture, act 1 scene 1, and a musical interlude. It is a total of approximately 27 minutes in duration. Scene 1 includes a trio and quartet sung by three villagers and Gumiho, three short arias by Villager 3, a solo aria by Gumiho, a short aria by God, and a duet between Gumiho and God. In this version the characters are accompanied by two pianos and a string quartet. Specific musical elements are frequently associated with certain characters, often in the guise of rhythmic patterns. Villager 3 is a silly and comical character, and he always sings in a dance-like triple meter with a cheerful feel, even at the moment he is killed. Particular characters carry recurring themes throughout the piece; these are constructed with specific pitch sets, such as a descending pentatonic scale (though not the familiar pentatonic scale used in Korean folk songs). Other pitch sets are developed in different ways by the instruments and singers to represent different dramatic situations. For example [0258] alternates with [02568] and [02578] to emphasize chaotic situations such as storms or a killing. The set [01468], associated with Gumiho, similarly provides a sense of hopefulness, desire, and disappointment. All the pitch sets, including Gumiho’s motif, are played in extreme ranges and sometimes by all the instruments, providing contrast and depicting the complex life of the characters. In addition, particular sound effects and techniques are performed by either instruments or singers to foreshadow future happenings, including tragic events
Table of Contents
Synopsis -- Cast of characters -- Instrumentation -- Music score -- Overture -- Act I Scene I -- Music interlude
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D.M.A.