DON'T BLAME ANYONE
[NO SE CULPE A NADIE]
[2016]
[Sop, Ten, Bar/fl(+alto, picc), cl (+Bcl), sax (alto, sop), pf, 2perc, vln, vc, cb, guit]
Commissioned by Secretaria de Cultura (Mexico)
Premiered Nov. 16, 2016. Kodak Hall. Rochester, NY
Duration: 40 mins.
The elusive encounter between imagination and creativity, the terror experienced before the blank page, the battle against the demons of Reason, and the unpredictable visit of the muses are the forces that ignite this evening-long multimedia "opera" that combines original music, physical theater, and puppetry.
Synopsis:
Through a series of choreographed, interconnected scenes, an author/poet/composer faces the specter of the blank page. Each symbolic vignette explores the birth, growth, and death of an "idea", often ending catastrophically: the author falls into the abyss of the blank page; attempts to put on an impossibly large sweater while perilously climbing a ladder; is devoured by the monster of creative reason; is born out of the monster as a child castrated by self-doubt and censorship. The author is reduced to dust and dies but, all along, the "idea" he has been seeking reveals itself through the imaginative circle that unfurls onstage. We witness the creative product through a process where inspiration is shown as a fundamental human action.
The work of several noted Mexican artists: illustrator/cartoonist José Ignacio Solórzano ("JIS") and poets Raúl Aceves, Jorge Esquinca, and Oliverio Girondo provide the visual and narrative basis of the work. Additional texts and inspiration come from Petrarch, Goya, and Julio Cortázar.
PURCHASE SCORE AND PARTS
Purchases: I use Paypal for online transactions.
Printed scores are wire-bound, printed on durable, 28lb paper, and shipped by US mail, unless requested otherwise.
Price listed includes S/H costs (US mail only) up to five items.
PDF sets of parts are delivered by e-mail immediately upon reciept of payment notification by Paypal (normally 1-2 days) and include a license to print an unlimited number of copies for the ensemble making the purchase.
Questions, special requests, ordering more than five items? Please contact me at carlossg[at]esm[dot]rochester[dot]edu