Somnambulism
Libretto by Robert Ellsworth Feng
Composed by Felix Jarrar
A Frontier Horror Opera in One Act
Run-Time: TBD
Somnambulism is based off of a 1804 short story of the same name written by Charles Brockden Brown. It follows Richard Althorpe, a man deeply infatuated over his childhood friend Constantia Davis who is betrothed to another. When the Davis's leave to meet Althorpe's uncle, his love turns to obsession as his subconscious takes full control as he sleepwalks his dark fantasies.
Despite being over 200 years old, the story remains hauntingly timeless. When Felix first read “Somnambulism” he immediately wrote to me about making this our next operatic project. Instead of being a story about a “who’d done it?” it was a story that begged the question… “why?”
The intensity of Althorpe’s feelings permeate a musical idiom I would describe as American verismo. With a doomed ingenue in Constantia and the elements of horror with the mythic Howling Hux, I deeply feel this story has the potential to present something fresh while referencing the styles of past operatic traditions that have stood the test of time. This is a story that is the dramatic equivalent of Tosca on the American frontier.
Characters:
RICHARD ALTHORPE (full lyric/dramatic tenor)
a young man troubled by his still burning love for Miss Davis and his anxieties for her wellbeing
CONSTANTIA DAVIS (Jugendlich-Dramatischer/spinto soprano)
a young woman and childhood friend of Althorpe’s; she is engaged and will be wedded soon
MR. DAVIS (baritone)
Constantia’s father, a steadfast gentleman who still views Althorpe as a child
HOWLING HUX (bass-baritone)
a local urban legend in the American Frontier akin to that of The Rake or The Jersey Devil
NURSE FIELD (full lyric/dramatic mezzo) the last Pinta Island Tortoise
a physician with a home practice in the countryside
OFFSTAGE CHORUS