My story of Snow-White

Elecroacoustic Music-Theatre

 Text and Music by Eduardo Kusnir

English translation from Spanish and voice by Francis Schwartz

 Text:

This is the story of Snow-White, just as I dreamed it. My dream people are: Snow-White; her stepmother, the Queen; a love-struck nobleman; his horse; the Royal Executioner; several dwarfs; and myself, the pianist, dressed in formal attire.

 First scene:  Duet of the Queen and her stepdaughter inside the palace.

Under close supervision, Snow-White dusts the many objects in the great hall, including me, the pianist.

Meanwhile, across the border, the love-struck nobleman is sweetly stirred as he thinks on Snow-White. "To go or not to go?" His decision sounds like this.

He arrives at his destination. He hides. He searches for Snow-White and gives her a big flower. But the Queen spies all through the tiny mirror. The nobles becomes aware of  this, and retires.

 ****

 Second scene: Snow-White innocently plays with the birds of the forest. She does not suspect that the Royal Executioner (his face is covered with feathers) is approaching with a long knife.

He lifts up the knife!

(Snow-White voice:) "Oh, please, don't hurt me!"

The two dance in close embrace!

...They separate. Snow-White, slouching moves away. She has a feather in her hand. And now she sleeps. The forest is almost dark. ...Now it's dark! The Executioner stabs himself! He dies...

Silence.

 ****

 Third scene: It's dawn in the forest. The dwarf appear. They are happy. They walk in doltish fashion as they jostle and bump each other.

Said one dwarf to the others: Hey!, look what my eyes do see..?

She's beautiful! She is so very sweet!

...Now the pianist appears surrounded by little birds. The dwarfs and the birds drag the sleeping Snow-White to a little cottage. They all enter, except the pianist.

I, the pianist, remain outside, because when I attempted to enter the cottage suddenly moved away. I stare at the cottage and my eyes fall from my head. I lurch forward, but -oh!- I awaken. As I awake I also awaken my wife. The following dialogue ensues:

—What's wrong, dear?

—Snow-White's in danger!

—That's not so.

End of dialogue.

Furious, I get up, and then lie down. In order to fall asleep again, I turn on my two televisions. Both images are projected stereophonically. On the left screen we see the Queen jumping around, as if in joyous celebration, while on the right screen Snow-White dances around the dwarfs.

...On the left screen a dwarf runs toward the Queen. The Queen squats: "What can you tell me, dwarf?"

...The screens blackens.

On the right screen, Snow-White and the Queen struggle!

...It's over...The witch crumbles into dust.

On the left screen, the young nobleman gallops to the right. He kneels before Snow-White. He entreats her. She repeats her reply: "No..., no."

...Toward the left, the sad farewell of the nobleman on horseback is heard once again.

 ****

 The music's finished. But I have some souvenir's photos which I took. For example this one... and this one...and this one of Snow-White's wedding to the Queen's stoolie-dwarf.

I also have a letter of Snow-White. Let's see what it says:

"Living in the forest, next to a stream, in the midst of little animals and dwarfs, is simply marvelous...marvelous..."

 

Teatro musical electroacústico.

Música y texto: Eduardo Kusnir.

Narración y pano: Eduardo Kusnir

(1980-96)

El famoso cuento de Blancanieves y los enanitos es soñado por Lily  y reconstruido en la voz que lo narra. Lily sueña los personajes del cuento, pero se ve a sí misma como pianista, a la vez dentro y fuera de los acontecimientos. Lily-pianista espía la acción, convirtiéndose poco a poco en confidente-complice de Blancanieves.

La música de Blancanieves fue compuesta en 1980, a partir de sonidos de un sintetizador ARP 2600. Desde entonces la pieza sufrió numerosos cambios, habiendo sido presentada en diversos formatos que combinan lo musical y lo teatral.

Mezcla final: estudio Charybde, Bourges

 

 



 

Title: Juegos I (Fede and the cat)

First Part: "Fede"

Composer: Eduardo Kusnir

Piano & electronic sounds

Pianist: Eduardo Kusnir

 This is the first piece of a series of "Juegos". The word "juego", in spanish  means game and also entertainment, amusement and play: an enjoyable activity, sometimes with rules as in a child's game. In a few words,  this is the sense that I conferred upon the music. The execution itself must be "an enjoyable activity" for the pianist, who must play the score like a very bright child.

There are two players in the "game": the pianist and the sounds (electronic + voice) on tape. The second "player" (the tape) is a passive one, whose mission is to provoke a reaction from the pianist. What kind of reaction? That which is indicated in the score.

Part I is "Fed". "Fed" comes from "Federico", and this specific "Federico" refers to the poet  Federico García Lorca  and the recorded voice is borrowed from the composition "Aires granadinos" by Francis Schwartz.

Part II is "the cat". During this section, the word "cat" becomes transformed into "Catalina" (Katherine). The cat's name? Perhaps.

So "Fede and the cat" may be understood in different ways: 1) as "Federico" (García Lorca) and (his) "cat"; or 2) a game between somebody named Federico and (his friend) Katherine. But the pianist also  plays the game. Thus we have: Federico, Katherine and the pianist, an interesting "menage à trois"...