tfilm@ihuxn.UUCP (M. E. Lindenmeyer) (12/23/83)
In the last several months I have been
rehearsing a selection from
Gian-Carlo Menotti's Grotesque Opera,
"The Old Maid and the Thief".
The piece is sung by Bob, a transient who longs
to be free and wandering again.
Just this week I obtained the libretto
for the opera from the U of I
music library through our local library system
and have found
a discrepency between the text in the
libretto and the copy I have been studying from.
The difference is in the 'bird' line.
The text (with apologies and credits to G-C M) follows:
When the air sings of summer
I wust wander again.
Sweet landlord is the sky,
rich house is the plain,
and to live is to wander
through the sun and the rain.
When the air sings of summer
I wust wander again.
First you wander in youth and joy
then you'll wander to still the fears
in an old heart.
First you wander to find your love,
then you'll wander to hide your tears,
for a wand'rer must depart.
When a man builds a house he is a bird in a cage
(A man born in a house is a bird born in a cage)
whose captivity pain
is sweetened with age.
Ah! the sharp joy of freedom
is my loss and my gain.
When the air sings of summer
I must wander again.
The lines referring to the bird in a cage are from
two different editions of the opera.
Which is preferred and why?
MEL ihuxn!tfilmtfilm@ihuxn.UUCP (M. E. Lindenmeyer) (01/06/84)
Hoping to obtain some response,
I am posting again:
In the last several months I have been
rehearsing a selection from
GianCarlo Menotti's Grotesque Opera,
"The Old Maid and the Thief".
The piece is sung by Bob, a transient who longs
to be free and wandering again.
Just this week I obtained the libretto
for the opera from the U of I
music library through our local library system
and have found
a discrepency between the text in the
libretto and the copy I have been studying from.
The difference is in the 'bird' line.
The text (with apologies and credits to G-C M) follows:
When the air sings of summer
I wust wander again.
Sweet landlord is the sky,
rich house is the plain,
and to live is to wander
through the sun and the rain.
When the air sings of summer
I wust wander again.
First you wander in youth and joy
then you'll wander to still the fears
in an old heart.
First you wander to find your love,
then you'll wander to hide your tears,
for a wand'rer must depart.
(When a man builds a house he is a bird in a cage)
(A man born in a house is a bird born in a cage)
whose captivity pain
is sweetened with age.
Ah! the sharp joy of freedom
is my loss and my gain.
When the air sings of summer
I must wander again.
The lines referring to the bird in a cage are from
two different editions of the opera.
Which is to be preferred and why?
MEL ihuxn!tfilm