LISA BIELAWA
Opening: Forest for girls chorus and string quartet
adapted from Episode 1 of the opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch’s Accuser
2015
Commissioned by Grand Central Art Center
©2015 by Lisa Bielawa
Opening: Forest (2015) adapted from Episode 1 of the opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch’s Accuser
NOTE: Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch’s Accuser is a made-for-TV opera composed by Lisa Bielawa on a libretto by Erik Ehn and directed by Charles Otte, released in 2017 on multiple media platforms by KCET-TV in LA. The eponymous heroine Vireo is a fourteen-year-old girl genius entangled in the historic obsession with female visionaries, as witch-hunters, early psychiatrists, and modern artists have defined them. Opening: Forest is the first scene of the opera, in which a young girl appears as if shoved into existence, walking through a medieval forest outside of Reims, France. She has been sent to collect hot coals for a fire that has gone out at home, and as she wanders through the beautiful spring morning the “forest women” sing to her from all directions, beckoning to her from other realms and realities far from home. – Lisa Bielawa
TEXT: The beetle intervenes Leaf/leaf The scene is, like you, Alive. Beetle nerve. Agitation, shifted leaf The elements of word. Stop. -
Erik Ehn
Opening: Forest from the opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser Erik Ehn
Lisa Bielawa
Violin I
Vln. I
Vln. I
q=84 Relaxed, Intimate
mf
gliss.
13
p
Vln. I
20
27
f
S.
A.
A.
Vln. I
p
3
p
ff
p mysterious
oo p mysterious
mf
pp
mp
3
3
p mysterious
oo p mysterious
Copyright © 2015
mf
3
Ah
p
Ah
oo
oo
mp
3
oo
p
3
S.
3
6
S. S.
mf
p dolce
3
oo
3 3
2
S. S.
mf
mf
Ah
mf
oo
mp
A.
Ah
Vln. I
oo
A.
Ah
mp vibrant
oo
Vln. II
Vc.
Vla.
A
Ah
in - ter - venes
in - ter - venes
mf
pizz.
mp pizz.
mp pizz.
mp
3
3
oo
Ah
oo
p
3
p 3
Ah
Leaf,
leaf
3
mf soaring
leaf
p
p
Leaf,
q=108 Flexible
in - ter - venes
The beet-le
Vln. I
The beet-le mp vibrant
Ah
q=108 Flexible mf soaring
The beet-le
mp vibrant
A.
3
Ah
A
36
p
a little faster
3 S. S.
3
Ah
3
mf
Ah
mp
A.
a little faster
32
Ah
Leaf,
leaf
arco
mf
mp
40
S.
mf soaring
S.
Vln. I
Vla.
mf soaring
Ah
Vln. II
The scene is, mp crisp
like you, mf
The scene is, mp crisp
like you, mf
The scene is,
like you,
f
mp
mf
43 mp S.
nerve.
Ag - i - ta - tion,shift -ed leaf
mp
S.
Ag - i - ta - tion, shift-ed leaf
A - live.
f
A - live.
arco
f
el - e-ments
el - e-ments of
word. f
Vla. Vc.
of
word
mp pizz.
word. f
The el - e-ments of
p
pizz.
-
word.
nerve.
le
nerve.
le
nerve.
of word.
Beet
le
The el - e-ments of
A.
Vln. I
-
Ag - i - ta - tion, shift-ed leaf
Beet
Ag - i - ta - tion, shift-ed leaf mp
Vln. II
-
f
The
Beet
The
Beet - le
f
mp
A.
A - live.
3
A - live.
mf
f
mp crisp
A.
A.
Ah
f
mf
of word mp
of
6 f 6 mp
4
S.
Stop!
A.
Vln. I
word
ff
Vla.
Vc.
arco
ff
arco
Vln. II
The girl stops
ff
47
mf
mf
arco
f
B
poco rit.
S. 50
mf
A.
Vln. II
Vla.
Ah p semplice
Ah
B
q=96 Unhurried
Ah
pp
Oo
Ah
pp
Oo
Mm
Mm
poco rit.
Vln. I
q=96 Unhurried p semplice
mp dolce
mp semplice
Vc. 3
mp semplice
p
mp
S. 56
S.
A.
Vln. I Vln. II
Vla.
Look
f
up!
C Gently Brisker
f
Vc.
pizz.
pizz.
mf
mp
mp
61
Vln. I Vln. II
pizz.
pizz.
Vla.
mp
Vc.
mp
e=e
p
p
arco
arco
p
p
cantabile
S.
5
6
Vln. I 69
rall.
arco
mp cantabile
arco, senza vib
Vln. II
arco, senza vib
Vla.
Vc.
senza vib
Slow, Thoughtful
p
pp
ppp
D
q = 108 Solemn
S. Ah
A. Vln. I
76
ff passionate and very sad
ff passionate and very sad
Ah
f
Vln. II
f
Vla.
Vc. f
f
TRANSITION: REPEAT AS NEEDED f---- p
Ah
Ah