AMISTAD
opera in two acts
(Reduced
Instrumentation)
Libretto by Thulani Davis
Full Score
Act I
from the G. Schirmer Rental Library date of printing ________
G.Schirmer, Inc.
New York, NY
Anthony Davis
AMISTAD
opera in two acts
(Reduced Instrumentation)
Libretto by Thulani Davis
The Trickster God, an African deity .................................................................................... Tenor
Cinque, (Sengbe Pieh) African captives’ leader Bass-Baritone
Rep. John Quincy Adams, lawyer for captives ......................................................................... Bass
The Goddess of the Waters, an African deity ....................................................... Mezzo-Soprano
The Navigator ........................................................................................................................ Tenor
Abolitionist Lewis Tappan ................................................................................................... Tenor
The Phrenologist .................................................................................................. Character Tenor
Antonio, enslaved young adult, “cabin boy” .................................................................... Baritone
Kaleh, captive, adult male ...................................................................................................... Tenor
Margru, captive, young adult female Soprano
Grabeau, captive, young adult male ................................................................................. Baritone
Burnah, captive, adult male ...................................................................................................... Bass
Kinnah, captive, young adult male ......................................................................................... Tenor
Bahia, captive, young adult female Lyric Mezzo-Soprano
American Lieutenant, U. S. Navy Baritone
The Judge Baritone
Don Jose Ruiz, a Spanish slaveholder ...................................................................................... Bass
Abolitionist Lawyer ......................................................................................................... Baritone
Ship Cook ................................................................................................................................. Bass
Four Reporters ................................................................................... 2 Tenors, 1 Baritone, 1 Bass
Important Note: The U.S. banned importation via the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1800, which took effect in 1808, and Britain’s ban went into effect in 1808. The Amistad people were taken from Mende country (Sierra Leone) to Cuba in 1839. They were first put on a ship with some 500 others for the two-month voyage to Cuba. There were originally 53 captives on the Amistad, 49 adults purchased in Havana by Jose Ruiz, and 5 children purchased by Pedro Montes. When they ran aground, they were in New York, by then a free state, but the Navy commander towed the boat to New London, Conn.
Scene 1: “Cloth for the Dead” deck of the Amistad
The Spanish schooner Amistad, drifts off the coast of Long Island. The “ghost” ship is legendary—taken over by enslaved Africans—haunting eastern waters. Aboard ship is one who shapes their fate, a ragged, boastful African deity. The Trickster God is the spirit of rebellion, uncertainty and mischief. When humans meet him, they are apt to lose their way. This Trickster has been led astray himself, having followed a slave coffle of these captured Mende people, to their fate on boats headed West. The tortuous Middle Passage blinded him and took away his powers. But he is recovering.
Claiming that he will yet prevail (Aria: “The unknown is my realm”), the Trickster asks for help from the Goddess of the Waters. He hears the captives’ two hostages—the Navigator, and Don Ruiz, a Spanish slaveholder— scheming. Instead of heading due East to Africa, as the Africans demanded, they have been going East in daytime and North at night. Cinque, the Mende leader, discovers the trick and realizes they have zigzagged northward towards an unknown fate. (Duet: “We’re drifting”) Scene 2: “Mind the Telltales” on the ship
When the ship runs aground, a U.S. Navy ship appears and informs the people aboard that they are in New York, and because slavery is no longer legal there, he has the boat towed as holding salvage to Connecticut. The two Spaniards report mutiny, murder, and claim to own the Africans, who think they are free. (Chorus: “We have come to naught”) Cinque thinks they are victims of a Mende taboo: to see a god can bring danger (Aria: “The meaning is clear”) Antonio, a lifelong slave in the Americas, and a witness to the mutiny, also has fears. (Aria: “And me, am I save’?”)
Synopsis
Scene 3: “Savages of Legend” New London, Connecticut
Newspaper reporters watch the captives being paraded to jail, and joust over their lot. (Sextet: “So these are the savages”) Setting foot U.S. soil scares the Africans (Chorus: “Are they going to kill us?”) but seems to restore the God of Chance (Aria: “Yap and snap”)
Scene 4: “Ankle and Wrist” Jail cells
As people gawk, Margru describes her capture (Aria: “I could tell”) and the captives vow not to reveal where they are from to protect their families. Cinque recalls being caught in a net. (Chorus: “Ankle and Wrist”; Aria: “The past is a fading”) A “scientist” who studies ethnic groups examines the prisoners and gives his findings to the press. (Aria: “The base of his brain”)
Scene 5: “The Greatest Liberty” Rep. J. Q. Adams’ parlor
(Chorus: “Jesus Saviour, pilot me”) Abolitionist Lewis Tappan visits Rep. John Quincy Adams (formerly President Adams) to ask him to be lead lawyer for the Africans. Adams resists because he has not been in court in years. He then muses on the young republic’s vision of freedom (Aria: “The greatest liberty”)
ACT II
Scene 1: “Posers, Dandies, Hacks” a federal court, Hartford
Newspaper reporters introduce the cast coming into court (Sextet: “It’s quite a show”)
Scene 2: “What the Navigator Saw” in court
The Amistad is off the shore of Cuba, headed from Havana to Camaguey (then Puerto Principe), to the property of Don Ruiz who illegally had them brought across the Atlantic from West Africa. The Navigator tells of waking up to the touch of a knife blade of waking to the touch of a blade. (Aria: “The Moonlight Died”)
Scene 3: “What Antonio Saw” U.S. District Court, Hartford, Conn. Antonio, an enslaved young man, recalls the captain’s death (Aria: “I beg mercy”) The court audience turns against the Africans
Scene 4: “They Saw a God” in court
The Mende say the story begins in Africa. (Quartet: “We thought they came for salt”)
Scene 5: “Skin of Clouds” open seas
The Goddess of the Waters, invoked by their tale, describes Middle Passage.
Scene 6: “An African God Makes Land” Havana dock
On landing in Cuba, the seeds of revolt are sown when Antonio rebukes the Trickster (Chorus: “Nansi, Brer Nansi”) and the Cook threatens the captives. Antonio tells them they are now in the New World. (Aria: “Sister Goose”)
Scene 7: “The Rising” Deck of the Amistad
The Trickster frees the captives and starts the revolt. (Aria: “All my tricks are old”) Cinque decides to spare Antonio. (Aria: “He sleeps at his master’s feet”)
Scene 8: “To Own One’s Life” Adams Argues the Case, U. S. Supreme Court, DC
Adams sums up the case before the court (Aria: “To own one’s life”), and the case is won by the captives.
Scene 9: “Trickster with a Cigar”
The Africans will return to Sierra Leone but the Trickster decides to stay in America. (Aria: “Liberty is my kingdom”)
Notes
on Characters (in order of appearance)
The Trickster God A master of disguise who lives on society’s edges, he translates all tongues, between gods and mortals. He is known by many names in many places, see Act II, sc. 6. He is amoral— appearing as different animals who will steal, molest or kill, and eat other animals. Offerings are made to him first to prevent any accidents. Those who do not know of his existence cannot see him, unless he adopts the image of a human in their midst.
Cinque (1814-79): The 25-year-old leader of the Mende captives. A rice farmer who, when captured, was living with his father and a wife and three children. He learned English and was said to an eloquent speaker. He returned to Mende and later became an interpreter for the American Missionary Association.
The Phrenologist, is a pseudo-scientist who practices phrenology, a popular idea at the time, to define racial differences by measuring “brains.”
The Navigator & Don Ruiz are drawn from two survivors of the Amistad rebellion— Jose Ruiz and Pedro Montes.
Antonio is a biracial enslaved young man, late teens, who has never known people of African descent not accustomed to the slave system. He tries to “school” the Mende, and they try to school him. The Antonio in the case would have been taken by the Spaniards back to Cuba but Tappan helped him to escape to Canada.
The Judge: Represents both a Connecticut U.S. District Court Judge and later one of the members of Supreme Court. The Supreme Court at the time had just been enlarged from six to eight judges. Five of them, including Chief Justice Taney, were southerners who had, at one time or another, owned enslaved people. One of them died during the last trial.
Rep. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) of Massachusetts, was earlier the sixth President of the United States (1825-29), and son of John Adams, second President of the U.S. Until his death he was working to expose corruption in the Van Buren administration found in the Amistad case.
Abolitionist Lewis Tappan (1788-1873) Tappan was a member of a New York silk merchant family that helped to finance the abolitionist cause. His brother Arthur was a founder of the American AntiSlavery Society and both experienced mob violence, vandalism, and hate mail for their work. In the South, a price of $100,000 was put on their heads. At the end of the trials he and others arranged for the enslaved Antonio to escape to Canada.
Goddess of the Waters Like the Trickster, this West African deity is known throughout the African diaspora, known as Yamaha, Ochun, and other representations. They both represent culture shared by Africa with the Americas. The mother of waters is known also as the mother of all the other orishas, or gods, in African Yoruba, Brazilian Santeria, and Haitian vodun. She is a mature, sensual spirit. She likes palm fans, and in the Americas, is often shown in great blue skirts with white petticoats.
Tempo primo
= 126
Bs.
(C. Al. Cl. in E)
C.A.
CHORUS
CHORUS BASSES
(C.A. Cl.)
Burnah! Grabeau!
(CINQUE tells KINNA to show him. KINNA nods and gestures for the LIEUTENANT to follow. The LIEUTENANT sends two men with him.)
(C.A.
LIEUTENANT
(C.A. Cl.) to Tenor Saxophone in B
(Parlour of former President, and current Representative JOHN QUINCY ADAMS of Massachusetts. Enter Abolitionist TAPPAN and another lawyer. ADAMS welcomes them in and offers them seats. Maybe even tea.)
(C.A. Cl.)