An Opera in Five Acts
Original Finnish Libretto by Sofi Oksanen
Multilingual Libretto by Aleksi Barrière
Full Score
Acts IV–V
CH88171-01 EAN 5020679007921
© 2019 Chester Music Ltd
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Act I
Prelude ..………………..………............................
Scene 1: The Aftermath
Scene 2: The Wedding .…………..……................. 41
Scene 3: The Aftermath ..…………...……............. 62
Scene 4: The Wedding
Act II
Scene 5: The Wedding …….………...................... 103
Scene 6: The Aftermath …………………............... 110
Scene 7: The Wedding …….………......................
Scene 8: The Aftermath
Scene 9: On That Morning
Act III
Scene 10: The Wedding .....………...................... 166
Scene 11: It .................…………………...............
Scene 12: The Wedding .….………...................... 211
Scene 13: The Aftermath .…..………...................
Scene 14: The Wedding
Act IV
Scene 15: On That Night .....………......................
Scene 16: The Wedding .….………......................
Scene 17: Before The Shooting .…......................
Scene 18: The Wedding .….………......................
Scene 19: Before The Shooting .…......................
Act V
Scene 20: The Wedding .....………...................... 316
Scene 21: A Gang of Three/Before The Wedding 342
Scene 22: The Wedding .….………...................... 345
Scene 23: After The Shooting .………................... 358
Scene 24: The Wedding .….………...................... 370
Epilogue
Scene 25: The Future
and their native languages
At the wedding (sung roles)
The Waitress (Tereza) – Czech – mezzo-soprano
The Bride (Stela) – Romanian – lyric soprano
The Mother-In-Law (Patricia) – French – coloratura soprano
The Bridegroom (Tuomas) – Finnish/French – tenor
The Father-In-Law (Henrik) – Finnish – baritone
The Priest – Finnish – bass-baritone
Chorus (about 32 singers)
The communication language is English.
In the realm of memories (spoken and sung roles – all amplified)
The Teacher (Cecilia) – English – singer
Student 1 (Markéta) – Czech/Finnish – folk singer
Student 2 (Lilly) – Swedish – singer/actor
Student 3 (Iris) – French – actor
Student 4 (Anton) – German – actor (musical skills needed)
Student 5 (Jerónimo) – Spanish – actor (musical skills needed)
Student 6 (Alexia) – Greek – actor
These characters may be speaking to each other, or to themselves.
Child actors may be used to represent the characters at the time of their memories. However, in no way should the Shooter be represented on stage.
Original Finnish Libretto by Sofi Oksanen
Text Dramaturgy and Multilingual Libretto by Aleksi Barrière.
Translations created with the assistance of Camilla Hoitenga (English), Linda Dušková (Czech), Carlos Alberto Pérez Tabares (Spanish), Isabelle Kranabetter (German), Viktor Sjöström (Swedish), Eleni Podara (Greek) and David Kozma (Romanian), and the cast and crew of the premiere.
The wedding takes place in Helsinki in the 21st century, on a summer evening.
There has been a shooting at an international school in Helsinki: ten students and one teacher have been killed. A student of the school shot them with a weapon he stole from his father’s cupboard. Because he was underage at the moment of the deed, he didn’t face criminal charges, but was handled by Child protection and then processed to psychiatric care.
Ten years later, the shooter’s younger brother is getting married to a woman he met in Romania. The bride doesn’t know about the past events. This younger brother wanted to marry someone who wouldn’t see him first and foremost as the shooter’s brother. The family has decided it would be better to hide the shooter-brother’s existence from the bride.
One of the waiters of the company organizing the wedding’s catering has fallen ill, and a waitress called as a replacement happens to be the mother of one of the shooting’s victims. It is only upon arrival that she understands to whose wedding she has been sent, and she is even more shocked when she understands from an overheard conversation that the shooter has recently been released and has started a new life under a new identity. He has not been invited to the wedding though, because the bridegroom doesn’t want to see his brother ever again.
This is too much for the waitress. As she is serving the wedding cake, she snaps, and demands explanations for the shooter’s actions from his parents. The waitress’s unforeseen behaviour forces the family to tell the bride about the tragedy. Her reaction is not the one they had expected: she is ready to forgive the lies she has been told, because it is her husband she fell in love with, not his family.
Nevertheless the bridegroom leaves his wife. This fortuitous encounter has revealed to him that he is unable to escape from his past and his family, even though he has been trying so very hard to do so.
The bridegroom considers himself responsible for the tragedy. He knew his brother was secretly practising shooting and even took part in those sessions. He did so, because he admired his elder brother and craved for his approval. To him it was a game, but had he told someone about it, the tragedy could have been avoided. He has kept this secret to himself all this time.
The story is not centred on the shooter’s motivations and psyche, but rather on the victims and on how the rampage has impacted their lives. The plot brings to light people who have been influential to the deed, and none of them is innocent.
Sofi Oksanen and Aleksi Barrière
3 Flutes (1. doubling Piccolo; 2. doubling Piccolo; 3. doubling Alto Flute and Piccolo)
3 Oboes
3 Clarinets in B - (3. doubling Bass Clarinet)
3 Bassoons (3. doubling Contrabassoon)
4 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in C
3 Trombones
Tuba
Timpani + cymbal
Percussion (4 players)
I Glockenspiel
Crotales
2 Woodblocks
Triangle
Suspended Cymbal (small)
Bass Drum
Tambourine
Mark Tree
Snare Drum
Maracas
Tom-tom
II
Vibraphone
Xylophone
Tom-tom
Frame Drum
Snare Drum
Wood Chimes
Suspended Cymbal (medium)
III
Marimba
Crotales
Tam-tam
2 Suspended Cymbals (small, large)
Snare Drum
Large Frame Drum
Triangle Cowbell
Cabasa
IV
Tubular Bells
Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Slit Drum
Glass Chimes
Triangle
Guiro
Woodblock
Small Finger Cymbal with Triangle beater
Chinese Tom-tom
Sizzle Cymbal with Chain Suspended Cymbal (large)
Bell Tree
Harp
Piano
Celesta
Strings (maximum 14.12.10.8.6)
The score is transposed
Crotales sound two octaves higher than written
Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence was jointly commissioned by the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence, Dutch National Opera, Finnish National Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and San Francisco Opera.
The first performance took place on 3 July 2021 at the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-enProvence, given by Magdalena Kožená, Sandrine Piau, Tuomas Pursio, Lilian Farahani, Markus Nykänen, Jukka Rasilainen, with Simon Stone (stage director), the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber
Choir and the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Susanna Mälkki.
Duration: c. 1 hour 45 minutes to be presented without interval
Orchestral parts are available on hire from the publisher
General
Accidentals apply throughout the bar to notes in the same octave and the same stave
Trills should always be played up a semitone, unless otherwise specified
Tremolo should always be as dense as possible.
change very gradually from one sound or one way of playing (etc.) to another.
>o diminuendo al niente
o< crescendo dal niente
μ quarter tone, between natural and sharp
B quarter tone, between natural and flat
When vibrato markings are not specified, players can use their usual vibrato.
“Molto vibrato” always means a rapid and quite narrow vibrato, unless otherwise specified.
l.v. laissez vibrer (allow to sound as long as possible)
All glissandi should start immediately at the beginning of the note value.
Woodwind
breath tone: use the fingering needed to produce the marked pitch, however, do not produce the normal tone but just blow air through the instrument.
normal tone
M multiphonic: choose multiphonics allowing a smooth transition into the given pitch
The text should always be recited between whispering and sotto voce, in such a way that the given pitch resonates either as air or tone.
S.P. always estremamente sul ponticello
S.T. sul tasto
N. normal (used with S.P. and S.T., otherwise ord.)
the final note of a glissando is not to be played separately
a trill produced by alternating the finger pressure between normal ( w ) and light (harmonic, O ), (or vice versa, depending on whether the main note is normal or harmonic); the result should be alternating normal and harmonic sounds. This trill can be played slightly slower than normal trills, to allow both pitches to be heard.
Ÿ~~~~~~~~
O w O ( )
a trill between two harmonics: alternate between the two harmonics by lifting the fingers in turn to allow the individual harmonics to be heard; this trill can be played slightly slower than normal trills. a trill produced between two artificial harmonics: alternate the harmonic by moving the upper finger(s) so that both harmonics can be heard in turn; this trill can be played slower than normal trills.
increase bow pressure into scratch tone
When playing long sustained notes, the bow changes should always be imperceptible and made independently of the other players. During long slurs which include several long sustained notes a change of note should preferably not coincide with a change of bow.
Brass
Straight mutes should be used unless otherwise specified.
only air: without, or very little pitch; imitate a sigh
P half stop
Percussion
The choice of sticks is left to the musicians. Whether hard or soft, always choose sticks giving as much resonance as possible.
Piano / Celesta
If pedalling is not specified, use the pedal lightly according the nature of the textures.
Harp
circular glissando. Play several overlapping, circular glissandi, gradually ascending or descending to the destination pitches.
Harp sounds should always be allowed to ring as long as possible.
air (inhale – exhale) / breathy tone
x whispered
A performance of Innocence requires the enactment of the sound design crafted under the supervision of the composer, aimed at balancing acoustic sound sources and creating effects of spatialization and reverberation adjusted to the venue’s acoustics. A full technical rider for this sound design, created by sound engineer Timo Kurkikangas, is available from the publisher upon request.
- The voices of performers using unusual vocal techniques are amplified. This amplification is designed to blend with the orchestra’s sound in the same way the singing voices do naturally: its volume should therefore never be pushed to a level that sounds artificial.
- The main singers are also amplified for very discreet, delicate support, calibrated during performance to also not sound artificial.
- The choir and orchestra are also amplified, processed with reverb, and spatialized, to achieve a perfect balance with the other sonic components.
To achieve the most immersive and natural effect, the sound design requires live calibration during performances, the use of a sound localization calculation engine to match the positions of the performers on stage, and a specific placement of speakers on stage and in the house adapted to each venue. It should be implemented by a sound engineer familiar with the piece or the composer’s other music.
Kaija Saariaho
The basis for any surtitling or subtitling of this work should be the official English translation of the libretto contained in the score. This translation has also served as a basis for the French and German translations, which have been reviewed and amended by the creators.
In case one of these three versions is used in surtitles and requires adaptations (to a local dialect, or to fit into the displays) these adaptations need to be run by the creators via the publisher before the premiere. So does any other adaptation in any other language.
Because of the quantity of text, we would strongly encourage physically inserting the surtitles more organically into the staging than is customary in opera, to allow for a more comfortable reading experience. This also entails avoiding cuts in the text as much as possible, so as to follow the flow of the delivery on stage and not distract the audience with discrepancies between what is heard and what is read.
The full perception of multilingualism is intrinsic to the experience of Innocence
In an ideal situation, all text is displayed in the original languages as well as in translation, allowing for a better perception of language shifts and of nuances in text. In a situation where this is not possible and where the surtitles are monolingual, it is preferable to indicate the language that is being sung by using different text colors for each of the nine languages.
The text sung by the choir should also be surtitled and preferably styled in a specific way, italics being the most common solution. It may be omitted when the choir is merely echoing the voice of a protagonist (e.g. in scenes 6, 8, 10...). But when the choir provides a haunting counterpoint to the main action, the surtitles should reflect that superposition: for instance, the names of the victims being recited over the dialogue in scenes 12 and 20, or each occurrence of the names of Stela and Tuomas.
The inclusion or omission of scene numbers and titles, and of stage instructions, is a choice left to the directorial team.
Aleksi Barrière
Colla voce (repeat as needed)
Jeder, der sich seltsam verhielt, / wurde zu einem potenziellen Schützen. / Jeder, der schlechte Haut hatte. / Jeder, der zu pummelig war. / Jeder, der keine Freunde hatte. / Jeder, dessen Eltern irgendwie seltsam waren.
Colla voce (repeat as needed)