In May of 2003, the Indianapolis Children's Choir, (in conjunction with the Indianapolis Opera) produced The Trio of Minuet, a children's opera in two acts on which I collaborated as librettist with composer David Sasso. Following are the synopsis and composer's notes as they appeared in the program.
The story
In Minuet, the townspeople are expert dancers; music is strictly prohibited. But three adventurous children – Madolyn, Wesley, and Doh – set out one afternoon and discover music for themselves in the sounds of the woods: the rustling of the fallen leaves, the raindrops falling through the trees, the whistling of the fall breeze.
Returning home, the three children are eager to share their discoveries with Moyra the Mayor, Dervish the Dance Instructor, and Philomena the Philosopher. They learn the hard way that music is forbidden in Minuet. But at the edge of town, their music catches the ears of Seemore and Melodia, who tell them about a land not far away “where music is the only method.” Encouraged, the children set out at once to find it.
On their way through the woods, they wake a creature. Silent, six-legged Susie, apparently a menace to the countryside, chases Madolyn, Wesley, and Doh into the River Glissando. Suddenly the children are all alone, far from home.
Frightened and soaking wet, they wander from town to town, listening for music and looking for a way home. Each town they come across teaches them a new kind of song. In Reverie, a babysitter sings lullabies all the time – day and night. In Turnip Stew, delightful music accompanies a display of culinary excess. And in a brief Intermezzo in the woods, a troupe of wandering jokesters sets riddles to song.
With each encounter, Madolyn, Wesley, and Doh learn something new about Susie. She is a lonely creature, the last of her kind, from a time when music was in the wind. When the children find out that Susie can only be soothed with a song, their journey home takes on added significance – as the children well know, the people of Minuet refuse to sing.
But before they make it back to Minuet, they discover the land that Seemore and Melodia spoke of, “where music is the only method.” There, they find beautiful music, but no dancing of any kind – only song. Not quite satisfied, Madolyn, Wesley, and Doh return home just in time to save their town from Susie: drawing upon their new musical talents, the children sing her a song, and she falls asleep. The relieved citizens of Minuet finally recognize the power of music, and the children, for their part, realize that music and dance belong together.
Why a children’s opera?
Two things have always struck me about children: their voices and their imagination. The voice of a child is the very first instrument, filled with sweetness and honesty but also capable of surprising nuance. Similarly, a child’s imagination is limitless in its innocence – children have the power to discover things beyond our experience as adults. It’s that unique imagination I wanted to tap into, and opera provided a perfect way to do so with children’s voices.
It was vitally important that the opera be performed by children. Both Paul and I had the privilege of singing when we were younger, and we know the power performing can have in the lives of children. From the beginning, we saw The Trio of Minuet as a wonderful opportunity to offer that experience to others.
Translating dance into song
The Trio of Minuet is an opera about a town that does not know how to sing. Thankfully for the composer, the heroes quickly discover music, but in the meantime, Seemore and Melodia teach us how to translate dance into song. As they keenly observe, “This is an opera, after all!”
As in any opera, we have attempted here to create a distinct personality in lyrics and music for the various settings and characters. Susie’s angry side, for instance, appears as a trio of timpani, triangle, and tenor saxophone, but we sympathize with her soft percussive timbres as we learn about her true nature. And the music in Minuet is simple and repetitive, while the children’s songs start with a spark of ingenuity and grow more creative as they learn about music.
For the adult
When we first decided to create a children’s opera, we wanted to set one of the most profound stories we know: Antoine de St.-Exupery’s The Little Prince. We were disappointed to find that, for very adult legal reasons (of which the Little Prince himself might disapprove), we were not able to adapt that story. Things worked out in the end, as we were compelled to create our own story. But in the spirit of The Little Prince, here are some notes about the opera “for the adult who needs a little help understanding.”
There's a little bit of everything in this story: silliness, suspense, romance, politics, and a recipe you definitely won't want to try at home. It all begins with a simple idea – children from a land of dance search for a land of song. But as the adventure takes the children from place to place, they discover a whole world of music, caricatured by entire towns devoted to sleeping, eating, and playing – the essentials of life!
Our heroes, like all children, are complex: they explore and they imagine; they discover and they learn. Their search for music – something to connect us all – leads them not only to discover others but also to discover themselves. The creature Susie teaches them perhaps the most important lesson of all – like the glaring eyes in the closet, she turns out to be a teddy bear when the lights finally come on.
The Trio of Minuet celebrates the power of the child's perspective. We hope it serves as a reminder of what we can learn from the child within each of us.
For more information about The Trio of Minuet, send an email to info@thetrioofminuet.com or just contact me directly.
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