A Libretto
The Strange Child is a chamber opera based on a fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann (Das Fremde Kind), with music composed by Julia Werntz. The libretto explores childhood imagination and its often painful conflict with the adult world. In a bucolic village, the lives of siblings Christlieb and Felix are upended by the arrival of two strangers: a cruel tutor named Master Inkblot and a mysterious sprite who lives in the woods. A series of strange and magical happenings culminate in a violent struggle in which imagination itself is at stake.
The Strange Child premiered at The Alloy Studios in Pittsburgh on June 17 and 18, 2022. The production was supported by the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Opportunity Fund, and the Heinz Endowments. The opera was commissioned by Kamratōn, a chamber music ensemble dedicated to expanding the contemporary repertoire and promoting women as artistic leaders. The premiere was directed by Shana Simmons, with musical direction by Daniel Curtis and performances by singers and musicians from both Kamratōn and Quince Ensemble.
A small village lane. Beyond the village, a stand of birch trees. High on a hill, a tidy cottage, its roof topped by a great stork roosting in a gigantic nest. Beyond the cottage—a dense, mysterious wood. Beyond the wood, blue mountains.
The Strange Child is a chamber opera based on a fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann (Das Fremde Kind), with music composed by Julia Werntz. The libretto explores childhood imagination and its often painful conflict with the adult world. In a bucolic village, the lives of siblings Christlieb and Felix are upended by the arrival of two strangers: a cruel tutor named Master Inkblot and a mysterious sprite who lives in the woods. A series of strange and magical happenings culminate in a violent struggle in which imagination itself is at stake.
The Strange Child premiered at The Alloy Studios in Pittsburgh on June 17 and 18, 2022. The production was supported by the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Opportunity Fund, and the Heinz Endowments. The opera was commissioned by Kamratōn, a chamber music ensemble dedicated to expanding the contemporary repertoire and promoting women as artistic leaders. The premiere was directed by Shana Simmons, with musical direction by Daniel Curtis and performances by singers and musicians from both Kamratōn and Quince Ensemble.
Act One, Scene 1 ▼
ACT ONE
SCENE 1 — THE HAMLET OF BRAKELHEIM
SCENE 1 — THE HAMLET OF BRAKELHEIM
A small village lane. Beyond the village, a stand of birch trees. High on a hill, a tidy cottage, its roof topped by a great stork roosting in a gigantic nest. Beyond the cottage—a dense, mysterious wood. Beyond the wood, blue mountains.
COUNT CYPRIANUS
(accompanied by LADY VON BRAKEL, ADULGUNDE, and HERMANN)
(accompanied by LADY VON BRAKEL, ADULGUNDE, and HERMANN)
Tell me, man, where can I find the castle of Sir Thaddeus von Brakel?
VILLAGER 1
Our lordship lives up on that hill, just beyond the birch trees, shimmering in the breeze.
BIRCH TREES
Aflutter, ashivver, aglitter in the sun.
It’s a kind of oscillation.
It’s a kind of oscillation.
VILLAGER 2
Up the hill, past where the birch trees quiver. There he lives with his wife and two mischief-makers—wild things they are, full of capers.
BIRCH TREES
Jubilation.
COUNT CYPRIANUS
(to his family)
What a talkative bunch!
VILLAGER 3
(to audience)
(to audience)
Though just between us, it isn’t much of castle, more like a cottage. But its windows are bright, and its vines are thick and thickly sown with swallows’ nests.
BIRCH TREES
And the swallows’ sing so sweetly.
They love their lives completely.
They love their lives completely.
VILLAGER 1
(to COUNT)
(to COUNT)
Nowhere on this good green earth is there a more contented place than Brakelheim. Though it be modest, though it be small.
COUNT CYPRIANUS
(annoyed)
(annoyed)
Oh, for God’s sake!
BIRCH TREES
Agrarian, agreeable. Amenable, amiable.
VILLAGER 2
(to audience)
(to audience)
Yet again, truth be told, Sir Thaddeus hardly looks the part of a lord. He’s more like one of us.
BIRCH TREES
Humanitarian, egalitarian. Charitable, practical.
(COUNT CYPRIANUS waves off the VILLAGERS in annoyance as he and his family exit to make their way to the Von Brakels’ house)