The Golden Ax
David Heuser
About this work:
This is an opera in one act on an Aesop’s fable, with a libretto written by Gary S. Albright. It was commissioned by the Cactus Pear Music Festival, Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, Artistic Director
Cast of Characters
Narrator & Water Nymph (soprano)
A Woodsman & the Woodsman’s Brother (baritone)
The opera is designed to be sung by two singers, a soprano singing the parts of the Narrator and the Water Nymph and a baritone singing the Woodsman and his Brother. However, as the baritone part is rather extensive, the opera could also be performed with one soprano and two baritones, one as the Woodsman and one as the Brother.
Synopsis
The Golden Ax is based on the Aesop’s fable of the same name.
Introduction: The Narrator introduces the opera.
Scene 1: A forest.
A poor Woodsman enters the forest and begins to chop down a tree. His ax slips from his hand and sinks to the bottom of the nearby lake. The Woodsman is beside himself with grief over the loss of his ax as it is the only means he has to provide for his family. A Water Nymph who lives in the lake hears his cries and comes to the surface to ask him what is wrong. He tells her, and she promises to try to recover his ax for him. However, the first two times she goes to the bottom of the lake, she returns with first a golden ax and, then, a silver one, and not with the Woodman’s ordinary wooden ax. The Woodsman tells her each time they those are not his axes. On her third attempt, the Water Nymph returns with the Woodsman’s plain wooden ax, and he is overjoyed with its return. Because the Woodsman was so honest and didn’t claim the golden and silver axes as his, the Water Nymph rewards him with all three axes. The Woodsman returns home overjoyed and tells his family about his good fortune
Scene 2: Outside the Woodsman home.
The Woodsman’s Brother emerges from the house. He vows to go to the lake himself and get a golden ax from the Water Nymph through deception.
Scene 3: Same as Scene 1
The Brother purposely drops his ax in the Water Nymph’s lake and proclaims his sorrow over the loss of his ax. The Water Nymph appears and again agrees to help. She goes to the bottom of her lake and retrieves a golden ax. The Brother immediately claims it as his own, but before he can get it, the Water Nymph drops it back into the lake. She admonishes the Brother that he will get nothing, not even his wooden ax, because of his lie. The Brother sulks away, and the Woodsman and Narrator return to close the opera.
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:25:00
Ensemble type: Opera/Theater:Opera for Children
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Horn in F, 1 Soprano, 1 Baritone
Instrumentation notes: Two singers play two characters each, but the piece could be performed with four singers (2 sopranos and 2 baritones), or some combination of 1 or 2 parts for each singer.