Benedetta

Date
1995
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Abstract
Benedetta is an original libretto for an opera, based on the story of a real-life nun who lived at Pescia, near Florence, in the early part of the 17th century. The libretto retells various events in her life: her vision of the statue of the Virgin Mary moving; the appearance on her hands, feet and sides of the stigmata; her organization of a mystical marriage with Christ; her visitation by the apparitions of three young men; the investigation of her activities by a Papal Nuncio; the discovery of her lesbian affair with another nun; and her imprisonment. These events are placed in the structure of a single canonical day, based on the device of a semi-arch surmounting a cross. It is written for four female voices, four male voices, and a chorus of seven women's voices, and is designed for an ensemble of RAD instruments,a pre-determined electronic layer realised in real-time, and bells, both electronic and acoustic. Accompanying the libretto is an essay that outlines the background of the creative process of the writing of the libretto. The essay covers the sources for the libretto, the chronology of writing the libretto, and the aims and structure of the libretto (including diagrams). It includes observations on the general limitations and choices available to a librettist, and the reasons for particular choices and approaches in the Benedetta libretto.
Description
Bibliography: p. 128-132.
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Citation
Morris, M. (1995). Benedetta (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/13142
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