Codiagnóstico

The following section contains some points of musical analysis on the opening numbers of Skin Deep, included in order to demonstrate some of the issues already outlined. This section pays particular regard to Kerman’s claim that in opera ‘music […] bears the responsibility for articulating drama, […] defining character, generating action, and establishing atmosphere’,280 since these were essentially the sentiments expressed by the creators themselves, as I will

277 _Ibid. 278 _{Rivers, p.14.}

279 _{‘Skin Deep’, Opera on 3.The notion of artifice and escapism is prevalent in various operatic forms.} Examples relevant to Sawer’s concept of ‘stepping out’ of the narrative here might include Franz Lehár’s romantic turn in nineteenth-century Viennese operetta, and the commenting chorus in the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.

elucidate. In the case of operetta it is this dramaturgical responsibility of music that forms much of the contract of generic expectation, meaning the expectation of a framework of distinct numbers. In the following excerpts I will analyse the extent to which the music functions to create the structure promised, i.e. that of the ‘number opera’. This function includes the way in which tonality and sonority contribute to dramaturgy and structure. It also includes the effects of word-setting and of scoring (for voices and instruments) on dramaturgy and on the contract of generic expectation.

The ‘numbers’, as marked in the score, generally did not function as distinct musical entities in the way that one might expect of a ‘number opera’. Certainly the score being

organised in this way was useful in the organisation of the many cuts and changes that happened during the rehearsal process up until the first night.281 That said, moments of tension and

release, which might serve to orientate the listener, and at times to indicate the transition from one ‘number’ to the next, were difficult to identify aurally, so it was not always clear where these ‘numbers’ began and ended. Scenographically too, many ‘numbers’ were joined together continuously; the entirety of Acts 1 and 2, for example, take place in the set of Dr

Needlemeier’s alpine clinic, and the only physical set-change of the work is in Act 3. Dialogue divides numbers in places that could be considered arbitrary, and in Act 3, very seldom at all. To illustrate this point (which is pertinent to the whole of the work) I will analyse the overall shape of the first ‘numbers’ of the operetta. (For a full list of numbers, see Appendix B.)

Sawer initially labelled the Overture ‘No.1’. ‘No.2’ was a choral number which, shortly after the dress rehearsal on 14 January 2009, was cut completely since the work was already overly long, and this introductory number was deemed unnecessary. ‘No.3’ is designated a ‘solo’ for mezzo-soprano Donna, the receptionist, musically answering a variety of telephones, with an interjecting (male) chorus of patients. I will return later to this number, and the

telephones in particular. The point of structural interest comes at the end of No.3, and the means of its merger into No.4. Only Donna and the male chorus have been on stage thus far, but six bars from the end of No.3, Robert, the delivery boy, is heard offstage, shouting an unpitched yodel. The yodel is notated in rhythm, with a vague pitch ‘shape’ along a single line (rather than a five line stave) (see Example 1).

Example 1: Unpitched yodel, bar 137 of No.3, ‘Solo and Chorus’, Sawer, Skin Deep (Vienna: Universal

Edition, 2008)

281 _{Such cuts were made so frequently and so fast that I was unable to document them systematically from} my rehearsal observations and interviews.

This yodel is inserted between more conventionally notated writing for chorus and orchestra. After Donna’s final musical line, there is an immediate punctuating orchestral chord on the first bar of No.4, leaving no room for an audible division of the two numbers.282 Robert’s first physical entry comes with a longer yodel, notated much like the first. This precedes a relatively lengthy spoken conversation with Donna, the first dialogue of the work (see Example 2).

Example 2: Opening bars of No.4, ‘Dialogue, Duet and Chorus’, Sawer, Skin Deep

(unpublished piano reduction for rehearsal use)

These yodels (Examples 1 and 2) serve to remind us of the alpine location (thus conjuring associations of the Viennese tradition of operetta) and to introduce Robert’s childish character, seeking attention. But straddling Nos 3 and 4, they function as a musical link rather than a clear division. Unsupported by the orchestra (‘sung’ a capella) and followed by dialogue, the second yodel in particular can be regarded functionally as part of the spoken dialogue rather than ‘song’. Indeed, the pitch-shape of the yodels was interpreted liberally by tenor Andrew Tortise. The orchestra begins No.4 (in terms of the score) with a chord that, for the listener, serves to signal the end of No.3. No.4 proper then contains a long spoken conversation of retrospective narration, to establish information about the nature of Robert’s relationship with Elsa

(Needlemeier’s daughter), Donna’s recent skiing accident and resultant facial scar, and hints at her affair with Needlemeier.

Sawer organises his score, throughout the operetta, to include dialogue within what he terms the ‘number’, not as a separate entity between numbers. Here is an attempt at a dramatic

282 _{The chord is not notated on the first beat, but after a dotted quaver rest. Richard Farnes expressed to} me the difficulties of such off-beats, without a point of rhythmic reference (an audible down-beat). ‘You might as well just write it on the beat. There’s no perception to the audience that it is off the beat.’ Ultimately such chords were positioned by Farnes, the Conductor, on the beat, for purposes of ensemble. Farnes, 22 April 2009.

coherence or ‘flow’, whereby dialogue extends without definite break into, and out of, the musical action. Donna is already on stage in No.3, answering phones, and continues to do so as No.4 begins, with Robert cheekily interrupting her phone conversation. So there is little distinction of action, plot or emotion between these two numbers, or between song and dialogue. After a section of speech in No.4, Sawer’s original intention was then to extend this conversation in musical dialogue, as Robert was to unpack his delivery of chemical equipment, and he and Donna were to describe the items; however this section was removed. The effect of this edit is that the orchestra returns gradually, with instrumental punctuation creeping in after a period of absence, then a half-sung, half-spoken phrase from Donna: ‘Herr Doktor [sung], will be over in a minute [spoken to rhythm], have you got the deliveries? [sung]’ (see Example 3).

Example 3: Bars 9-10 of No.4, ‘Dialogue, Duet and Chorus’, Sawer, Skin Deep (unpublished piano

reduction)

In fact, most of the music in this ‘number’ was cut, and what remained of No.4 was mainly the spoken dialogue that had originally framed a duet and chorus. Only Robert retained seven bars of recitative-style sung dialogue at the end of No.4, listing the chemical products, while his lover Elsa silently creeps up behind him. Ultimately there was no duet between Robert and Donna after their spoken conversation. The chorus too was disposed of. My purpose in outlining this example is to draw attention to the lack of ‘number’ as such within this ‘number’ operetta, as it is organised in the score, and as it has been described by Sawer and Farnes amongst others. No.4 is not a clear entity in itself; musically and dramatically it serves only to continue what came before.

The ‘linking’ rather than the distinct division of numbers is continued into No.5 similarly. Elsa enters and says ‘Boo!’ two bars before the end of the No.4 and thus her ensuing love duet with Robert (No.5) which begins with a line of spoken dialogue for each of them, is a

continuation, relying on the characters, action and words of the previous ‘number’; Robert opens No.5 by referring back to No.4, ‘Elsa! Watch out. That’s expensive stuff’.283 This duet is a mixture of sung conversation and interspersed spoken dialogue. As a piece in itself, it is intricately constructed: the nervousness of the characters at being discovered in an illicit embrace is audible in the broken nature of their speech and song; they are given briefly soaring melodic fragments, hinting at a frustrated relationship. Overall, the music retains a disjointed aesthetic for an extended period of time. Conventionally centred tonality is presented in brief moments, then snatched away. Lyrics pass quickly, set to fractured musical phrases, and go unrepeated. This means that in a melodicallydisjunct setting of a crucial character exposition or plot development, words are lost. From my audience questionnaires, there were many responses complaining of a libretto that was ‘unintelligible’, and ‘words obscured by music’.284

In terms of the audibility of complex diction in operetta, there is a comparison to be made with the convention of the patter song as adopted by Gilbert and Sullivan.285 The patter song purposefully aligns all elements to make a fast and dexterous text comprehensible in a comic but virtuosic show of composer’s, librettist’s and performers’ skill. This is done in the following ways: regularly structured verses with regular meter, repetitive melody and rhyming couplets in popular dance-like rhythms; light and harmonically simple accompaniment, restricted vocal pitch-range; and characters or chorus often echoing phrases sung by the protagonist. The very phenomenon of the operetta patter song indicates that for fast, complex diction to be audible, concessions have to be made in music and text.

In my own reception of Skin Deep, I strained to hear words, and in so doing often missed the detail of the plot. The orchestral writing is fragmented, musically separated from the voices, offering them little functional support, be that melodic, harmonic or emotional. It most often has a punctuating or ‘commenting’ role, reflective of the action, or appearing between the dialogue. Sawer spoke of the orchestra as a separate character, asserting that he had composed in full score from the start of the writing process rather than constructing motif and harmonies and then later distributing parts, as many do; he considered his choices of instrumental timbre to be as important an element as any.286 It is evident in the score, and in hearing the work, that the orchestra was never relegated to a supporting role of the singers on stage. Sawer has been

283 _{As with previous numbers, the title of No.5, ‘Elsa, You Nearly Made Me Drop It’ is subtly different to} the dialogue, suggesting earlier changes.

284 _{Respondents to my audience questionnaires, 2009.} 285

Perhaps the best-known example is ‘I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General’ from Act 1 of The Pirates of Penzance (Gilbert and Sullivan, 1879). Shortly after Skin Deep, Opera North performed a very well-received Ruddigore (Gilbert and Sullivan, 1887) including, in Act 2, the trio patter song ‘My Eyes Are Fully Open To My Awful Situation’, involving (as Mad Margaret) Heather Shipp, who also played Donna in Skin Deep.

praised for his concert works, not least for their dramatic nature.287 Nonetheless, the transition from the drama of the concert hall to the dramaturgy of the operatic stage can be easy to underestimate. On this point I will later refer to Carolyn Abbate’s Unsung Voices, where the music of the concert hall is analysed in a dramatic (almost operatic) framework, and where the abstract drama of instrumental music and the explicit drama of the operatic stage, in their distinction from one another, are made to correspond.288

In addition to the problem of there being little in the way of sustained melody in the numbers I have outlined thus far (up to No.5) the narrative structure is also problematic, in that, up to this point, it has not moved forward: the same characters have been on stage, engaging in their ‘retrospective narration’ regarding backstory and relationships, but without recourse to action in the present. Short of the gradual addition and subtraction of characters, there has been no marked change since the curtain rose, as one number dovetails gently into another. This dramaturgical issue pervades the work.