06 July 2017

The Outline, evolving and expanding

The illustration is from the first full outline of the ballet, which probably dates from 2003.  The bracketed “[ sc. vii ]” and “[ sc. viii ]” were added later (I cannot hazard any good guess when), in different ink.  What on this page is “Scene vii / II.iv” – and because it is [complex] and (episodic) – I later unpacked into:

  • Scene 7: Nastenka’s Story Begun
  • Scene 8: At the Opera, and
  • Scene 9: Nastenka’s Story Concluded


. . . the whole sequence being a nested narrative, Nastenka telling the Dreamer her life’s story . . . and then Night the Second concludes with a return to ‘the present,’ Nastenka speaking to the Dreamer.

My initial 2003 guess that this sequence (Scenes 7-9) would run 20 minutes, is not too bad.  The outline as later modified already expanded that slightly;  and as I get to actual composition, the music’s duration is shaping up to perhaps 26 minutes or so.  Assuming that Scene 9 does not get out of hand . . . .


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