Here is a preview of my Elisabeth das Musical English lyrics. The full libretto, complete with dialogue and stage directions, is linked below.
Prologue (All Have Danced the Dance of Death)
THE DEAD:
Forgotten is the world of old
The glamor fades, The flesh decays
But here among this hall of ghosts
The danse macabre always plays
Greed, grief, sate our rotting souls
Dreams, joy, none of it remains
Fear feeds our ever-growing toll
Lust, wrath, all that we retain
Elisabeth, Elisabeth
Apart from mortals you remain
A mystery no ghost can guess
A distant, dissonant refrain
Small, sweet, lonely and desired
Wild, weak, beautiful and cursed
Poor, rich, all that you reviled
Old, young, never ending thirst
LUCHENI:
(in counterpoint)
No one was as proud as her
She despised you all!
Mocked you from her palace walls!
THE DEAD:
(in counterpoint)
We’re all damned to die
We, the dead, all cry
Shadows descend over time
LUCHENI:
(in counterpoint)
No one ever understood
Her need to fly free
She wanted to look into the abyss
THE DEAD:
(in counterpoint)
Reviled, beguiled
THE DEAD:
She longed to be all we despised
No, she would never compromise
All have danced the dance of death
But none quite like Elisabeth
All have danced the dance of death
But none quite like Elisabeth
All have danced the dance of death
But none quite like Elisabeth
LUCHENI:
(spoken)
Attenzione! His majesty… Lord Death.
DEATH:
Why do you dare disturb me
With this refrain
That burns inside my chest and
sings of pain?
Demons call it torment
Angels call it bliss
Mortals say it must be love’s sweet kiss
My role is to extinguish
With bitter cold
The dirty and distinguished
The young and old
How could this have happened
when my lot is death?
But it’s true, I loved Elisabeth…
JUDGE:
(spoken)
You’re evading the question, Lucheni! Love, Death? Cease with the fairytales!
LUCHENI:
Perché non? She loved death, and he loved her!
She loved Heinrich Heine after all!
JUDGE:
For the last time, Lucheni, who was your accomplice?
LUCHENI:
Death...only Death!
JUDGE:
The motive, Lucheni!
LUCHENI:
Why, love! Un grande amore!
DEAD MEN:
Elisabeth, Elisabeth, Elisabeth!
LUCHENI:
Elisabeth!
DEAD WOMEN:
Elisabeth! Elisabeth!
DEAD MEN:
Elisabeth, Elisabeth, Elisabeth!
DEATH:
Elisabeth!
DEAD WOMEN:
Elisabeth! Elisabeth!
DEAD MEN:
Elisabeth, Elisabeth, Elisabeth!
LUCHENI:
Elisabeth!
DEAD WOMEN:
Elisabeth! Elisabeth!
DEAD MEN:
Elisabeth, Elisabeth, Elisabeth!
DEATH:
Elisabeth!
ALL:
Elisabeth, Elisabeth, Elisabeth!
