Act I, Scene 1: "We Stand Before an Abyss..."

Click on an arrow icon to listen to recordings of the opera rendered digitally with a library of orchestral samples. (Over-ear headphones highly recommended.) Listen for solo saxophones and similar instruments, performing the sung parts.^1


[~11:00]

[ STARBASE M-11 ]

An unfamiliar planet's pre-dawn landscape is dimly outlined on an otherwise dark stage. First officer Lieutenant Spock appears in dress uniform, isolated from whatever terrain is visible.

SPOCK

[speaking; not in recording]

[0:30] Space.

All before me is void.

[singing; baritone saxophone in the recording]

[0:42] My past...let go

My future...forgotten

An unknown star rises, like a sun, very slowly revealing scattered signs of civilized life, including a transporter docking area, on the desert-like surface of M-11, a planet on the edge of Federation space. Kirk appears upstage from Spock. Spock acknowledges him with a slight nod but does not turn toward him.

[speaking, to Kirk; not in recording]

[2:06] Jim, we have a message from your predecessor, Captain Pike.
He needs to see us on M-11.

[2:12] It's urgent.

[singing]

[2:19] All I have now is conscience.

[2:32] The law of my forebears:

[2:44] As clear—or as obscure—as fate

[2:56] Or the passing of time.

Enter M-11’s Vulcan Commodore Zuna Tor, in work clothes or fatigues, possibly prepared for an emergency, with a few of her Staff.  They approach the edge of a balcony viewing the docking circle, check readings on devices, and glance at the sky. A distant, thin vapor trail appears—an unknown craft approaching from space.

[3:12] Yet he who holds me in the greatest trust,

I must deceive.

[3:25]The craft—now clearly the U.S.S. Enterprise—arrives high above. A moment later Tor and her entourage watch as Captain James T. Kirk, ship’s doctor Leonard McCoy, and two or three Enterprise crew are beamed down to the docking circle. At first they do not see Tor. McCoy staggers a little, disoriented; Kirk surveys the scene.

TOR

[3:45] Captain Kirk! To what do we owe the honor?

Kirk and McCoy turn toward Commander Tor.

KIRK

[gazing at Tor, transfixed]

[3:55] Zuna...is that you?!

[4:06] Tor is a commanding, heroic presence. Brightening starlight, and possibly a faint breeze, play on her hair. Kirk is caught off guard. Kirk crosses the circle eagerly, with McCoy and other crew close behind. He climbs a ramp toward her as she descends, but they stop short of what might have been an embrace. Lights shift to Spock in the foreground, moving downstage.

SPOCK

[to himself]

[4:48] My world, my place in life, the trust of my crew. The Federation. Eleven years...

TOR

[to Kirk]

[5:09] Traffic control informed us of your unscheduled visit.

MCCOY

[to Kirk]

[5:16] I’m guessing you two know each other.

KIRK

[stirred from his daze]

[5:18] Ah, yes—allow me to introduce our first officer, Mr. Spock. And our ship’s doctor Leonard McCoy.

SPOCK

[5:27] Four months...

 

[to Zuna again]

[5:31] Zuna, I—

TOR

[5:33] Come, come, Captain! Let us observe protocol. Please state your mission.

SPOCK

[5:37] Five days...

KIRK

[5:40] My apologies, Commodore. We received a subspace message from Christopher Pike, asking us to divert here.

Enter Vina, a mysterious, unnaturally beautiful woman—appearing to communicate with Spock as though from a remote part of the galaxy.

SPOCK

[5:53] My very self, loyal to just one cause.
[6:06] Until now, Vina.

VINA

[from Calzabigi’s ‘Orfeo ed Euridice’]

[6:13] I call... I call... I call...
[6:37] For my love.

SPOCK

[6:49] And now we stand before the abyss.
[7:07] A single step,
[7:16] And all is changed.

VINA

[from Calzabigi’s ‘Orfeo ed Euridice’]

[7:28] If the sun gilds the day I call him.
If it sinks to the waves, I call him.

                  [7:50] —Is this madness?

[8:01] A brook, taking pity on my plea, answers me.

SPOCK

[8:14] Is this madness?

TOR

[to Kirk]

[8:20] I understand your report, Captain. I’m only stating that it isn’t possible.

KIRK

[8:29] But a message was sent...urgently requesting us to come.

TOR

[8:35] Jim—I’m afraid that simply isn’t true.

SPOCK

[8:45] Or an excess of clarity?

VINA

[from Calzabigi’s ‘Orfeo ed Euridice’]

[8:50] I grieve in vain.

The idol of my heart does not reply.

Lights on Spock and Vina fade slowly.

SPOCK

[9:08] Enough of thought. No more questions.

The landscape of M-11 is revealed in the morning light.

VINA

[9:12] And so...into the abyss.

SPOCK

[9:30] Into the abyss.

Spock beams to the docking circle, his introduction to Tor is solemn, and unheard. Tor begins to walk, as though leading Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Enterprise Crew, and M-11 Staff indoors. Lights and set shift to reveal the interior of Starbase M-11’s Hospital.



^1.These recordings have been made part-by-part, with MIDI controllers and the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra's sample library. The voice parts in these recordings are represented by solo saxophones, and a basset horns, noticeably 'forward' in the mix.
The full orchestration of the opera is 2 flutes doubling picc. and alt., 2 oboes, English horn, 2 bassoons, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets, 2 tenor trombones, bass trombone, timpani, celeste, vibraphone, minimal percussion, harp, and strings approximately ~10.9.7.7.4 — all of which is audible here in ideal playback circumstances.