Evan L. Snyder

THE CLEF OF THE UNIVERSE

*Opera in development

The story of The Clef of the Universe is one of discovery: of what has been and what could be. The action follows the crew of an alien archaeological mission, from planet Xale’ja, who crash land on an unfamiliar and lifeless world. Upon discovering the lost vestiges of an ancient civilization on this alien world, the ship’s excavationist, Oc’rys, and their fellow crew members work to learn about the unfamiliar people of this lost society. As they uncover the truth behind the destruction of life on the planet, the crew members learn things about themselves and about the universe that they never expected—and in so learning, find that it may not be possible to escape this planet with their newfound knowledge…

 

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or their lives…

ROLES & ORCHESTRATION

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Captain Tarq’  - Contralto/Bass-baritone/Bass

 

Artificer Q’rench  - Soubrette soprano/Light lyric soprano/Lyric tenor

 

Excavationist Oc’rys  - Lyric mezzo-soprano/Lyric baritone

 

Captain Ardwa/Prologue - Full lyric soprano/Full lyric tenor

 

with chamber ensemble (2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, and piano) or piano reduction

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*The roles in this opera are written with a flexible approach to the voice types performing them - all four roles are transposable across the octave, so that they can be performed by either male or female vocalists. Any the listed voice types for each role can be used, in any combination of voice types with the other roles.