The Living Paradoxa - From the Opera: The Science of Animals

[Intro - Full Orchestra, All Three Themes Teased in Quick Fragments, Then Silence][Section 1 - Individual Themes, Full Verses, Same Shared Tempo, Back to Back]BURIDAN (habanera-flavored melody, set to the shared march tempo):
Hay upon the left, hay upon the right, which one, which one, which one?
The question stays eternal, and eternal, and eternal!
I'm frozen here between two truths, a martyr to indecision —
Which one, which one, which one!DOLLY (lament melody, same shared tempo, no longer rubato):
I'm made of her entirely, and yet I'm someone new tomorrow,
I'm a headline wearing wool, I'm a footnote dressed as sorrow,
I'm the answer to a question nobody thought to button —
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow!LAIKA, BELKA & STRELKA (trio theme, same shared tempo):
Yip-yap-yip, hooray, hooray! Yip-yap-yip, we're on our way!
Nobody quite like us, we three, barking at the Milky Way!
Three little dogs from Sputnik, none of us have ever been —
Hooray, hooray, hooray![Section 2 - First Collision, Two Voices Attempt to Overlap, Falter, Restart]BURIDAN & DOLLY (overlapping tentatively, rhythms almost matching but not quite):
Which one, which one— / Tomorrow, tomorrow—(brief pause, orchestra stumbles, comic hesitation)[Section 3 - Conductor-Style Orchestral Reset, Tempo Locks In Firmly][Instrumental - Timpani Count-In, Full Orchestra Resets the Pulse][Section 4 - Full Combination Begins, All Melodies Overlapping Successfully]BURIDAN (repeating, insistent, clipped rhythm):
Hay upon the left, hay upon the right, which one, which one, which one—DOLLY (overlapping, sustained legato against Buridan's clipped rhythm):
I'm the answer to a question nobody thought to bu-u-utton—SPACE DOGS (overlapping, bright staccato against both):
Nobody quite like us, we three, barking at the Milky Way—[Repeat full combination once more, voices swapping dynamic emphasis — Dolly loudest this pass, then Space Dogs, then Buridan][Section 5 - Building Tutti, Call-and-Response Fragments, Accelerating]BURIDAN: Which one, which one—
DOLLY: Tomorrow, tomorrow—
SPACE DOGS: Hooray, hooray!BURIDAN: I'm frozen in the middle—
DOLLY: I'm evidence, not chosen—
SPACE DOGS: We chose to go, and lived![Repeat call-and-response, faster, voices trading lines mid-phrase]BURIDAN: Frozen—
DOLLY: Chosen—
SPACE DOGS: We lived!
BURIDAN: Frozen—
DOLLY: Chosen—
SPACE DOGS: We lived![Section 6 - Brief Hush, Single Sustained Chord, All Voices Drop to Piano](a breath, held quietly)[Section 7 - Full Company Rises Together, All Six Voices, Unified Text, Same Melody at Last]ALL:
We're creatures born of questions we were never asked to answer,
A donkey, and a duplicate, and dogs who beat the cancer
Of being left on Earth alone — we went, we stayed, we wondered,
And whether chosen, cloned, or launched, we're all a bit rare-plundered![Repeat full company verse once more, doubled in volume and orchestration, brass entering for the first time][Section 8 - Final Round, Overlapping One Last Time, Building to Cutoff]BURIDAN: Which one—
DOLLY: Tomorrow—
SPACE DOGS: Hooray—[Extended overlapping repetition, all six voices layering freely, building volume and density for eight bars]ALL TOGETHER (unison, final held chord):
WE'RE ALL A LIVING PARADOX, AND THAT'S OUR FINAL WORD![Grand Pause - Full Silence][Final Tag - All Voices, A Cappella, Quiet]A donkey, a duplicate, and dogs who went to space —
(pause)
Nobody asked us. We went anyway.[Final Chord - Full Orchestra Re-enters, All Voices, Triumphant Hold]

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[Intro - Full Orchestra, All Three Themes Teased in Quick Fragments, Then Silence][Section 1 - Individual Themes, Full Verses, Same Shared Tempo, Back to Back]BURIDAN (habanera-flavored melody, set to the shared march tempo): Hay upon the left, hay upon the right, which one, which one, which one? The question stays eternal, and eternal, and eternal! I'm frozen here between two truths, a martyr to indecision — Which one, which one, which one!DOLLY (lament melody, same shared tempo, no longer rubato): I'm made of her entirely, and yet I'm someone new tomorrow, I'm a headline wearing wool, I'm a footnote dressed as sorrow, I'm the answer to a question nobody thought to button — Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow!LAIKA, BELKA & STRELKA (trio theme, same shared tempo): Yip-yap-yip, hooray, hooray! Yip-yap-yip, we're on our way! Nobody quite like us, we three, barking at the Milky Way! Three little dogs from Sputnik, none of us have ever been — Hooray, hooray, hooray![Section 2 - First Collision, Two Voices Attempt to Overlap, Falter, Restart]BURIDAN & DOLLY (overlapping tentatively, rhythms almost matching but not quite): Which one, which one— / Tomorrow, tomorrow—(brief pause, orchestra stumbles, comic hesitation)[Section 3 - Conductor-Style Orchestral Reset, Tempo Locks In Firmly][Instrumental - Timpani Count-In, Full Orchestra Resets the Pulse][Section 4 - Full Combination Begins, All Melodies Overlapping Successfully]BURIDAN (repeating, insistent, clipped rhythm): Hay upon the left, hay upon the right, which one, which one, which one—DOLLY (overlapping, sustained legato against Buridan's clipped rhythm): I'm the answer to a question nobody thought to bu-u-utton—SPACE DOGS (overlapping, bright staccato against both): Nobody quite like us, we three, barking at the Milky Way—[Repeat full combination once more, voices swapping dynamic emphasis — Dolly loudest this pass, then Space Dogs, then Buridan][Section 5 - Building Tutti, Call-and-Response Fragments, Accelerating]BURIDAN: Which one, which one— DOLLY: Tomorrow, tomorrow— SPACE DOGS: Hooray, hooray!BURIDAN: I'm frozen in the middle— DOLLY: I'm evidence, not chosen— SPACE DOGS: We chose to go, and lived![Repeat call-and-response, faster, voices trading lines mid-phrase]BURIDAN: Frozen— DOLLY: Chosen— SPACE DOGS: We lived! BURIDAN: Frozen— DOLLY: Chosen— SPACE DOGS: We lived![Section 6 - Brief Hush, Single Sustained Chord, All Voices Drop to Piano](a breath, held quietly)[Section 7 - Full Company Rises Together, All Six Voices, Unified Text, Same Melody at Last]ALL: We're creatures born of questions we were never asked to answer, A donkey, and a duplicate, and dogs who beat the cancer Of being left on Earth alone — we went, we stayed, we wondered, And whether chosen, cloned, or launched, we're all a bit rare-plundered![Repeat full company verse once more, doubled in volume and orchestration, brass entering for the first time][Section 8 - Final Round, Overlapping One Last Time, Building to Cutoff]BURIDAN: Which one— DOLLY: Tomorrow— SPACE DOGS: Hooray—[Extended overlapping repetition, all six voices layering freely, building volume and density for eight bars]ALL TOGETHER (unison, final held chord): WE'RE ALL A LIVING PARADOX, AND THAT'S OUR FINAL WORD![Grand Pause - Full Silence][Final Tag - All Voices, A Cappella, Quiet]A donkey, a duplicate, and dogs who went to space — (pause) Nobody asked us. We went anyway.[Final Chord - Full Orchestra Re-enters, All Voices, Triumphant Hold]

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