The big grey dog
Trichordal Opera in a hundred sentences without singing voice
for toy-piano and / or other keyboards
The rules:
The hundred sentences tell the story of the big grey dog.
Each sentence is also the title of a musical piece.
Each piece fills two pages – so you never have to turn pages while playing.
The player of the opera does not need to worry about the numbers over the notes. They are a trichordal analysis of the music, which are written down by the composer in order to find his way through his often quirky trichordal pieces: hereby the number 1 denotes the note C, 2 the note C# etc., a denotes the note A, b the note B flat and c the note B. All possible symmetrical trichords are used.
At the piano some pieces are transposed for one or two octaves higher or lower as indicated at the beginning of each piece. The 8va alta or 8va bassa- indications in the pieces are added to the octave of the piece performed on the piano. Therefore, the 8va alta / bassa indications are always to be considered relative to the general position on the piano, while on the toy-piano they are ignored.
Fifty of the pieces are composed for a toy-piano with 30 keys, respectively 2 ½ octaves from C to F, the other fifty are composed for a toy-piano with 37 keys, respectively 3 octaves from F to F. Whether a piece belongs to the former or the latter type, is indicated at the beginning.
Performance practice:
a) With speaking voice:
According to the desired length of the performance a certain number of pieces is chosen. It is also possible to choose none or all the pieces. The titles of the chosen pieces shall be read out before the respective piece is performed. It is also possible to read the titles of the pieces which are not performed. If desired one can read out all the hundred titles and play only the chosen pieces after the respective title.
b) Without speaking voice:
According to the desired length of the performance a certain number of pieces is chosen. It is also possible to choose none or all the pieces. The titles of the chosen pieces will not be read out before the respective piece is performed. Instead, while playing, the performer is thinking intensely of the big grey dog. Therefore, the shortest possible performance is the one in which the pianist plays no piece at all, instead he thinks shortly, but intensely of the big grey dog.
The hundred sentences :
1) I'm sitting at home and I'm playing a tune for myself
2) I could play another one, but I play this here
3) Clara enters the room and wants to tidy up
4) Uwe wants to watch TV
5) Eva comes with the vacuum cleaner
6) I can barely hear what I'm playing
7) I am told to finally shut up
8) My existence as a musician conflicts with Clara's intentions
9) Theo comes with his electrical screwdriver to disassemble something
10) Agnes starts cooking
11) Otto draws a bath for himself
12) Everyone claims my crowded room
13) I try to play another tune, but it makes no difference
14) Intelligent life is no longer possible in my room
15) What is more, Uwe and Otto now are quarrelling about which TV channel should be set
16) Eva's hoover-cable entangles with the pots of Agnes who protests loudly
17) I leave my crowded home in search of temporary peace
18) In the antechamber strangers have arranged a shop and others are slaughtering a sheep
19) The staircase is full of people who walk up and down the stairs, some are dragging heavy suitcases and pieces of furniture
20) In order to leave the house, I have to climb over the chairs of a newly and provisionally arranged dental clinic
21) I'm not brave enough to look for my car in the garage and prefer to go on foot
22) In the streets simultaneously there is a traffic jam, a flea market and a bicycle race
23) I'm making an effort to push myself through the crowd that is watching a boxing match
24) Even on the forest path a loud group of schoolchildren approaches me
25) This causes me to leave the path
26) Off the path, finally I encounter nobody anymore
27) I'm stumbling over roots and push myself through scrub
28) I'm advancing very slowly now
29) Trying to avoid the thorns I spot the grey dog
30) There is no doubt, the dog follows me
31) I try to run in order to outdistance the grey dog
32) I jump over rocks, rush on ridges, get hold on tree-trunks
33) I would have nearly plunged into a gorge
34) The grey dog is still chasing me
35) I get stitches and have breathing trouble, because I'm not used to such sportive activity
36) If I stop once in a while, I hear the panting of the dog who is still behind me
37) I notice that I have no clue where I am
38) I'm lost
39) Now I follow the grey dog
40) Very determined it walks in a certain direction as if it knows the way
41) If I get on very slowly, at some points it waits for me
42) The dog leads me on a small clearing
43) On the meadow there is a rocket
44) A team of scientists is greeting me as if they had expected me
45) In a few minutes the rocket will be started, and I shall be the test pilot
46) I neither need any skills, nor any knowledge, I only have to embark
47) Before the hatch is closed, I see the dog wave at me with its paw
48) The pillar of fire hurls the rocket and me into the sky
49) My journey to Mars lasts eight months
50) If a had a piano, it would not work at zero gravity anyway
51) Everyday life of travelling in space is lonely and monotonous
52) On board there is a Donald-Duck-paperback which I already know by heart, word by word
53) The landing on Mars takes place fully automatically and smoothly
54) There are many blinking lights here, but no humans
55) In the base on Mars everything works flawlessly and nearly without noise
56) All the technical devices are easy to operate
57) Furthermore, all the levers and buttons are labelled and illustrated foolproof
58) On the food-dispenser there is a variety of four buttons
59) Regardless of which button I press, I always get the same, namely a yellowish white pulp of poorly convincing consistency
60) I haven't figured out yet what the mush actually tastes like
61) After the meal the plate and the spoon are reinserted in the dispenser
62) The chess computer is so smart that I always lose, so I decide to reprogram it with a heavy sledgehammer
63) There is only one spacesuit here, but it fits me perfectly
64) If it is fully charged, I can walk with it on Mars up to three hours
65) However, already after two hours I hear an alarm signal in the helmet indicating that the oxygen supply is running short
66) The message is repeated over and over again and I can't turn it off, which is very annoying
67) Therefore, I try to limit my walks on Mars to two hours
68) On Mars even with the heavy spacesuit I am as light as straw
69) But this time a sandstorm approaches
70) Soon I can't see anything at all
71) I brace myself against the storm, so that it doesn't carry me away
72) Hopefully my spacesuit is heavy enough to hold me on the surface
73) I'm already losing my footing and I'm flung high through the air
74) The warning voice in my helmet is drowned by the roar of the storm
75) If I try to stop my drive, I'm flying even faster and higher
76) Now I am in an orbit around Mars
77) There are only twenty minutes of oxygen left
78) I am going to die here, orbiting around Mars
79) A Sputnik from earth is exploring the solar system
80) The Sputnik gets nearer and nearer
81) On its reconnaissance flight succinctly nearby Mars, the Sputnik hits me right into my stomach
82) The blow chokes me, but my spacesuit bears up
83) The collision has altered drastically my trajectory as well as the path of the Sputnik
84) Thus probably billions of dollars are screwed up
85) Soon my oxygen supply will run out
86) A strange spacecraft, which looks like an UFO, approaches me
87) The hatch opens and an extraterrestrial appears
88) No, it's the grey dog who is wearing a spacesuit
89) I'm so amazed that I barely notice the loud whistling noise in my helmet
90) The dog grabs me with its strong paws
91) I'm fainting because there is no more oxygen left
92) I'm in a coma during the whole flight back to earth
93) Or have I been frozen by the dog?
94) When I wake up, I'm already in the NASA salvage vessel
95) Before I'm allowed to go home, I'm brought to the country hospital in the capital
96) There my body and my mind are examined very thoroughly
97) In the quarantine I'm separated from the grey dog
98) I have never seen it again
99) Finally I'm released from the quarantine
100) I'm taken home in a taxi