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Overture
[On a late night in the spring of 1827 the city of Vienna is experiencing the largest lightning storm in its
long history. Within a large disheveled room, Ludwig Von Beethoven is slumped over his piano and on the
piano sits the just completed manuscript for his Tenth Symphony. It is his final, and he is certain, his
greatest work.]
[From the shadows a beautiful spirit, Fate, and her deformed dwarf son, Twist, emerge to inform
Beethoven of what he has already deeply suspected, that this is to be his last night on earth. They are
accompanied by numerous spirits and ghosts from his past.]
2. Midnight
[TWIST]
3. Fate
RETRIEVE US
TIME DECEIVES US
FAITH SHE HEARS US
BUT SHE DOESN'T LISTEN VERY HARD
BELIEVE ME
FATE STANDS NEAR ME
FATE STATE CLEARLY
WHETHER THERE WILL BE ANOTHER CARD
RECEIVE US
TIME DECEIVES US
THE ONLY MOMENT IN OUR LIVES
THAT EVER REALLY MATTERED FATE
IS NOW
[With each successive crack of lightning the spirits move closer and eventually Beethoven finds their
distraction unbearable.]
[BEETHOVEN]
[TWIST]
[Beethoven implores the spirits to leave him alone, but Twist tells him that as shadows they only exist by
the light that Beethoven's life has cast and as that light is fading, it is only natural that they should cling to
its last moments of illumination. As the clock strikes midnight their conversation is suddenly interrupted by
the appearance of Mephistopheles. His presence causes all the other spirits to shrink silently back to the
corners of the room.]
[Mephistopheles informs Beethoven that he has come to collect the composer's soul. Faced with eternal
damnation, the terrified composer claims that it cannot be his time, that he has yet to complete his Tenth
Symphony. Mephistopheles looks at the manuscript and then with seemingly uncharacteristic generosity,
offers to give him as much additional time as he needs, but only if he will tell him what parts he plans to
add or change. Beethoven is forced to admit that it is his masterpiece and he would not change a single
note. His bluff called, Beethoven still can not believe that this is how his life must end. Mephistopheles
assures him that not only is it so, but his reaction is the nearly universal response from every man who is
about to be condemned to hell. But he then tells Beethoven he is a very fortunate man, for he has
decided to offer the maestro something very rarely offered to humans at the end of their time, a second
chance, a possible way out of his most unfortunate dilemma.]
5. Mephistopheles
[MEPHISTOPHELES]
SEE IT RISING
STARE AND WONDER
HEAR IT BECKON
YOU TO DANCE
SEE IT RISING
STARE AND WONDER
HEAR IT BECKON
YOU TO DANCE
DOMINE
DOMINE
DOMINE
DOMINE
O DOMINE
O DOMINE
O DOMINE
O DOMINE
[The Devil then makes the composer an offer. If Beethoven will give him all his music, allowing
Mephistopheles to wipe it from the memory of man, he will return his soul to him. Beethoven is
overwhelmed by the situation. Fearing an eternity of damnation and torment he is desperate to reclaim his
soul, but the thought of losing his music, his life's work, causes him to hesitate.]
[Mephistopheles, sensing his confusion, offers to leave for one hour before returning for Beethoven's
answer. As the devil is turning to go, Beethoven notices that the hands of the clock are now turning faster
than is normal. When he points this out to Mephistopheles, the devil replies that the maestro should
consider it a final favor because where Beethoven is going, they never turn at all.]
[As the spirits cautiously re-emerge from the corners of the room, Beethoven agonizes over his decision.]
6. What Is Eternal
[BEETHOVEN]
ALL I WAS
MEANT TO BE
COULD I
SUDDENLY
JUST DECIDE
NOT A THOUGHT
WOULD SURVIVE
COULD IT BE
MY LIFE'S WORTH
ENDED THERE
WITH MY BIRTH
[Crushed by the dilemma he finds himself in and unable to reach a decision, Beethoven tries to recall the
particular actions in his life that have led to his damnation. In anger, he confronts Fate for having dealt
him such a cruel hand in life. Taken a back by his accusations, she offers to review his life with him and to
change anything that he wishes to change.]
[Delighted with this unexpected proposition, Beethoven accepts. When she asks where he would like to
start, Beethoven says the first thing he would change is his childhood. Fate takes him back through time
where he finds himself as a young child sitting at a piano. He has just been cruelly slapped by a tutor for
having failed to receive an appointment to the emperor's court. His tutor is trying to create a new child
wonder, similar to Mozart, but unlike Mozart, Beethoven is an awkward and gangly youth. Now, sitting
alone at the piano, he is trying to console himself by playing a melody that he finds soothing. Beethoven
recognizes the melody as the future Sixth Symphony and sitting down next to the child completes the
tune. The child smiles at this kindly adult and after they talk for awhile, asks if they might meet again and
finish the song. Beethoven reassures the child that one day that just might possibly happen.]
7. The Moment
[BEETHOVEN]
THEN
MAYBE THEN
IF WE ARE STILL ALIVE
THEN
MAYBE THEN
THIS MOMENT WILL SURVIVE
THEN
MAYBE THEN
IF WE ARE STILL ALIVE
THEN
MAYBE THEN
THIS MOMENT WILL SURVIVE
THEN
MAYBE THEN
IF WE ARE STILL ALIVE
THEN
MAYBE THEN
THIS MOMENT WILL SURVIVE
[Beethoven turns to Fate and tells her, "I did not need this childhood. I did not need my mother to die
when I was five. I did not need an alcoholic father or this sadistic teacher. I did not need such pain as a
child. This! Remove all of this from my life."]
[Fate tells him that it will all be as he wishes but before she grants his request he should be aware that
when she removes the pains of his childhood he will also lose the inspiration that led to the Sixth
Symphony. When faced with this choice, Beethoven realizes that he is not willing to lose the Sixth
Symphony and withdraws his request.]
[Fate then says, "Surely there were happy times, magical moments?"]
[Within seconds they are there witnessing a rhapsodizing Beethoven as a young man seeing Vienna for
the first time.]
8. Vienna
[YOUNG BEETHOVEN]
DREAMS CHANGE
YEARS STRAIN
LOST ILLUSIONS
LAST STANDS
GOD'S HAND
ABSOLUTION
FOUND
[Together Fate and Beethoven watch the composer as a young man meeting his greatest idol, Mozart.]
9. Mozart
[Instrumental]
[Fate then reminds him of Theresa, his first and greatest love. Together they witness the young couple's
first night together. Young Beethoven is already being called the greatest piano player who has ever lived
and Theresa is a Princess in the Hapsburg Empire. They are both deeply in love.]
[THERESA]
[Beethoven tells Fate that this was the happiest moment of his life. When she asks why did it have to end
he replies, "Because it had to."]
["No woman wants to spend her life with a deaf musician, let alone a lady of such high station and
beauty."]
[Fate takes them to Beethoven's parlor in 1801. There they see the composer slumped over the piano. He
is going deaf and he realizes that it is irreversible. As far as he is concerned, his life is over.]
VOCA ME BENEDICTUM !
SANA MEAM ANIMAM !
VOCA ME BENEDICTUM !
SANA MEAM ANIMAM !
[Beethoven believes that if Theresa were to have discovered that he was becoming deaf she would most
certainly have left him. Before this could happen, he ended their relationship refusing to ever see her
again.]
[Fate takes him outside of his town house where Theresa is watching him through the window. She can
see him slumped over the piano. She does not understand why he has driven her out of his life. She
knows that something is terribly wrong but has no idea what it is. Nothing that he could tell her would
affect her love for him, but Beethoven cannot believe this.]
[THERESA]
I'LL BE AROUND
WHEN THERE'S NO REASON LEFT TO CARRY ON
AND EVERY DREAM YOU'VE EVER HAD IS GONE
AND THE DARK IS DEEP AND BLACK WITHOUT A SOUND
AND EVERY STAR HAS BEEN DRAGGED TO THE GROUND
KNOW AT THAT MOMENT I WILL BE AROUND
KNOW AT THAT MOMENT I WILL BE AROUND
[Beethoven says to Fate that it is now clear to him that it was his deafness that was the cause of all his
unhappiness. "Remove this infirmity and my whole life will turn out right. If I had not gone deaf I would still
have been able to perform live and Theresa and I would have had a life together."]
[Fate assures him that it can be done but once again feels she must warn him of the consequences. She
points out that before his deafness his career was more concentrated on live performance than on
composing. The Muses of music had always been speaking to him but it was only after he became deaf
that he could clearly hear their voices. "Your live performances were brilliant but they lasted but a
moment, while your compositions will echo forever."]
[She then shows Beethoven himself slipping deeper and deeper into his pit of total silence, but all the
while the Muses continue to whisper in his ear.]
13. Dark
[THE MUSES]
HE SITS ALONE
THE CARDS ARE SHOWN
AS HE EMBRACES THE DARK
HE SITS ALONE
THE CARDS ARE SHOWN
AS HE EMBRACES THE DARK
[Instrumental]
[Beethoven once more relents when he realizes what he would lose. Fate then takes him to an alley
outside a neighborhood tavern. It is years later and both Beethoven and Theresa are considerably older.
Neither one of them has ever married. By pure chance Theresa sees Beethoven leaving a bar late at
night but she does not make her presence known to him. From a distance she ponders what might have
been.]
[THERESA]
TIME
ONLY TIME
COULD NEVER TAKE ME AWAY FROM YOU
AND WHY
SHOULD IT TRY
TIME NEVER CARES JUST WHAT WE DO
I WANTED
TO SAY THIS
LONG BEFORE THIS DARK WOULD FALL
AT NIGHT I
WOULD PRAY THIS
THEN WONDER IF GOD HEARD AT ALL
FOR THE CHANCES I'VE HAD ARE NOW LONG GONE
AND THAT STAR IS NO LONGER WISHED UPON
FOR ON THIS NIGHT IT SEEMS TOO FAR AWAY
TRY
I HAVE TRIED
TO PRETEND THAT I DON'T CARE
BUT THEN
SLEEP ARRIVES
AND IN EVERY DREAM I FIND YOU THERE
I WANTED
TO SAY THIS
LONG BEFORE THIS DARK WOULD FALL
AT NIGHT I
WOULD PRAY THIS
THEN WONDER IF GOD HEARD AT ALL
FOR THE CHANCES I'VE HAD ARE NOW LONG GONE
AND THAT STAR IS NO LONGER WISHED UPON
FOR ON THIS NIGHT IT SEEMS TOO FAR AWAY
[Beethoven realizes that Theresa never would have cared about his deafness and is crushed as he
realizes what might have been. To ease the pain of his regret, Fate then shows him glimpses of the future
and the countless musicians who will be inspired by, and build upon the legacy of his music. She then
allows him a final vision; a vision in which he improvises with musicians from the past by whom he was
inspired , as well as musicians from the future, who will be inspired by him.]
[GHOSTS]
PRIUSQUAM PRAESENS
DAMNATUS SALVENS :
HIC HOMO NESCIENS.
QUAE FUTURA EST ?
A LAST ILLUSION
TIME'S ABSOLUTION
FACT AND CONFUSION
FATE AND DESTINY BOUND
[Fate allows him to see some of the countless people who will be touched, consoled and transformed by
his music; a woman who has lost her husband and finds peace in listening to the Pastoral Symphony, a
child who is crippled forgetting his infirmity while lost in the Ode To Joy.]
[At the end of this last minute review of his life, he now realizes that the removal of what he considers the
most painful moments of his life also removes the inspiration for what he considers his finest work.
Change one thing and he changes it all.]
[BEETHOVEN]
SOMETIMES
SLOWLY
TIME BRINGS REVELATION
WAITING
SOFTLY
FOR SOMEONE TO BELIEVE
NOW UNDISGUISED
THE GHOSTS THAT SURVIVE
NOW SAY WHAT WAS MEANT TO BE
EVERY ACT
CRUEL OR KIND
LOST INSIDE OUR MEMORY
IF YOU LOOK
THERE IN TIME
YOU'LL FIND IT IN
FIND IT IN
FIND IT IN
YOU'LL FIND IT IN ME
18. Beethoven
[Instrumental]
[Once more back in 1827 Vienna, he tells Fate that he would not change a thing from his past and risk
losing the music. The music is who he is, the reason for his existence. Also, having seen the influence of
his music on so many lives, he knows that he could never give the music to Mephistopheles. Still, he does
not wish to lose his soul. Desperately he ponders his dilemma.]
[BEETHOVEN]
IN EVERY LIFE
IT HAS BEEN SAID
THERE COMES A TIME TO JOIN THE DEAD
ADMIT THERE IS NO SECOND CHANCE
AND JOIN DEATH IN A FINAL DANCE
[TOWARDS TWIST]
[TOWARDS GHOSTS]
[TOWARDS TWIST]
[I]
[II]
[III]
NOW
IT IS TOO LATE
THIS PATH TO TAKE
DON'T WANT TO LOSE MY LIFE THIS WAY
MEDUSA DREAMS
THE DEAD STILL SCREAM
DON'T WANT TO SEE MY LIFE BETRAYED
[IV]
[TOWARDS TWIST]
AND MY SALVATION
THE COST OF HOW IT'S GOTTEN
THE COST OF WHAT'S GAINED
ALL FORGOTTEN
ALL FORGOTTEN
[When Mephistopheles returns to find his offer refused, he quickly replaces it with another. If Beethoven
will only give him the un-released Tenth Symphony (which no one else has heard, so he reasons it will
never be missed) he will return the maestro's soul. Beethoven agonizes once more. The ghost of Mozart
appears and tells him that it is the greatest musical piece ever created; it is the voice of God, and he
cannot allow it to be destroyed. As the apparition of Mozart fades, he once again decides that he is
unable to destroy this music.]
[In a final desperate attempt to obtain the Tenth Symphony, Mephistopheles points out through a window
to a child sleeping in the gutter. He tells the old man that he owns this child's life and in great detail lists all
the horrors and suffering that she will experience in her short existence.]
20. Misery
[MEPHISTOPHELES]
SO LET ME KNOW
HAVE I BEEN CLEAR
THAT I WILL MAGNIFY EACH CUT AND EVERY BRUISE AND EVERY SINGLE CHILDHOOD TEAR
[If Beethoven will release to him this final musical creation, then Mephistopheles will give up all claims on
the child, irrevocably removing himself and all his evil underlings from the child's life for all eternity.]
[Beethoven immediately turns away, determined to give a firm and final no. But before the word can leave
his lips he finds himself looking back out the window. He tries to convince himself that the child means
nothing to him, especially when compared to the Tenth Symphony. But with every word disclaiming her,
she digs deeper and deeper into his soul.]
[Despite his best efforts he cannot bring himself to leave the child to this evil, and collapsing on the piano
bench, he tells the devil that he has a deal. Beethoven is now a totally broken man as the fact sinks in
that he has lost both his soul and his Tenth Symphony.]
[Mephistopheles dances with delight as he picks up the manuscript never noticing Twist who sneaks over
and whispers in Ludwig's ear, "How do you know that Mephistopheles will keep his word?" Beethoven sits
up and repeats the question aloud. Mephistopheles, never looking up from examining his prize, replies
that Beethoven can draw up his own wording for a contract that they will write on a page torn from the
back of a bible. Beethoven glances questioningly towards Fate who is still watching from the background.
She nods her head for even the shadows know that a contract written on such sacred paper is
unbreakable, even by the devil himself.]
[Beethoven, totally exhausted, mutters his consent but is unable to write the words that will bring about
the destruction of his beloved Tenth. Fate, sensing his dilemma, offers to write down the agreement for
him and he hands the paper to her. As he stares out the window Fate writes,]
[It is agreed upon this night, March 26, 1827, between the undersigned, that the music of the Tenth
Symphony, composed by Ludwig von Beethoven, first born son of Johann and Maria von Beethoven, of
the city of Bonn, shall henceforth be the property of Mephistopheles, Lord of Darkness and first fallen
from the grace of God. It is also understood that it is his intention to remove any signs of this music from
the memory of man for all eternity. In exchange for the destruction of the aforementioned music it is also
agreed that Mephistopheles and all his minions will remove themselves from the life of the child presently
sleeping in the gutter directly across from the window of this room. This removal of influence is to be
commenced immediately upon signing and to be enforced for all eternity.]
[_____________________ Ludwig Von Beethoven]
[_____________________ Mephistopheles]
[Mephistopheles reads the paper, signs it and pushes it in front of Beethoven. Without even looking at the
document the composer signs the paper. Immediately, Mephistopheles reaches over the piano, seizes the
Tenth's manuscript and thrusts it over a lit candle. The papers are engulfed in a wall of flames. But when
the flames have died down the devil is stunned to find that not only does the manuscript still exist, it is not
even singed. Thrusting it back over the candle it is once again engulfed in flames only to emerge
unscathed.]
[Sensing that he has been tricked, he screams for an explanation but Beethoven's expression tells him
that he is as shocked at the turn of events as the Devil himself. As Mephistopheles is glancing once more
at the manuscript he hears the sound of Twist giggling in the darkness.]
[When he demands to know what the dwarf is laughing at, Twist can hardly conceal his delight as he
explains that the composer's parents gave birth to a son prior to the maestro's birth. They had named him
Ludwig von Beethoven but the child died within his first year. They then named their second son Ludwig
as well. Twist continues, "The man before you is that Ludwig Von Beethoven, the second born son of
Johann & Maria Von Beethoven. You have purchased a Tenth Symphony of Ludwig Von Beethoven, first
born of Johann & Maria, if he ever writes one." Mephistopheles glares at Fate, who smiles back at him
demurely. Then, throwing the music back at Beethoven, he screams in frustration and disappears in an
explosion of smoke and flame.]
[Beethoven is surprised by Mephistopheles' rapid departure and asks if he is not coming back to collect
his soul. To which Fate replies that he never had any claim to his soul.]
["But, there were times when I was rude and cruel to people," Beethoven stutters.]
["True, the frustration of your deafness did cause you at times to lash out unfairly at others, but later you
would always regret it and apologize. You often went through great lengths to make amends for any hurts
you had caused. Believe me Ludwig, you have done well."]
[And with those words a warm feeling of peace spreads throughout Beethoven's body and across his
soul.]
[When he asks Fate what is to happen next, she gently tells him that it is time for him to rest, for tonight
he will dream a new dream within the gates of paradise. And as the words weave their way into his soul,
Beethoven lies down on the couch near his piano and begins a new dream.]
[With the departure of his soul the storm begins to break and a stillness settles over the room as one by
one the ghosts and shadows fade away. All seems at peace until the sudden re-appearance of Twist
returning through a window. He gazes about the room, a look of mischievous delight spreading across his
face. Scampering over to the piano, he takes the manuscript for the Tenth Symphony and then climbing
up a bookcase, carefully slips it behind a wall. Here it will remain hidden, the world blissfully unaware of
its existence until that one day in the future when it will be discovered and the music will once more live
again.]
[THE END]
CHARACTERS:
LUDWIG VON BEETHOVEN - The maestro himself on the last night of his life
FATE - The spirit of Fate. She is a young beautiful woman.
TWIST - Fate's hunchback dwarf son. Mischievous but not malicious
MEPHISTOPHELES - The devil himself . Evil with a seductive charm and flair.
YOUNG BEETHOVEN - The composer as a young man
MOZART - WOLFGANG AMADEUS himself
THERESA - The legendary, "Immortal Beloved." The great love of his life.
YOUNG GIRL - An orphan, approximately six years old
THE MUSES - voices of artistic inspiration