Libretto for a KSP-themed opera

[MedwedianPresident]

As some of you might know, myself and another user of this forum are desiring to compose a Kerbal Space Program-themed opera. I have written up a libretto proposal and request feedback on the story and ideas on its musical realization.

 

Table of Characters:

 

Jebediah Kerman, Bill Kerman, Bob Kerman - Tenors

Wehrner von Kerman, Gene Kerman - Basses

Mission Control choirs

Alien choirs

 

Conspect:

Act I: The few peaceful days on Kerbin between two missions. Slightly drunken Jeb, Bill and Bob, already in their fourties/fifties, are having a night walk through KSC, remembering the heroic days of the first advancements of the Kerbal Space Program. They are due to conduct a routine flight to the Mun the next day. Suddenly, Gene Kerman appears with happy news: a Jool probe has found an anomaly on Vall. The trio agrees to partake in the mission, seeing it as reminiscent of the old times. Wehrner and Gene warn them throughoutly of the fact that the ship they will be flying in is untested and there is only a limited possibility of return to Kerbin. The warnings are ignored, and the brave Kerbonauts board their rocket as a triumphal farewell march plays.

The music is calm, concentrating on woodwinds and strings in the beginning, becoming more and more dramatic towards the end of the act as percussion and brass sets in. I wonder how a rocket launch can be pictured by an orchestra...

 

Act II: The long flight to Jool. The trio spends the time recalling their youths once again and maintaining the spaceship. They speculate about the nature of the anomaly. Everything is normal and boring in the beginning. One night, Jeb has a dream.

He dreams of alien choirs welcoming Kerbalkind into the greater community of the Galaxy, starting a new age of peace and prosperity for the race. The hymns are suddenly interrupted by a great explosion - Jeb awakens and realizes that a meteorite has hit the module Bill and Bob were working in during his own sleeping shift, killing them both. The communication antenna is also destroyed - funeral choirs in the background symbolize Mission Control, which declares that the ship is lost. Jeb breaks down morally, knowing that he will not be able to return to Kerbin. He cries out in a dramatic aria, longing for his home planet and his mother. Jool and his moons appear in the window, and Jebediah understands that the mission can still be completed, that there is still the possibility of landing at the designated site on Vall and finding out its secret. Jeb inspects the lander and retreats to the bridge of the ship to do the last calculations and write the autopilot program.

Here, I picture that the music will have some "imperfections" in order to symbolize the claustrophobia and stress of a long interplanetary voyage. The meteorite collision could be pictured by a strong percussion impact, with chaotic, maybe even completely disharmonic music underlining the moments thereafter. Jeb's aria should be extremely sad, driving the listener to tears so that he can comprehend the Kerbal's pain. The finale could be happier, maybe a march again, but fatalist.

 

Act III: The landing on Vall. Jeb bids farewell to his ship. Due to the impact-induced change in trajectory, the lander only has enough fuel for landing, not for takeoff and return; every chance of seeing home again is forfeited. Jebediah's soul is broken, the first signs of mental trauma set in as he begins singing of looking forward to seeing the aliens. His mourning for home wears off slowly and is replaced by the anticipation of the landing as the icy desert of Vall gets closer and closer. The lander touches down hardly, on the last drops of fuel, and Jeb sets a flag on the surface of the moon. Jool is watching over the scene like a fatherly figure, standing high in the sky. The stage lights should have taken on a green tone by now.

Jeb begins to walk towards the presumed location of the anomaly. He finally enters Vallhenge, a magnificent formation. As Jeb's oxygen is already running out, he begins to hallucinate. For a moment, the brave explorer realizes that the creators of the anomaly are long-extinct - but suddenly, the alien choirs appear once again. The final climax comes. The "aliens" appear on stage; Jeb is lifted off and presumes that they are going to take him to their planet. In reality, they are angels who are going to bring his soul to Heaven, for the Kerbonaut is dead. The alien choirs merge with the Mission Control choirs, forming a last heroic elegy, louder and more magnificent that all prior music of the opera. The finale would end gradually, with the choirs slowly receding, a string chord symbolizing the real end.

The music of the third act should synthetize the elements of the last two acts at first, then superseding them with a new tune that signifies Jeb's sacrifice. I would be happy if at least the finale of the third act included church organ as an instrument of adding boldness to the music.

 

What do you think?

[theJesuit]

I like it @MedwedianPresident. I'd keep it to in game logic as much as possible.  Instead of an asteroid, why not a staging incident.  With Jeb stuck with the lander as before.  You could add a drop booster igniting flying around and coliding with the vessel.

Peace.

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

@MedwedianPresident Your plot REALLY reminds me of that in the book 2001: A Space Odyssey, especially how  Jeb is the only living astronaut left on the ship, and how the comms system breaks. Also, the part where he lands near the Vallhenge, an alien formation, on his own, reminds me of that too.

[MedwedianPresident]

27 minutes ago, Bottle Rocketeer 500 said:

@MedwedianPresident Your plot REALLY reminds me of that in the book 2001: A Space Odyssey, especially how  Jeb is the only living astronaut left on the ship, and how the comms system breaks. Also, the part where he lands near the Vallhenge, an alien formation, on his own, reminds me of that too.

You think so? Okay. But this was unintended.