Lucretia Suite no.1

Program Notes:

Suite no. 1 from Lucretia is a collection of scenes from the incomplete ballet titled Lucretia. Taking its genesis in the spring of 2023 from a practice room in my freshman dorm Wayland, Lucretia continues to be the longest continuous project I have ever worked on and has been the main focus of my compositional efforts for the last three years.

Since the beginning notes of this piece, my attitude on the ending of the ballet has both evolved yet stayed generally the same, and as I do not have a clue what that will mean for the final product, I can comment on this suite as of now. As for written music, to this point, this is the most final version of the story, ending with a dramatic finale in a triumphant (yet somber) declaration of the love theme.

This version of the piece, and how I have decided to end it 

-Christopher Hall (2026) 

The story:

King Tarquinius, King of Rome, is a tyrant.

Lucretia is a noble woman married to Collatinus, nephew of King Tarquinius. When challenged with describing Lucretia Shakespeare said of her: “within whose face beauty and virtue strived.” Loving were the people of Rome to her, and kind was she to every bird in the sky, and every person on the Earth.

The love that Lucretia and Collatinus had for each other was comparable if not greater than the greatest love story ever told. This greatness of love led Collatinus to (as so many that are madly in love tend to do) constantly boast about his beautiful and virtuous wife. Eventually Collatinus’ boasts perked the ears of the King’s son, and he and other noblemen wanted to see for themselves. So, they all traveled to the place fair Lucretia dwelt and saw with jealous hearts that love, which was the envy of Rome.

The King’s Son was named Tarquin. He was a spoiled brat who relished in the tyranny perpetuated by his father the King, and upon witnessing the love his cousin Collatinus had, he was consumed with jealousy. So, when Collatinus was away, he went back to the home of Lucretia and as Shakespeare accounts, he lit a wax torch with flint and steel and said, “As from this cold flint I enforced this fire, So, Lucretia must I force to my desire.”

“So, fares it with this faultful lord of Rome, who this accomplishment so hotly chased; for now, against himself he sounds this doom, that through the length of times, he stands disgraced.”

         -W. Shakespeare

The next morning, when Tarquin was gone, Collatinus got a letter from Lucretia asking for his immediate presence, he took a friend and they travelled to the home of Lucretia and Collatinus. There they found Lucretia’s father had also been summoned, and they demanded to know the “cause of her sorrow.” Before she said a word, Lucretia made them take an oath of revenge, then as Shakespeare described, she “revealed the actor, and whole manner of his dealing, and withal suddenly stabbed herself” (The Death of Lucretia)

Collatinus, enraged, went to seek revenge, and upon seeing Tarquin, they fought. At the end of the duel, Collatinus got the upper hand and drove his blade through Tarquin’s heart. As he watched the lifeless corpse of his condemned cousin crash onto the floor. Collatinus’ eyes flooded with the memories of his beloved. He fell to his knees, and with a voice that shook the world, and shook all of Rome, he cried for his love: “O my Lucretia! I have given you your revenge! Please…come back to me.”