Synopsis
As Act II opens (Scene 1), nightfall finds Saul’s men encamped deep in enemy territory. In Saul’s obsessive hunt for David, he has penetrated Philistine lands and, surrounded, now faces an attack the next day. Beside a camp fire, Jonathan and Zerubbabel voice their fears; both wishing David was with them for the battle, though Jonathan is torn between loyalty to his father and to David, while Zerubbabel dismisses him as a traitor. Saul himself admits that though they hunt David, they need him if they are to win the upcoming battle. As they all drift off to sleep, and Saul’s dream of losing the Decider’s favor torments him, David stealthily enters the camp, knife in hand. Feeling betrayed by Saul who banished him in Act I and now hunts him, David is intent on killing Saul before Saul kills him. He raises his knife but discovers that he still loves Saul and cannot kill him, asking why he’s meant to destroy those he loves. Instead, he cuts off a piece of the royal robe. Sheathing his knife, he picks up Saul’s spear to leave, but Jonathan halts him. Zerubbabel also wakes, wanting to kill the traitor, but Jonathan stops him, knowing they have little chance the next day without David. When they can’t persuade him to stay and fight with them, they convince him to at least leave Saul’s spear behind. As Zerubbabel goes back to sleep, Jonathan realizes the threshold they’re about to cross in parting and how much he loves David as companion and brother. They remind each other of their bond in war and peace, and affirm their mutual affection—brothers forever—but David’s words are ambiguous. He goes off into the night, while Jonathan faces what he fears is an inevitable fate at dawn.
In Act II, Scene 2, sunrise finds David plagued by thoughts of Saul’s possibly losing the battle that morning. Though he rationalizes, David knows in his heart that by not joining Saul in the fight, defeat is certain. And the thought of Jonathan dying pains him. In the absence of news about the outcome, David pretends to himself that perhaps Jonathan escaped death but knows better, and Hannagail’s words are not comforting. He takes refuge in a now overwhelming sense of living out his own story in which he is the chosen one. News arrives with Zerubbabel who staggers into camp and announces that Saul has been killed in a terrible battle, as the Philistines overwhelmed them. Feeling guilt at abandoning Saul and Jonathan, David demands to know precisely how they died. As Zerubbabel recounts their last words, the ghosts of Saul and Jonathan appear who utter them directly. Jonathan accuses David of confusing his will with the Decider’s, which David does not deny. But their ties of affection are still strong; and they recall together the power and beauty of a shared bond. After Saul utters his dying words, which includes begging Zerubbabel to help him die, a request he grants, David turns on Zerubbabel, accusing him of murdering the king. Despite Zerubbabel’s faithful service, David runs him through with his sword. As the new king, knowing that he had to engineer the deaths of Saul and Jonathan by not acting and Zerubbabel’s by acting decisively, he laments that he had to destroy all those he loved the most. As Zerubbabel is dying, Hannagail praises David’s kingly act, but the ghosts of Saul and Jonathan remind David that death awaits him as well. The full force of what he has done falls on David, and he utters a paradoxically sincere lament for Saul and Jonathan. Hannagail proclaims David the chosen one, and he places his hand in the hand of the Great Decider.
Cast
- Saul: David Arnold
- David: Brian Vandenberge
- Zerubbabel: John-Andrew Fernandez
- Jonathan: Matthew Morris
- Hannagail: Angela Bianca Beaton, Adrienne Alexander, Barbara Mergelsberg
- orchestra: Andrew Cyr (conductor), Susanna Loewy (flute/piccolo), Leslie Godfrey (oboe), Jack Bradley (clarinet), Deryk Clarke (French horn), Ivy Haga (bassoon), Gloria Vasconcellos (harp), Peter James Saleh (percussion)
- rehearsal pianist: Donald Dolan
Recording
Production: Roosevelt Arts Project and the Department of Music, Rutgers University, with support from the Geraldine R. Dodge and Edward T. Cone Foundations. Presented at the Nicholas Music Center at Rutgers University, directed by Judith Nicosia (Monday, December 1, 2008).