Costume sketch for Abelard by Christianne Myers.

The love between the brilliant 12th-century Parisian scholar Abelard and his talented and beautiful young student Heloise is tantalizingly documented in their surviving letters. This passionate and complex love affair — and its ultimately tragic consequences — provides the material for a new opera by Stephen Paulus and Frank Corsaro. Heloise and Abelard, a poignant tale of a true-life medieval romance, is to receive its world premiere by the Juilliard Opera Center this month. Commissioned by The Juilliard School, the opera was composed by Mr. Paulus with Mr. Corsaro providing the libretto.

Mr. Paulus explains that the genesis of the opera dates all the way back to 1980, when Richard Gaddis (then director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis) wanted to commission a full-length opera. One of Paulus's original ideas was for a project based on the story of Heloise and Abelard as recounted in the Marion Meade novel Stealing Heaven. The idea was ultimately rejected in favor of The Postman Always Rings Twice (which turned out to be Paulus's most frequently performed work to date), but when Frank Corsaro called Mr. Paulus in 1996 to discuss a possible commission for the Juilliard Opera Center and revealed that he had already written a libretto on the story of Heloise and Abelard, a collaboration between the composer and librettist seemed preordained.

The Story of Heloise and Abelard

Most of what we know today about the true story of Peter Abelard and Heloise comes from a published work of Abelard, Historia calamitatum (or History of My Misfortunes), and a series of letters written between the two lovers.

Costume sketch for Heloise by Christianne Myers.

Peter Abelard (1079-1142) was well known as a dialectician, philosopher, and theologian in medieval France. As a young adult, he studied with renowned scholars independently and at the Cathedral School in Paris under William of Champeaux. But over the years of his studies, he gradually developed adversarial relationships with all of his teachers. The depth of these conflicts was such that he was forced to leave Paris and set up his own school in Melun, and later at Corbeil, ultimately leading to his return to Paris to obtain a scholarly chair at the Cathedral School in 1113. Thereafter Abelard developed a formidable reputation as a debater and was reputed to be exceedingly vain and arrogant.

It was after Abelard's resettlement in Paris that the first contact was made with Heloise (c. 1101-1164), in her own right a highly educated woman by the age of 18. Under the tutelage of her guardian and uncle, Canon Fulbert, she was well versed in logic, philosophy, and theology at the time Abelard ingratiated himself with Fulbert. After taking up residence in Fulbert's home to act as Heloise's personal tutor, Abelard followed through with a desire to seduce the young woman.

It took several months for Canon Fulbert to become aware of this situation. When Heloise became pregnant, Abelard took her to his childhood village of Nantes in Brittany, where she gave birth to their son (whom they named Astrolabe), incurring the wrath of Fulbert. After the baby was born, Heloise and Abelard returned to Paris and were secretly married in the presence of her uncle. Although the marriage was intended to remain a family secret, Fulbert and his associates began to circulate around Paris the story of the marriage, spurring Abelard to move Heloise to a convent in Argenteuil. While she did not take a vocation at the convent, Heloise wore a habit as if she were nun, and the two lovers were able to continue their affair. When Fulbert learned of these liaisons, he and his supporters broke into Peter Abelard's room and castrated him.

Following this incident, Peter Abelard and Heloise never saw each other again, but continued to correspond by letter. Abelard entered the Abbey of St. Denis, but later sought the protection of Peter the Venerable after being condemned by the Church for his unorthodox theological views. Heloise took orders at the convent at Argenteuil and ended her days as the abbess of the Convent of Paraclete in Troyes. When Abelard died, his body was removed in secret and brought to Heloise at the convent, where he was buried. Sometime in the 19th century, both bodies were moved to the cemetery of Mont Louis, now known as Père Lachaise.

Crafting the Story for Opera

In crafting the libretto, Mr. Corsaro relied mainly on Heloise and Abelard's actual correspondence. Corsaro notes that his greatest challenge as a librettist was to capture the eloquence of their letters — only nine of which survive — in the context of spoken and sung dialogue, and to extrapolate a logical sequence of events from their correspondence. While most of the

Composer Stephen Paulus (center) with singers Matthew Burns (left) and Richard Cox, who sing the roles of William of Champeaux and Fulbert, respectively. (Photo by Peter Schaaf)

resulting story is historically accurate, Mr. Corsaro notes that he "gathered the real and the fictional to create a compelling drama." The main departure from historical fact takes place towards the end of Act III, in the scene in which Heloise and Abelard come as "sponsors" to Astrolabe's ordination ceremony. Furthermore, "because every opera needs a good villain," the librettist notes, the character of William of Champeaux has been shaped into an evil entity, serving as catalyst for Canon Fulbert's treacherous actions.

Mr. Paulus views the opera's dramatic structure in terms of intensifying complexity and conflict through Act II, moving to a sense of reconciliation — albeit incomplete — in Act III. The main relationships that are resolved (or to which the characters resign themselves) in the final act are between Heloise and God, insofar as her spirituality becomes the only way she can maintain a connection with Abelard; between Heloise and Abelard and their son Astrolabe, whom they meet as an adult but who remains unaware of his parentage; and between Heloise and Abelard, who are physically reunited only after Abelard's death.

One of the hallmarks of Mr. Paulus's operas is their carefully controlled pacing and dramatic flow. In describing his compositional approach to Heloise and Abelard, Mr. Paulus emphasizes the importance of creating a compelling musical-dramatic structure, achieved in this case largely through a process of compressing the text in order to make room for the music to comment. Acknowledging his deep admiration for Mr. Corsaro's libretto, Mr. Paulus notes that he "usually asked permission when I wanted to cut something-but sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness afterwards than to ask for permission beforehand!"

		Listen to excerpts from a panel discussion about the making of  Heloise and Abelard with its composer Stephen Paulus, librettist Frank Corsaro, and Joseph Polisi, the president of Juilliard.

Musically, the opera's passionate, romantic quality mirrors the intensity of the relationship between Heloise and Abelard; further, the types of music assigned to the characters reflect their changing states of mind, with dissonant, agitated passages symbolizing Abelard's bouts of frustration and distraction and more relaxed, seductive music representing Heloise's relative lack of ambivalence about her affair with Abelard. Mr. Paulus's allusions to medieval music through the use of parallel fourths, for example, evoke the historical period in which the story takes place. While the post-Romantic idiom of Heloise and Abelard is typical of Mr. Paulus's music to date, one important departure from the composer's previous operas is his use of spoken dialogue. Mr. Paulus also notes that the work is more integrated thematically than his previous operas, and employs a slightly larger orchestra of about 45 pieces.

Heloise and Abelard is Stephen Paulus's eighth opera. Born in New Jersey, Mr. Paulus studied composition at the University of Minnesota and now resides in St. Paul. He is the composer of more than 200 works representing a wide range of genres. His compositions have been premiered and performed by the major symphony orchestras of the United States, including the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National Symphony Orchestra. A recipient of both Guggenheim and NEA fellowships, Mr. Paulus serves on the board of directors of Ascap.

In addition to the premiere of Heloise and Abelard at The Juilliard School, the winter and spring of 2002 sees performances of two other vocal works by Mr. Paulus. In February, the Festival Choir of Madison gave the premiere of his Prairie Songs, six a cappella movements for mixed chorus based on poems evoking the landscape, moods, and impressions of the American prairie. His opera The Three Hermits (1997) opens the Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities in Salt Lake City with a performance by the Utah Opera on April 7.

Juilliard's commission of Heloise and Abelard is made possible by a generous grant from the late Francis Goelet. Heloise and Abelard was commissioned as part of the national series of works sponsored by Meet the Composer/Arts Endowment Commissioning Music/USA, with support from the Helen F. Whitaker Fund. Additional support was provided by the Ruby Mercer Fund and the Muriel Gluck Production Fund.

World premiere performances of Heloise and Abelard take place in the Juilliard Theater at 8 p.m. on April 24, 27, and 29. The performances will be conducted by Juilliard alumnus Miguel Harth-Bedoya, music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and feature Lauren Skuce as Heloise; John Hancock as Peter Abelard; Matthew Burns as William of Champeaux; and Richard Cox as Fulbert. Tickets are $20 and are available at the Juilliard Box Office, or call CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500.