Brisset Rhymes
Notes
Brisset Rhymes was commissioned by Sara Stowe and Matthew Spring with funds made available by East Midlands Arts. The work was completed in 1990 and premiered in Leicester. It was scored for solo female voice (soprano) plus an assortment of early and medieval instruments. Subsequent performances in London and Eastern Europe saw the addition of some new material and in 1993 a radio version was specially prepared for broadcast on BBC Radio 3's "Midnight Oil". This version of a live version of a radio version has been performed many times, thus continuing the almost amphibian tendency to self-transformation that the work seems to possess - a tendency which has evolved still further with the preparation in 1998 of a version for solo female voice (soprano) and piano.
Jean-Pierre Brisset (1857-1923), ironically dubbed "The Prince of Thinkers" by the Surrealists, was a minor functionary at the Angers-Saint-Serge railway station. His contribution to philology stops at nothing short of a complete explanation of the Universe, incorporating God, Mankind and Nature in a linguistic theory which affirms the belief that similar sounds have the same meaning, in any language, regardless of apparent differences in their dictionary definitions. Rigorous logic leads Brisset to the conclusion that Man is descended from the frog, not just because spermatozoa resemble tadpoles but, more importantly, because the frog's interrogative croaks make a small, formative language which resembles our own, in particular the sound "quoi?" ("what?") which is Brisset's first and fundamental question.
Although Brisset's works (e.g. La Science de Dieu, Les Origines Humaines, La Grammaire Logique) are written in French, he does consider other languages and devotes a section of his thought to an examination of the reasons for the Englishman's derogative description of the Frenchman: FROG!
Songs
1) Frog Introduction 2) Parole Perpetuelle 3) Ou Vivaient les Ancetres 4) La Grenouille 5) La Nourriture 6) Les Dents, La Bouche 7) L'Apparition du Sexe 8) Le Coeur 9) La Parole
Libretto
1) INTRODUCTION (spoken)
2) PAROLE PERPETUELLE
3) OU VIVAIENT LES ANCETRES Eau ai! Eau ai! l'eau j'ai! Ohe! Ohe! Ohe! Ohe! Loge ai, je suis loge. Dans mon l'Eau je mange. Dans mon lot je mans. Dans mon logement. Aux berges! Aux berges! Eau-ce ai en. Au seant, eau ce-ans, Ocean. Ce eau-ce, ce eau-ce, sauce. Sauce il y'etait, socilliete, Societe!
4) LA GRENOUILLE coeque, coaque, cate, cate, cara, cara, quequete, que re r'ai haut, ololo, couique, brekekex, ran, rane, rennes, ran, rang, rends, frends, France, reine, quoine, guoine, grenouille
5) LA NOURRITURE La plus ancienne nourriture est celle de nos grenouilles. Mais, quand les ancetres devinrent plus grands, ils se mirent a se manger entre eux. Les gros mangeait les petits, les gens bons les jambons, le porc n'a pas de jambes, le cuisseau, le cuissot, le cuisse-haut, le cuisse os, le gigot, le gigot, le gigue haut, le gigos. La bouche. Le mot beau designa la bouche. Dans le ton beau, dans le tombeau. Les premiers qui furent mis dans le tombeau, le furent dans la bouche des ancetres, mords, mors, mort. Il a pris le mors, le mort aux dents, il a manger la grenouille, manger, macher, mastiquer mange-le, male, le male, Adam, Adam au repos, homme, uomo, homo, au mot! EH! VA! EVA! Ah! j'ai faim, femme, fame, fais moi...
6) LES DENTS, LA BOUCHE Les dents, la bouche Les dents la bouchent L'aidant la bouche L'aide en la bouche Laides en la bouche Laid dans la bouche Lait dans la bouche L'est dam le a bouche Les dents-la bouche
7) L'APPARITION DU SEXE Ai? Ai? Ai? Eh! e! Ai que? Ai que? Ai que? eque, eque, eque, eque, ec, ec, ec Ai que ce? Ai que ce? est que ce? Exe, sais que ce? ce eque-ce, ce eque-ce, ce eque-ce, ce eque-ce, ce eque-ce, ce-exe, ce-exe, ce-exe, ce-exe, ce-exe, SEXE? Ce exe, sais que ce? sais,que c'est? ce ex est, sexe est, exe est, EXCES! C'est le SEXE! Ce exe, sais que ce? sais que ce? sais que c'est? ce ex est, ce ex est, ce ex est, ce ex est, ce ex est, exe est, exe est, exces! C'est le SEXE! Je ne sais que c'est, jeune sexe est, je ne sais, je ne sais, je ne sais, je ne sais, jeune ce ai, jeune ce ai, tu sais que c'est.....BIEN! Tu sexe est bien! Oh! Cache ton tu! ton tu! ton tutu! ton tutu! Tu relues tutu, tu relues tutu, turlututu, turlututu tu reluques ton SEXE! Je me exe a mine ai. Tu te exe a mine as. Y ce exe a mine a. Y le sexe a mine a. Y sexe a mine a. Il s'examinait. Sexe a mine ai. Son examen. Son exe a main. Son sexe a la main. Que aie ce que c'est que ce a? que ce a? Que exe est que ce a? Quel sexe est que j'ai? Que exces que ca! Qu'ai que sexe a? Que exe est que ca? Qu'est-ce que sexe a? Qu'est-ce que c'est que ce a? Qu'est-ce que sait que ca? Qu'est-ce que c'est que ca? Kekseksa? WAS IST DAS?
8) LE COEUR (phrases in a random order) Que heure! Que heurt! Leurre-leur l'heure, l'heure le heurt. Heureux, heureux? Le queue re, le queue releve, le coeur eleve sans coeur! Le sexe est mal au coeur que haute côte. Ce a coeur ai, ce a creux ai. Ce a creux ai coeur. Sacre Coeur, a Dieu!
9) LA PAROLE Parole, Parole, Parole, qu'est-tu donc? Je suis Pi la puissance, ar qui revient en arriere, ole qui marche en avant. Je suis le mouvement perpetuel, et dans tous les sens. Je suis l'image des soleils, des spheres et des astres de toute nature qui se meuvent dans l'immensite, revenant en arriere tout en marchant en avant. C'est moi la reine et la mere des hommes qui habitent les globes. C'est par moi que l'Univers connait l'Univers. Quand je me revele a un monde, c'est l'aurore d'un age qui rappelle tous les hommes a l'amour, a la paix, a la fraternite. Ceux qui me resistent, meurent, pleins d'epouvante et de remords. C'est que les lois vont devenir humaines, c'est la fin des lois divines. Les dieux sont passes depuis longtemps. Voici, ils sont tous devenus des hommes!
Translation
(N.B. Many of Brisset's words are in a formative state and their meaning is only fully clear when surrounding text in the original book is consulted. What follows is literal translation.)
3) WHERE THE ANCESTORS LIVED Water have! Water have! Water have! Oay! Oay! Oay! Oay! Lodge have, I am lodged. In my Water I eat. In my lot I eat. In my lodging. To the banks! To the banks! In this water I have my being. To the flopping-down. Water indoors. Ocean. This water, this water. Sauce, there was sauce, the crowd, Society!
4) THE FROG accede again, coexist, cate, cate, cara, cara, come and look, reunite, ololo, from behind, brekekex, frog, frog, rennes, frog, rank, tear, cling, France, queen, queen, queen, frog.
5) FOOD The most ancient food was that of our frog ancestors. But, as they developed, they descended to eating one another. The big ones ate the little ones, good ones ate hams, pork's got no legs, thigh, high thigh, thigh bone, haunch, leg, jig. Mouth. The word beau meant mouth, in a beautiful tone, in the tomb. The first to be placed in the tomb were placed in the mouths of our ancestors, bitten, slain, dead He took a bite, a bite with his teeth, he ate the frog, ate, chewed, masticated Eat him, male, the male, Adam, Adam at rest, man! uomo! homo! to the word! EH! GO! EVE! Ah! I'm hungry, woman, infamous, make me...
6) THE TEETH, THE MOUTH The teeth, the mouth The teeth stop it up helping the mouth The help in the mouth ugly in the mouth Ugliness in the mouth Milk in the mouth There is damage in the mouth Shut your teeth
7) THE FORMATION OF SEX Have? Have? Have? Eh! eh! Have that? Have that? Have that? ek, ek, ek, ek, ec, ec, ec Have it? Have it? Is it? Know what it is, this ex? this ex, this ex, this ex, this ex, this ex this ex, this ex, this ex, this ex, SEX? This ex, know what it is?know what it is? this ex is sex is ex is EXCESS! It is SEX! This ex, know what it is? know what it is? know what it's? this ex is, this ex is, this ex is, this ex is, ex is, ex is, excess! It is SEX! I don't know what it is, it's a young sex, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, have this young, have this young, you know that it's.....GOOD! Sex, you are good! Oh! Hide your willie! your willie! your wee-willie! your wee-willie! You expose your willie, you expose your willie wee-willie-wee, wee-willie-wee you're gaping at your SEX! I've got my ex in hand. You've got your ex in hand. The ex is in hand. The sex is in hand. Sex in hand. He examines himself. Sex in hand. His examination. His ex in hand. His sex in his hand. What's this that he has? that he has? What ex does he have? What's this sex I have? What excess! Do I have sex? What ex is that? What does sex have? What is that? What does it know, that? What is it? Kekseksa? WAS IST DAS?
8) THE HEART (phrases in random order) What hour! What hurt! Lure them hour, the hour hurts. Happy, happy? The end again, the end lifts again, the heart lifts up impotently! Sex is sick at heart. What has heart, what has cross. The union of heart and cross. Sacred Heart, a Dieu!
9) THE WORD Word, Word, Word, what are you? I am P for power, ar which retreats, ole which advances. I am perpetual motion in all directions. I am the image of Nature's suns, spheres and stars which move in immensity, retreating and advancing, coming and going. I am the queen and mother of men who live upon the globes. Through me the Universe knows the Universe. When I am revealed to a world, it's the aurora of an era which calls men to love, to peace, to fraternity. Those who resist me die, full of woe and remorse. The laws have all become human, it's the end of divine laws. The gods have long since passed away.See, they have all become men!