G BEING THE CONFESSION AND LAST TESTAMENT OF JOHANNES GENSFLEISCH, ALSO KNOWN AS GUTENBERG, MASTER PRINTER, FORMERLY OF STRASBOURG AND MAINZ by Gavin Bryars libretto by Blake Morrison PROLOGUE G alone on stage, as if roused from the grave or from sleeping under his printing press, addresses the audience. G The year of my birth, the cause of my death, my character and appearance - no one knows the first thing. Where I travelled, whether I married, what my beliefs were - scholars canπt agree. Iπm a name in a quire of paper, a monument in a square, a portrait with a beard I never had. Even in my own time I chose to be anonymous. It was enough, so I thought, to leave my art. Now they come stirring my dust with endless questions. Youπd think a soul might be left in peace, But for you, just once, Iπll tell my story. Please bear in mind my memory is poor. I was too busy to take notes. Itπs only a version. When it comes to truth No one knows the first thing. CHORUS (off stage) Evangelium secundum Joannen ACT ONE: STRASBOURG SCENE 1 By the river at Strasbourg. From here the wealthier pilgrims depart by boat towards Aachen, while the poorer go on foot. Choir of monks pass (MALE CHORUS), singing the opening of the Book of John in Latin: CHORUS OF MONKS In principio erat verbum, et verbum erat apud Deus et deus erat verbum. In ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux homineum. Et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebris eam non comprehenderunt. Fuit homo missus a Deo cui nomen erat Johannes. Hic venit in testimonium, ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine ut omnes crederunt per illum. Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine. They are followed by pilgrims (FEMALE CHORUS) buying or clutching mirrors, who sing: CHORUS OF PILGRIMS (female chorus) ...de lumine... With these mirrors the light of heaven will enter our lives. With these mirrors weπll catch the soul of God and bear it home. With these mirrors weπll clothe our bodies in the Virginπs robe. With these mirrors weπll draw the blood of Christ into our veins. With these mirrors weπll capture holy rays to heal the sick. With these mirrors weπll arm ourselves against the Devil. With these mirrors the light of heaven will fill our lives.... SCENE 2 G, drinking wine with his fellow workers DRITZEHN and HEILMANN, watches the sale of mirrors and the procession with obvious enjoyment. G Weπll make a fortune from this. Look how many weπve sold already. A thousand in a day! Let us give thanks to God for the faith of these pilgrims. CHORUS With these mirrors... [they sing simultaneously with D and G: see NOTE, below] DRITZEHN Do you share their faith? Do you believe our mirrors work? G My beliefs are neither here nor there. A man must earn his living somehow. So long as my workmanship is honest then Iπm a happy man. My jobπs to give the faithful what they need. HEILMANN But if theyπre stupid and credulous as a flock of sheep and we prey on their ignorance, does that not trouble you? G Not if thereπs money in it. What profiteth a man to save his soul if his time on earth is spent in poverty? Damn the piety of priests! Their relics and indulgences are as much a racket as ours. No need to feel guilt, Matthias. Drink up. Letπs enjoy life while we can. Enter EVIL ANGEL/FUST (with GOOD ANGEL) holding a mirror. He hovers round the three men - mostly round GUTENBERG to start with, but at the end round DRITZEHN EVIL ANGEL Take joy and pleasure in this time. The world forsakes you in your prime. To ponder death avails you nought. Shouldst come, it asks no further thought. So eat and drink and leave your books. There is not truth in life but looks. And use this glass wheneπer you can To gaze on beauty, beauteous man. DRITZEHN I have drunk too much or am sickening for something. Exit DRITZEHN with EVIL ANGEL CHORUS With these mirrors... [see NOTE, below] HEILMANN Arenπt you tempted to follow these pilgrims? The route would take you home to Mainz. G What would I want with Mainz? Excluded from the guilds, bored with hunting I was glad to leave the place and to travel in pursuit of arts which, when Iπve honed and gathered them, will bring me riches - and a well-stocked wine cellar. HEILMANN You can afford more than wine now. With the profits on the mirrors, you could buy a house and marry. CHORUS [fading in distance] With these mirrors... G Not till our new enterprise has been concluded. It will take a year or two but once we finish weπll be rich. Next to the handful of silver these mirrors have made us, the profits from our secret art will be pure gold. [NOTE: Throughout the scene above, the CHORUS sing simultaneously with G and D - having sung their original ode to holy mirrors, they become progressively more confused as they walk away, getting the words slightly wrong - ≥match≤ for ≥catch≤, ≥loathe≤ for clothe≤, etc. - and by implication losing their reason, or at the least the reason for their journey. The words of their confused ode go as follows: With these mirrors weπll match the soul of God and wear it home With these mirrors weπll loathe our bodies in the Virginπs dome. With these mirrors weπll claw the hood of Christ under our reins. With these mirrors weπll rapture holy days to peel and lick. With these mirrors weπll warm ourselves against the winter.] SCENE 3 Enter ENNELINA ENNELINA Did I hear right, my love? That youπre rich at last and thinking of settling down? That you will buy a house? That we can be married? Exit HEILMANN , tactfully withdrawing G My friend has more wine in him than sense. You know I kiss the ground you walk on. Your eyes are like stars lighting my path, There is no pleasure on earth like lying with you by the river. But what has that to do with marrying? Letπs not suffocate our happiness with a wedding ring. Free spirits shouldnπt be shut in. We need no contract but our love. ENNELINA Free spirits sometimes fly apart. Mother worries youπll abandon me. Where would I be then? Iπm not getting any younger. I should be thinking of children soon.... G Children? I feel like a child myself. My workπs an adventure - thereπs so much to achieve. I canπt be pressing out children until Iπve made my mark. ENNELINA There are things I want to achieve too - to journey as a Beguine through Christendom helping the poor has long been a dream of mine. Iπve only stayed from love of you. G Just wait another year or so... ENNELINA Wait another year or so! G Or less. It all depends... ENNELINA On what does it depend? G On how I invest my money. ENNELINA Invest in me too! G On whether my art and adventure makes me the money I need... ENNELINA It isnπt money I need, but love, time, a token to seal our contract. G Have these then, two letters in metal - an E for you and G for me. Do not ask what they are but keep them as proof of my art - and love. ENNELINA I shall treasure them. Come talk to mother. She worries for me. Promise youπll come tonight. Give me your word. G Iπll come tonight. You have my word. Exit ENNELINA. G Ennelina, Ennelina, Ennelina, thereπs no one else I care for like her. But if Iπm honest, money and work are more important to me than love. Paul says: ≥Better to marry than burn≤. My desire for Ennelina could stoke a forge. But if in that forge I make gold, then I am better to burn than wed. SCENE 4 Enter FRAU BEILDECK, cautiously BEILDECK Master. A visitor. A man of God, it seems. Enter NICHOLAS OF CUSA. At some point during the following scene, HEILMANN enters and busies himself about the press NICHOLAS How is the work, Johann? Not making mirrors still? I know some in the Church are glad to see them, but to me they are cheap trinkets unworthy of your name. A man could better serve God by fighting corruption, which has spread so wide that half the clergy care only to line their coffers. Meanwhile the poor grow poorer every day and are led ever further from God, whose word stays locked in books which no monk or priest will let the layman read. G If it is books you want, then you might approve my latest enterprise. NICHOLAS What enterprise is that? G Work I must keep secret at all cost. Between ourselves, it is a form of pressing Imagine letters made in metal. Imagine a wine-press being used to squeeze out words. Imagine ink flowing rather than the juice of grapes. Imagine books written without the hand of scribes. More than that I dare not tell you. If word of this were to get out, rivals would steal it and ruin me. NICHOLAS But is such an art possible? G I have already made a start. A Latin primer shall be our first book. NICHOLAS The Church could use such an invention. If you made psalters and missals and undercut the cost of scribes, we would order copies from you. G Or the Bible: if I printed that? NICHOLAS The Bible! Every monastery between here and Rome would buy one. Iπd make sure of that. Your sales would run to thousands and your talents be employed in service of God. The Bible, yes - letπs speak of this again. G The Bible... The Bible.... EXIT NICHOLAS. A CHORUS of scribes enter carrying lecterns and quills, which they set up in regulated rows, as if in a scriptorium, singing the following. CHORUS Unless we scribes this book enhance By writing in Godπs hand, The words will lack His governance And never breathe or stand. G The days of scribes are numbered. CHORUS And never breathe or stand G Quills are too slow and careless CHORUS Likewise in vain we undertake to Decorate the page.. G The Bible CHORUS ..Which if His brightness shines not through Will turn to dust and age. G My press when it is finished will do the work ten times as fast CHORUS Will turn to dust and age G Yes to set a page in metal takes longer than to write it in ink. CHORUS Though we rise early in the morn And to bed in darkness sink, Yet are our labours lost and worn Without His flowing ink. G But from that page a thousand more will come in no time CHORUS Without His flowing ink. G Each one exactly the same CHORUS But those whose ever-faithful pen The hand of God doth bless, G Maybe? CHORUS Their books shall last beyond mere men Despite all storm and stress. G Some books can be cheaply made CHORUS Despite all storm and stress G And every man and woman learn to read. (Despite the piety of the words, the atmosphere of the scriptorium is irreverent, noisy, bored and clearly inclined to bad copying) G And why not the Bible? If I could lift it from Church lecterns, and free it from monastery libraries, so it flew like a dove and spread the word of God. Not just one Bible for the priest, but flocks of them! A Bible in every house along the Rhine! A Bible perching in every hand! For art and adventure like that, Iπd do without a wife and children. Enter HEILMANN, holding a page proof So, Matthias, how goes our work? HEILMANN Poorly, sir. The type keeps breaking off. The hand-mould will not clasp tight. The letters come out twisted. The press will not stand firm. The ink runs like a stream... G Persistence is our only answer. To fail each time a little better. To trust to trial and error till we are justified. Let us try again. SCENE 5 Enter JORG and CLAUS DRITZEHN (brother of ANDREAS DRITZEHN, who we met earlier). JORG is the more aggressive, CLAUS the dimmer G Whereπs your brother, Jorg? Not feeling sick still? JORG Heπs worse - very ill in fact. Not likely to last the night. CLAUS The doctor says the Plague. HEILMANN Poor Andreas. Here, take these coins and buy his children something to eat. CLAUS If he should die, I hope youπll let us take his place. JORG He put good money in your enterprise. G Itπs not the time to speak of it. Go home and sit with him. Weπll all say prayers tonight. JORG We hear youπre short of money. You need not pay his money back if you make me a partner. CLAUS And me. Like Andreas, I am a willing worker. G Andreas was trained here till he acquired a range of skills. No brother could replace him. JORG Either you take us on, or weπll sue for every pfennig he invested. G The money he put in was trifling. If thereπs any due to him, it wonπt be much. CLAUS Please think again. His children need support. JORG Youπd better think again, or weπll see you in court. Exit CLAUS and JORG HEILMANN What jackals! They laughed at us before but now they want a share. G Itπs empty bluster. Theyπll see this differently when theyπve calmed down. HEILMANN Itπs dark now. Weπd best be going home ourselves. G Letπs light the candles and work until weπve made some progress. SCENE 6 Enter FRAU BEILDECK, with ENNELINA and ELLEWIBEL BEILDECK Sorry to interrupt you sir. Ennelina and her mother said they were expecting you and insisted on coming here. Exit (or withdraw) BEILDECK and HEILMANN. ELLEWIBEL (pointing to ENNELINA) Sir! Do you recognise this woman? Do you see her truly? These eyes, which shine only for you. These cheeks, which burn only for you. These feet, which come tripping each time you call. These breasts, which ache to suckle your children. What would a man not give for this woman to be his wife? If you wonπt wed her as you promised, there are others who will. ENNELINA Stop, mother, youπre embarrassing me. He has given me his word. The point is not to marry for the sake of marriage but to marry the man I love. GUTENBERG And I do love her. I confess it freely. Iπve told her so many times. ELLEWIBEL Iπm sure you have. Itπs what a man tells a woman to get her into bed. But will you put it in writing before the Lord? Enter (or move forward) HEILMANN, looking pleased - he shows a sheet of paper (a page proof) to G, who seems more interested in it than in ELLEWIBEL. ELLEWIBEL Will you keep your word and marry my daughter? G Keeping words is my business. HEILMANN Master, a word... G See this sheet of paper and how beautifully the letters are formed. HEILMANN Master, look. G No scribe wrote them but this machine behind you. One day Iπll make my fortune and be a worthy husband. HEILMANN Sir? G But I canπt think of marrying until that taskπs complete. ELLEWIBEL A machine that does the work of scribes? HEILMANN Master. ELLIWIBEL Itπs just another trick, as all your words are. Come, Ennelina, weπll find you a proper man and sue this one for breach of promise. Letπs see a lawyer straight away. EXIT ELLEWIBEL HEILMANN Master, can I show you? G Trust me, Ennelina. I have my work to do. HEILMANN Master. G But once itπs done... ENNELINA I want to trust you, Johann. But all I see is that your work comes before me. HEILMANN Sir? ENNELINA That my rivals are metal and ink. That you are married to this press. HEILMANN Master, look! ENNELINA That you prefer a sheet of paper to lying between the sheets with me. ELLIWIBEL (offstage) Ennelina! HEILMANN Master! G Ennelina! BEILDECK Master! ENNELINA I donπt want to fight you in court. But you have destroyed our love. ENNELINA gives back Gπs love-tokens and runs out G Iπll win her back. Iπll buy a ring. Iπll think of something. SCENE 7 Enter FRAU BEILDECK. CHORUS, divided in four parts, heard in the distance, gradually getting closer 1. (basses) Volunteer SOLDIERS, conscripting others to fight the Armagnacs 2. (tenors) Gπs CREDITORS, led by the DRITZEHN brothers 3. (altos) SCRIBES angry at the threat which Gπs invention poses them 4. (sopranos) WOMEN - ELLEWIBEL, ENNELINA and female friends of theirs BEILDECK Bad news, master. Andreas Dritzehnπs dead... CREDITORS (in distance) Where is Gensfleisch? BEILDECK ...and a writ against you has been served by his brothers. CREDITORS (in distance) Where is Gensfleisch? BEILDECK Your creditors are looking for you. CREDITORS (in distance) He owes us gulden. SOLDIERS (in distance) Where is Gensfleisch? BEILDECK And thereπs news of the Armagnacs coming close - SOLDIERS We need him to bear arms with us. BEILDECK - the city requires you buy yourself a sword and armour SOLDIERS/SCRIBES (in distance) Where is Gensfleisch? BEILDECK and contribute half a horse... G Half a horse! You donπt see many of those. BEILDECK ...or the equivalent in gulden. CREDITORS (in distance) Where is Gensfleisch? Exit BEILDECK G Even with the sale of mirrors, I could not find that. (Simultaneously with Gπs text) WOMEN Where is he? Where is Gensfleisch? (Simultaneously with Gπs text) CREDITORS Where is Gensfleisch? G Iπm heavily in debt already. WOMEN Holy Rays. G As for fighting, why risk my life for Strasbourg, when every burger Iπve borrowed money from wants to ruin me? WOMEN Promises to book. Enter HEILMANN, frowning, with another page proof HEILMANN Master. G ...As to my art, for every advance thereπs a retreat. (CHORUS gradually getting closer) SCRIBES Where is Gensfleisch? G The hand-mould will not fit. The type keeps breaking off. The press will not stand firm. The ink runs like a stream. The paper tears and creases. In time, I can put these right. But time is what I lack. Enter here, having previously been an intermittent shadowy presence much earlier, the CHORUS, divided in four groups. The four groups chant their threats and grievances SOLDIERS Where is Gensfleisch? We need him to bear arms with us for Strasbourg. Death to all Armagnacs! CREDITORS Where is Gensfleisch? He owes us gulden. We lent him money in good faith. He is the Devil in disguise. SCRIBES Where is Gensfleisch? He has invented a machine to replace us. A plague on his black art! WOMEN Where is Gensfleisch? He has played fast and loose with promises. He must be brought to book. G Iπm harried from all sides. HEILMANN Master, look! G Is there no way out? HEILMANN Master, look! Three figures appear as if in a fantasy FUST, SCHOEFFER and CHRISTINA. They bow, low, three times FUST/SCHOEFFER/CHRISTINA O Perfectus... Super throno Salomonis sedile componitur sub quo firme stationis duplex manus sculpitur brachiis formatis Aurea Moguntia, City of Gold, Where the Rhine beats strong and smooth Aurea Moguntia, City of Gold, Where the towers of churches are forged in lead Mainz, Aurea Moguntia, Where men of mettle command the guilds Mainz, Aurea Moguntia, City of Gold G/FUST/SCHOEFFER/CHRISTINA Amen, Amen END OF ACT ONE