Tibetan Book of the Dead - Vocal Score (English)

Libretto by Jean-Claude van Itallie after the Buddhist teachings of the same name, The Tibetan Book of The Dead (or How Not to Do it Again) leads us through the stages we experience after death and our transition into the next life. It is at once a ritual, an oratorio in 17 set numbers, a requiem, a warning, and a theatrically-staged wake. The 8 characters include a baritone ("The Reader" leading the journey towards death, enlightenment, or rebirth), a soprano (first as "The Dying" and then as "The Dead") and another soprano, two mezzos, two tenors, and a bass, who play the various energies, demons, temptations, memories, and deities.

This vocal score includes all vocal parts with an accompanying piano reduction of the orchestral music. English text.