EHDO - The Descent of the Goddess

Singers
Inanna - Queen of Heaven and Earth, sister of Utu, marries Dumuzi - Mezzo
Ereshkigal - Queen of the Netherworld - Mezzo

Geshtinanna - Prophetess and sister of Dumuzi - Soprano
Spinner - The Story Teller - Alto
Dumuzi - Shepherd King , husband of Inanna, brother of Geshtinanna - Tenor
Enki - God of Wisdom - Tenor
Utu - Brother of Inanna - Baritone
Gilgamesh - in service to Inanna - Baritone
Free Voice - an improvising singer - representing the spirit of ancient Iraq.

Chorus Roles - all singers except Inanna
HuluppuTree, Citizens, Laughing Demons, Holy Flies

Instrumentation
Flute/Picc, Bb Clarinet, Piano, Bandoneon Keyboard, Percussion 1, Percussion 2 ,
Violin 1 ,Violin 2 Viola, 'Cello, Double Bass with C ext.

Percussion
Tubular bells, timpanis, vibraphone, 2 jembes, congas, orchestral bass drum, 2 tam tams: high, low, drum kit: kick, high hat, 2 ride cymbals, snare drum, three roto toms: high, med, low, splash cymbal, hign hand cymbal, tambourine, maracas, cabassa, egg shaker, triangle, jingles, guiro, beaded gourd, large hand drum, wood block, 2 metal shakers – light, heavy, claves, small cow bell.

Introduction
Set in ancient Iraq, known as Sumer, Uruk - half way between present day Bagdad and Basra - is acknowledged as the world’s first City. The story of Inanna is the world's first written story, dating back to approximately 2000 BC. Discovered early last century, preserved on stone tablets and written in ancient cuneiform symbols – this story has attracted, since it's popular publication in 1983, many scholars, poets, performers, painters, psychologists, astrologers and writers, as well as many other people interested in the feminine process of healing and wholeness.

INDEX for the full score

Each underlined link will launch the integral player for that song. Please note - tracks may be quite loud: ensure your headphone/speaker volume isn't set too high to start with.

Act One – The Light

01 Overture (2)
02 Big Bang Song (12)
03 Divine Battle Song (18)
04 Rootless Refugee (22)
05 Share My Joy (25) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
06 Midday Sunshine (31)
07 Singing Tree (34)
08 Fruitful Years 41
09 Me Song (44)
10 Snake Song (47)
11 Anzu Bird (50)
12 Lileth's Song (53)
13 Inanna Proclaims (56)
14 Throne Song (57)
15 Walled City Song (63)
16 Sacred Keys Song (67)
17 Jubilation Song (70)
18 Nomad Song (72) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
19 Sheepfold Song (75)
20 Vision Song (85) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
21 Love Song One (86) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
22 Love Song Two (90)
23 Wedding Party (95)
24 Praise Our Goddess! (98)

Act Two – The Dark

25 Panting Song (103)

26 Descent Song (105)
27 Entry to Netherworld (107)
28 Dumuzi's Plea (108)
29 Gates 1 and 2 (111)
30 Gates 3 and 4 (119)
31 Gates 5 and 6 (125) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
32 Gate 7 - Naked Song (129) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
33 Death Song (137)
34 Gutting Song (140)
35 Hook Song (142)
36 Inzides Song (143) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
37 Hysterical Song (149)
38 Raw Song (155)
39 Walkies Song (156)
40 Ascent Song (160)
41 King Song (162)
42 Grapefruit Song (167)
43 Chase Song (173) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
44 White Bull Dying (177) (This song can be seen and heard with human singers and players on the Inanna Film Tracks page)
45 Portent Song (185)
46 Arrow Song (189)
47 Loom Lullaby (190)
48 We on Earth (reprise) (191)
49 Finale (192)
50 Share My Joy (reprise) (197)

Synopsis
Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, achieves worldly power, marital bliss and the status of a Goddess in the first act. She then goes on a compelling journey, in the second act, to encounter her dark sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Netherworld.

(bold words are song titles)

The opera starts with an Overture introducing us to all the main characters. Then Enki, God of Wisdom, sings of a Big Bang - the dawning of life and the Seed of the Self. Ereshkigal emerges from nowhere, challenging him and insisting 'the darkness cannot be denied!' A Divine Battle ensues between these two and their encounter ends unresolved. Inanna, unaware of this deep turbulence, enters singing Share My Joy. Geshtinanna, the prophetess, portentously sees an uprooted tree floating down the river in the aftermath of the Divine Battle in the Midday Sunshine. Inanna rescues the tree and plants it in her garden. Strange creatures invade the special Huluppu Tree, echoing the fate to come in the second act. Gilgamesh rids the Huluppu Tree of its invaders – a Snake, an Anzu bird and Lileth, a strange woman. He is glad to be of service to Inanna.

The HuluppuTree flourishes and gives magical gifts to Inanna: it becomes a Singing Tree offering gifts of descent and ascent – a shining bed, a shining throne, prosperity, justice, governance of the divine, governance of the mundane, the allure of women, the power of money and the crafts of every trade. Inanna stands on the roof of the Ziggurat singing to her citizens of her magnificent Walled City. There is great Jubilation!

Utu, Inanna's brother, offers her a bridal sheet, encouraging her to marry the shepherd Dumuzi. She is interested in the farmer who is more modern than the shepherd, who is a Nomad. But in the Sheepfold the shepherd is waiting, with his sister Geshtinanna. As Inanna leans against an apple tree, near the sheepfold, she reflects on her own beauty and sexuality. Dumuzi and Geshtinanna sing of their filial love. Inanna meets Dumuzi in the sheepfold. They flirt and then come together as Dumuzi makes his promise to be forever true. Inanna feels it must be in the stars! They share two Love Songs and embrace with delight. As they fall in love Geshtinanna, the prophetess, foresees in a Vision a deep dividing between them. They get married and have a Wedding Party. Ten years pass and children are born. Inanna become a Goddess in the eyes of her Citizens. She is praised joyfully as the first act comes to a close.

The second act opens with Panting, groaning and sighing. Inanna is now aware of Ereshkigal, in agony in the Netherworld, forever mourning the death of her children and husband. Inanna is called to be with her. She leaves Dumuzi who is distressed by her wish to go below. He makes his Plea for her to stay. But she must go and assures him she will return. She makes her Entry to the Netherworld, knocking loudly on the door, and then passes through the Seven Gates of the Netherworld. She is divested at each gate of her worldly regalia by the Laughing Demons. As she passes each stage she surrenders more and more of her identity to the dark. Finally at the seventh gate she submits everything to look Ereshkigal in the eyes. In her Naked state she is judged and condemned to death by Ereshkigal. The Laughing Demons greedily Gut her insides out and then hang her corpse on a hook, like rotting meat. Inanna is left to die on the Hook.

Enki knows what has happened and knows Ereshkigal cannot kill Inanna. He knows that after death there is always a re-birth for the Goddess. He sends his Holy Flies to revive Inanna. They can fly between the worlds and go below. They sing empathetically to Ereshkigal of her deep pain. She is Hysterical. They sing to her Insides and Outsides, and this ‘bearing witness’ relieves her. She offers then a reward but they reject her offers of grapes and honey. They want the corpse. Ereshkigal reluctantly releases Inanna’s corpse from the hook on the wall, on condition someone is sent in her place! The Holy Flies spit on the corpse and the saliva brings her back to life. She is Raw, but she is alive…

Inanna scrambles back to the upper world in confusion, escorted by the Laughing Demons who are bullying her, screaming Walkies and insisting she 'send someone else!' She sees her husband King Dumuzi. He is squandering their worldly life in her absence. She sees her citizens making fun of her husband. She is furious and asks why he is not crying Grapefruit tears, since she is gone? The King does not recognize his wife, calling her a hag. She commands that he be the one to take her place in the Netherworld! She curses him saying 'you did not mourn me!' The Laughing Demons set off in Chase of Dumuzi, through the desert and the jungle.

Dumuzi is terrified and runs for his life – calling on Enki to turn him into a snake and a gazelle so he can hide! Finally he becomes a White Bull on the plain but he is caught by the Laughing Demons. They take aim with their Arrows. Just as they are about to kill the bull Geshtinanna steps forward singing ‘hold your fire!’ She offers to die instead of her brother. She offers to go to the Netherworld in his place. Inanna, who is watching, is touched by this act of huge generosity. She intervenes - regretting the vengeful curse on her husband. She decrees that the brother and sister can share the sentence – half a year each! It is agreed, and the Laughing Demons release their arrows killing Dumuzi as he sings of his gratitude to his sister and Queen. The chorus reflect on this situation of joy and grief that We on Earth must experience.

But Inanna has set seasons of life and love in motion, understanding that the ultimate sacrifice Geshtinanna was prepared to make is a greater love than she has hitherto known. She sings a Loom Lullaby to Geshtinanna and Dumuzi, who are dying on the plain. They are destined forever to circulate between the two worlds. Inanna recognizes that devotion and compassion are the highest forms of love and calls for a love that can, like Geshtinanna’s heart, transcend its own life. The opera ends with a Finale and a reprise of Inanna's Share My Joy!