Photo provided courtesy of Pexels.com.
By: Annie J. Rago, Staff Writer
Derrick Wang is a lawyer and composer. [1] While studying Constitutional Law, he recognized the reoccurrence of “Justice Scalia, Dissenting.” [2] To Wang personally, Justice Scalia’s dissents were like arias meant for music accompaniment. [3] Wang remarked that Justice Scalia’s dissents were similarly situated to “passionate, virtuosic, and rooted 18th Century music” and that “Justice Ginsberg’s constitutional interpretation was the counterpoint.” [4] As a result, Wang’s discoveries and views of these juxtaposed U.S. Constitutional interpreters inspired his opera titled Scalia/Ginsberg. [5]
Wang received his A.B. from Harvard University, his M.M. from Yale School of Music, and his J.D. from the University of Maryland. [6] He currently serves on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University. [7]
The United States Constitution is an 18th century document. [8] And the Justices of the Supreme Court possess the enormous responsibly of interpreting its application in relative, modern society. Notably, the reputable contrasting opinions of Justice Scalia and Justice Ginsberg were many, but their respect towards one another was displayed continually throughout their friendship.
Throughout the opera’s libretto, there are citations of the opinions of landmark Supreme Court decisions along with music references and legal treatises. [9] It is considered to be a comic opera loosely based on W.A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute. [10] Scalia/Ginsberg begins with Justice Scalia’s character singing “the Justices are blind– how can they possibly spout this, the Constitution says absolutely nothing about this…” [11] His character is locked up because he is being ‘punished for excessive dissenting.’ [12] Justice Ginsberg’s character enters through a glass celling to reason with him singing, “there are no bright line solutions to problems that do not have easy answers but the great thing about our Constitution, like our society, it can evolve.” [13] Despite their differences in their approach to interpreting legal texts, together proclaim “[w]e are different, [s]eparate strands unite in friction [t]o protect our country’s core. This, is the strength of our nation, [t]hus is our Court’s design: [w]e are kindred [w]e are nine.” [14]
Suggestive of a prayer to recall anytime, Wang’s libretto concludes with their duet, “when life’s complaints grow harsher with each hearing, when your movement of grace are all too brief, when it seems your whole world is careering, come [to the celestial stage] and seek your relief.” [15] The celestial stage is the setting of Scalia/Ginsberg—perhaps, it lends to the world in which we all should bridge more often… a unifying force in which “music and world are twins.” [16]
Scalia/Ginsberg premiered in July 2015 at the Castleton Festival founded by renowned conductor Lorin Maazel in Castleton, Virginia. [17] The score was written for a 50-piece orchestra and three singers: soprano, tenor, and bass. [18] There will be a re-broadcast of Scalia/Ginsberg on national U.S. radio on 7 November 2020. [19]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opEVvTiuStU&feature=emb_logo
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] http://www.derrickwang.com/scalia-ginsburg
[6] http://www.derrickwang.com/bio
[7] Id.
[8] U.S. Constitution.
[9] https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/lawandarts/article/view/2119/1071
[10] https://www.metopera.org/discover/synopses/the-magic-flute/
[11] Id. at 5.
[12] Id. at 4.; Id. at 5.
[13] Id. at 5.
[14] Id. at 5.
[15] Id. at 5.
[16] Id. at 5.
[17] Id. at 4.
[18] Id. at 1.; Id. at 4.
