Instrumentation: Solo soprano, chorus, piano
Duration: 8-9 minutes
Year: 2025
Program Notes
Libretto: Rachel Gray
Music: Roydon Tse
“Grief House” is an intimate operatic scene written for Tapestry Opera’s 2025 LibLab that explores the landscape of loss through the metaphor of rising water. Set in a house on the water’s edge, the work follows a woman grappling with the absence of her deceased husband while literally and figuratively drowning in her grief.
The libretto by Rachel presents grief as an overwhelming, seeping presence that cannot be contained or controlled. Like water finding every crack and crevice, sorrow permeates the woman’s daily existence. The ocean itself becomes a character in this piece, echoing and amplifying the woman’s words in a haunting call-and-response that suggests both the presence and absence of her lost partner.
Central to the work is the image of futile resistance against an unstoppable force. The woman’s attempts to tape the holes in her house mirror the impossible task of trying to seal oneself against grief. The rising water transforms her home from a place of shelter into a space of vulnerability, yet also becomes a medium for floating, perhaps suggesting surrender and acceptance.
“Grief House” provides a space for the full experience of loss, and ultimately, the beauty found in learning to float rather than fight against the tide of sorrow.
Score Sample
Roydon Tse 