Don Quixote - Carl Topilow
Don Quixote
Don Quixote’s naïveté
Don Quixote reads books on Knights Errantry
Dulcinea, the ideal Lady of Knighthood
A call to arms
Don Quixote and Dulcinea
Continues to read -his mind becomes more and more befuddled.
Don Quixote becomes convinced that his destiny is knighthood, that he is Don Quixote de la Mancha.
Don Quixote, the knight of the sorrowful countenance
Sancho Panza, a country bumpkin and
Don Quixote’s squire
Variation 1
The Adventure of the Windmills
Don Quixote seeks adventure, riding on Rosinate, his lame horse
Dulcinea, his ideal woman
Don Quixote sees the windmills -he thinks they are monstrous giants.
He charges, is lifted up by the sails of a windmill, and falls with a thud.
He prays to Dulcinea.
He wearily tries to rise up.
Don Quixote’s renewed vigor
Variation 2
The Adventure of the Sheep
He sees a cloud of dust, which he believes has been churned up by a mighty army.
He charges into what is a harmless flock of sheep.
He is victorious!
Variation 3
Dialogues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
Sancho asks many questions.
Don Quixote teaches Sancho Panza.
Don Quixote gets angry, and loses patience with Sancho Panza.
Behold the glorious realm of Knight Errantry
The fair Dulcinea
One last impertinent question from Sancho Panza
Don Quixote’s anger
Variation 4
Procession of the Penitents
A procession of pilgrims approaches carrying a statue of the Virgin.
Don Quixote imagines that they are abducting a nobleman.
Don Quixote attacks.
Don Quixote is knocked to the ground; the procession continues.
Sancho Panza believes Don Quixote is dead.
Sancho Panza is overjoyed to find him still alive.
With a snore, Sancho Panza goes to sleep.
Variation 5
Don Quixote’s Night Vigil
Don Quixote’s meditation and rhapsody on knighthood
He keeps watch over his armor, with noble thoughts of his fair Dulcinea.
The night wind
Variation 6
Don Quixote meets Dulcinea
Don Quixote is confused and upset.
“Dulcinea” rebukes him.
Don Quixote’s naïveté and confusion
Variation 7
The Ride through the Air
Don Quixote mounts a great wooden horse, is blindfolded and imagines he is flying through the air.
Variation 8
The Adventure of the Oarless Boat
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza jump into an oarless boat, which Don Quixote believes is magical...
it was placed there so that he can save a knight in distress.
The boat capsizes.
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are hauled from the water.
They shake off the water.
Don Quixote’s prayer
Variation 9
The Adventure with the Benedictine Monks
He sees two monks, believed by Don Quixote to be carrying away a noble princess.
He stealthily approaches and attacks.
Variation 10
The Confrontation with the Knight of the White Moon
Don Quixote and the Knight engage in a fierce battle.
He cries out.
Don Quixote, defeated and with his head hung, pathetically returns home to become a shepherd.
The anguish of the journey homeward
He begins to regain his sanity.
The resignation of a knight facing the end of his days.
Death pangs and Fever
Don Quixote nostalgically reminisces on his adventures.
Reality returns.
Don Quixote’s naïveté is resolved.
The final gasps from his deathbed, interrupted by painful silences.
Don Quixote’s death
