Song of Scheherazade - Renaissance

Sultan king cruel majesty

Ordered that his women die

A single night this for all his wives

Takes his pleasure then their lives

And so for many days with the dawn

The sultan had his way

Wives were put to death

His name on their dying breath

Then one day as the evening came

Sultan sends for him a wife

Choose her well, charms I wish to see

Bring her, send her in to me

Then came Scheherazade to his side

And her beauty shone

Like a flower grown

Gentle as he’d ever known

Scheherazade bewitched him

With songs of jewelled kings

Princes and of heroes

And eastern fantasies

Told him tales of sultans

And talismans and rings

A thousand and one nights she sang

To entertain her king

She sings, Scheherazade

Scheherazade

Scheherazade

Scheherazade

Scheherazade

Scheherazade…

IV.

Love Theme

(Instrumental)

V. The Young Prince and Princess as told by Scheherazade

And you would cause the sun to see your light

And then be shamed

You cover darkness with a thousand secret flames

With your love, oh my love, oh my love, my love

And I would cause the winds to blow a hundred different days

And bring the perfumes of the gardens of the ways

Of your love, oh my love, oh my love, my love

Crystal and the clay, nights and the days

All on the prince’s seal

Eagle of the sky, lion of the earth

This is what the seal is worth, what the seal is worth

Holds all of the dreams of a man

Tapestries, wishes of man

Pictures and visions of man

The spirit of the soul of the man

And he would vow to love her for the rest of all his days

VI.

Festival Preparations

(Instrumental)

VII.

Fugue for the Sultan

(Instrumental)

VIII.

The Festival

Scheherazade this day is yours

The bearers of your gifts now all around you stand

The finest silk made in the land

Is waiting for your choice

It shimmers at your hand

Scheherazade your life is one

You have today the sultan’s love

The people watch you step into the sun

Stalls and bars of every kind

Food piled high on woven leaves for all to eat

Drums and flutes at every turn

The music winding, twisting through the crowded streets

Caravans from far away bring people laughing

People come to see the sultan in Baghdad today

Scheherazade her name is known

Her tale is told

The sultan let her life be spared

The festival begins this day

To celebrate her fame

The people sing her praise

Stories sung, the crowds are dancing

To the music and the entertainment all the voices sing

The people call to see the king

The sultan smiles

His story just begun

The sultan and Scheherazade are one

Scheherazade, Scheherazade

She told him tales of sultans and talismans and rings

A thousand and one nights she sang to entertain her king

She sings

Scheherazade

Scheherazade

Scheherazade

Scheherazade…

IX.

Finale

(Instrumental)