Ah young love!
How gently breaks the dawn!
How tenderly young lovers carry on!

Pure as the driven snow! Tranquil as the dove!
Ah, serene surrender!
Ah, young love!

music + lyrics by adrian shepherd-gawinski
written for the guild festival theatre's production of "chekhov's shorts"

Young Love

When I was a rebyonochek on dear Papushka's knee
I didn't know what bitter woe love held in store for me
But Papa taught me well, and what he taught me made me strong
And Pushkin, Blok and Lermontov are rarely ever wrong!

As the sun will dry the rain
'Cross the great Russkaya Plain
So a broken heart may beat once again!
Oh, love, love, love, heav'n above!

music + lyrics by adrian shepherd-gawinski
written for the guild festival theatre's production of "chekhov's shorts"

Love, Love, Love (Reprise)

Sad and lonely, woebegone
Ever since the sorry day my love passed on

Now he's dead I swear I'll cry
Till the deep and ample Aral Sea runs dry

Cork up the champagne, draw the curtain!
Fend off the tip of cupid's dart!
One thing I finally know for certain:
Love will only break your heart!

music + lyrics by adrian shepherd-gawinski
written for the guild festival theatre's production of "chekhov's shorts"

Love Will Break Your Heart (Part I: The Lament)

[Him:]
All the lousy blight that a fellow might have to weather
All the busted bubbles and flops and troubles and wrecks
They amount to naught if you add the lot up together
Next to how debased I have been when faced with the members of your sex

When a woman flatters and seduces
What a cunning hides behind her smile
When a thousand tears a woman pitifully produces
I would sooner trust a crocodile

Cork up the champagne, draw the curtain!
Fend off the tip of Cupid's dart!
One thing I finally know for certain:
Women only break your heart!

[Her:]
Men deceive you, I have learned
All the love a woman gives goes unreturned

[Him, overlapping:]
You can dress her up in furs and jewels
Not a woman still can match a man
Not a woman worth the pain, the heartbreak or the duels
Gentlemen avoid them if they can

[Her, overlapping:]
Fickle, cruel, vain, untrue
Just as wicked as the wanton deeds they do

[Both:]
Cork up the champagne, draw the curtain!
Fend off the tip of Cupid's dart!
One thing I finally know for certain:
Love will only break your heart!

Love's a wretched game you lose the moment you take part!
Love will only break your heart!

music + lyrics by adrian shepherd-gawinski
written for the guild festival theatre's production of "chekhov's shorts"

Love Will Break Your Heart (Part II: The Duel)

Sing me no songs of days gone by
Echoes of times of yore
Tell me no tales to glorify
Love that lives no more

Long gone the moonlit night
Long dimmed the glow
Long cooled our hearts' delight
Many years ago

Cold though the memory may seem
Far as the distant shore
Give me no foolish cause to dream
Love could live once more

music + lyrics by adrian shepherd-gawinski
written for the guild festival theatre's production of "chekhov's shorts"

Days Gone By

When swells the heart, when finds the mind no reason to complain
A drink, I think! And there's no substitute I'll entertain
I cry out to the doting maitre d' or chatelaine:
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

It sparkles like a diamond and it's sweet as sugar cane
A delicacy fit for any king of his domain
No finer quaff to polish off in sunshine or in rain
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

High spirits call for alcohol, but brandy I disdain
The ale's too pale, the gin too dry, the vodka too mundane
Forswear the damned prosecco; send the cava back to Spain!
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

I knew a woeful widow as devout as Charlemagne
Ay me! (said she,) Such misery my heart cannot contain!
Until one day she learned the words that washed away her pain:
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

I knew a young inventor once, whose luck was down the drain
I shared with him a bottle, just to lubricate his brain
Would you believe the man went on to build the first steam train?
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

I knew a lovely girl who had a glass now and again
Until her dear old husband made her swear she would abstain
And now she's in a lock-up for the morbidly insane!
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

The mysteries of love no brilliant scholar could explain
The feeble human heart a strange enigma shall remain
But raise your glass, say "Za lyubov!" and pray it's not in vain
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

We'll drink what's in our glasses, then we'll fill them up again
Nasdrovia! One more glass of champagne!

music + lyrics by adrian shepherd-gawinski
written for the guild festival theatre's production of "chekhov's shorts"

Champagne

In Joanna Murray Smith's play "Rockabye", Sidney Jones is an aging 80's pop star clinging to her former glory. The characters describe Sidney's greatest triumph, a song called "What Am I Called" as an optimistic cri-de-coeur, one of pop music's all-time greatest anthems. Here's the song I created for ARC's 2024 production of Rockabye at Factory Theatre in Toronto.

written, produced and performed by Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski

What Am I Called (Demo)

This hybrid of theatre and board game took middle school audiences on an interactive adventure through climate intervention, political theory and civic engagement. My fully modular and adaptive score framed every element of the game and shepherded audiences through the fast-paced, high-stakes, thought-provoking experience. Here is a suite of themes from the show. Composed by Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski

Assembly Theme

Dora Award-winning sound designer and composer for theatre. Shoot me an e-mail at adrian.shepski@gmail.com

I also write pop music at https://soundcloud.com/adrianshepski

What Am I Called (Demo)

Adrian's Sounds

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