Soprano Marnie Breckenridge sweetly foreshadows the tragedy in ‘Chips darling it’s started’, a lyrical aria with colourful orchestration including harp and piano.
Claire Jackson
BBC Music Magazine, November 2022

SYNOPSIS
“Chips, darling, it’s started,” also known as “Kathie’s Aria,” is an excerpt for soprano from Gordon Getty’s opera Goodbye, Mr. Chips (based on the novella by James Hilton). The aria is sung by the good-hearted wife of the titular English school teacher from her hospital bed. She is calm and compassionate as she faces what she intimates may be the life-threatening delivery of their child. She tells Chips that, should the worst happen, he must continue to teach his students “so that they will learn to teach themselves, and teach the world.” As Chips is led out by the nurses, she assures him that she’ll always be with him and will love him “forever and ever and ever.”

• For soprano and piano
• Duration: 4:20
• Libretto by Gordon Getty based on James Hilton’s novella
• From the opera Goodbye, Mr. Chips

NOTE: Full orchestration in progress. Instrumentation will be as follows:
Flute, doubling Piccolo
Oboe, doubling English Horn
2 Clarinets in Bb, Clarinet 2 doubling Bass Clarinet in Bb
Contrabassoon
2 Horns in F
Trumpet in C
Trombone
Bass Trombone
Percussion, 2 Players:

• Wood Block
• Snare 
• Drum 
• Bass Drum 
• Tubular Bells 
• Glockenspiel 
• Xylophone 
• Marimba
• Vibraphone – motor off

Harp
Keyboard, 1 Player
NOTE: Keyboard sounds are to be generated from a virtual instrument playing sampled sounds.

• Celesta
• Harpsichord (at dynamic of Piano)
• Piano

Strings

Perusal score and text available upon request

Stream Kathie’s Aria on the album: Goodbye, Mr. Chips Highlights