Die Soldaten
Encyclopedia
Die Soldaten is a four act opera in German by German
composer
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
, based on the 1776 play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
. It is dedicated to Hans Rosbaud
. Zimmermann himself faithfully adapted the play into the libretto
, the only changes to the text being repeats and small cuts. It is the composer's only completed opera and is considered an important work of the second half of the 20th century.
. Zimmermann began work on the opera in 1957. His original vision was to present the opera on 12 stages that surrounded the audience, however, the Cologne officials advised Zimmermann that his original vision was impossible to realize. An early version of the score was deemed unplayable, so in 1963, Zimmermann prepared a vocal symphony
using music from the opera for concert play. According to his widow, Zimmermann did not complete that original score. From 1963 to 1964, during a study visit to the Villa Massimo
in Rome
, Zimmerman revised his composition with further view to getting it performed.
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
broadcast scenes from Die Soldaten in 1963, but the first stage performance –conducted by Michael Gielen
and the Cologne Opera– did not take place until 15 February 1965. The first US
performance was on 7 February 1982 by the Opera Company of Boston
, led by Sarah Caldwell
. The New York City Opera
subsequently staged Die Soldaten in 1991, conducted by Christopher Keene
. The first United Kingdom performance was at the English National Opera
in November 1996, with Jon Garrison
as Desportes.
& Armentières
in French Flanders
, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Scene 2 (ciacona I): Stolzius has been lovesick since Marie's departure for Lille, but he is encouraged when his mother brings him a letter.
Scene 3 (ricercari I): Desportes is a French-serving nobleman from Hainaut, and one of Wesener's customers. He courts the commoner Marie and wins her affection. Her father, however, forbids her to go with him to the theatre – for a commoner to accompany an officer in public would damage the family name.
Scene 4 (toccata I): At the trenches in Armentières, officers discuss with Padre Eisenhardt the relative merits of comedy – Haudy, one of the officers, holds the view that it has more value than a sermon. Eisenhardt maintains that comedy undermines the soldiers' sense of what is right – their loose morals have already brought misery to countless young women. Haudy counters with the argument, "once a whore, always a whore". No, replies the Padre, a whore would never be a whore if she were not forced to become one.
Scene 5 (nocturno I): Wesener advises his daughter to be cautious in her dealings with Desportes, although he secretly harbours the hope that she may marry the young aristocrat. In the meantime, he says, it would not be wise to give up Stolzius altogether. As stormclouds gather, Marie grows anxious at what lies ahead and the dilemma builds in her heart.
Scene 2 (capriccio, corale e ciacona II): Marie has received a reproachful letter from Stolzius. She is reading it in tears when Desportes enters. He scornfully dictates to her a brusque reply. His flattery finally has the desired effect – his spot with Marie is won. In the room next door Wesener's aged mother sings the folk song Rösel aus Hennegay which contains the prophetic line "Some day your cross will come to you". On a partitioned stage appear, on one side, Marie and Desportes as a couple engrossed in love play, and on the other, Stolzius and his mother, who is trying to convince her son that having broken off his engagement, the "soldier's whore" Marie was not worthy of him. But Stolzius defends her and swears revenge on Desportes.
Scene 2 (rappresentazione): In order to move closer to Marie, Stolzius offers Major Mary his services as a batman.
Scene 3 (ricercari II): Desportes has left Marie. When she starts accepting gifts from Major Mary, her sister Charlotte labels her a "soldier's girl". Marie claims she only behaved in this way in order to get news of Desportes. Mary invites the two sisters Marie and Charlotte for a drive – neither of them recognises the true identity of his batman Stolzius.
Scene 4 (nocturno II): Countess de la Roche reproaches her son, the young Count, for his behaviour towards Marie. She advises him to leave town and, in order to protect Marie from the advances of other officers, she declares herself willing to take the girl into her own house as a companion.
Scene 5 (tropi): The countess goes to find Marie at her father's house. In Charlotte's presence she makes the offer to take Marie into her household, persuading her it is the only way she can now save her honour.
Scene 2 (ciacona III): Mary and Desportes are eating their evening meal. Stolzius, who is serving them, overhears their conversation and learns of Marie's fate. He hands Desportes a bowl of poisoned soup, and before drinking some of the soup himself he triumphantly reveals his identity to the dying officer.
Scene 3 (nocturno III): Marie, now sunk to the level of a street beggar, encounters her father and asks him for alms. The old man does not recognise her, but out of concern for his daughter he gives her money. He then joins an endless procession of enslaved and fallen soldiers, in which the drunken officers also take part. In the final scene, the action builds to a vision of hell in which one human is raped by another, the individual by the collective conscience – and, in this instance, by the ruthless power of the army.
There are numerous unorthodox roles in this opera, but the most noticeable is the mass usage of banging chairs and tables on the stage floor as percussion instruments. This is carried out by many of the actors with non-singing roles. The composer also calls for 3 cinema screens, 3 film projectors & groups of loudspeakers on the stage and in the auditorium.
The orchestra is composed of: 4 flute
s (all 4 doubling on piccolo
s, flute 3 also doubling on alto flute
in G), 3 oboe
s (doubling also on oboe d'amore
, oboe 3 also doubling on cor anglais
), 4 clarinet
s in B-flat (1, 3 & 4 also in A, clarinet 3 also bass clarinet
, clarinet 4 also on E-flat clarinet
), alto saxophone
in E-flat, 3 bassoon
s (2 & 3 also contrabassoon
), 5 horns
in F (all 5 also tenor tuba
in B-flat, Horn 5 also bass tuba
in F), 4 trumpet
s in C (1 & 2 also trumpets in B-flat & F; 3 & 4 also in B-flat & A and bass trumpet
in E-flat), 4 trombone
s (Trombone 4 contrabass trombone), bass tuba (also contrabass tuba), timpani
(also small timpani), percussion (8-9 players), 3 crotales
(E-flat, F & G), 3 crotals (high, medium & low), gegenschlagblock (counterstroke block), 3 cymbal
s, 4 gong
s, 4 tamtam
s, tambourine
, 3 bongos
, 5 tomtoms
, tumba
, military drum, 4 small drums, friction drum
, 2 large drums (one of them horizontal), 5 triangle (instrument)
, cow bell
s, steel sticks, 2 sets of tubular bell
s, 3 free-running railway rails, whip (instrument)
, castanets, rumbaholz, 2 wood covers, 3 wood drums, güiro
, maracas, vibration pipe, xylophone
, marimba
, vibraphone
, guitar
, 2 harp
s, glockenspiel
, celesta
, harpsichord
, piano
, organ
(2 players) & strings
.
On the stage (6 players):
I. 3 triangles (high register), 3 crotals (high), 2 basins (high), gong (small), tamtam (small), small drum, military drum, 2 bongos, agitating drum, large drum (with cymbals), 3 bass drums, cow bell (high), 2 tube bells, maracas & temple block (high).
II. 3 triangles (middle register), 3 crotals (middle), 2 basins (middle), 2 gongs (medium & large), small drum, 2 Tomtoms, agitating drum, 3 bass drums, cow bell, 6 tube bells, maracas & temple block (middle).
III. 3 triangles (deep register), crotal (deep), 2 basins (deep), gong (large), 2 tamtams (small & large), small drum, tomtom (deep), snare drum
, 3 bass drums, cow bell (deep), 4 tube bells, maracas, 3 temple blocks (deep); jazz band
: clarinet in B-flat, trumpet in B-flat & double bass
(electrically amplified).
's operas Wozzeck
and Lulu
, the individual scenes are built on strict musical forms; strophes, chaconnes, ricercare, toccatas, etc. Musically, the work makes extensive use of twelve-tone technique
, and expresses debts to Berg's Wozzeck, such as in the shared name of the principal female role (Marie) and the number of scenes in each opera (15).
Just as Zimmermann allows temporal levels to flow into one another, he also makes use of musical styles from several periods. Jazz rhythms (as in the coffee house scene), J.S. Bach
chorales (from the St Matthew Passion), a folksong and the Dies Irae
sequence from a plainchant are juxtoposed and assembled in a way which creates a score which seethes with tension.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Bernd Alois Zimmermann was a post-WWII West German composer. He is perhaps best known for his opera Die Soldaten which is regarded as one of the most important operas of the 20th century...
, based on the 1776 play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz
Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz was a Baltic German writer of the Sturm und Drang movement.-Life:...
. It is dedicated to Hans Rosbaud
Hans Rosbaud
Hans Rosbaud , was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century....
. Zimmermann himself faithfully adapted the play into the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, the only changes to the text being repeats and small cuts. It is the composer's only completed opera and is considered an important work of the second half of the 20th century.
History
Die Soldaten came about as a result of a commission from the Cologne OperaCologne Opera
The Cologne Opera refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company.-History of the company:...
. Zimmermann began work on the opera in 1957. His original vision was to present the opera on 12 stages that surrounded the audience, however, the Cologne officials advised Zimmermann that his original vision was impossible to realize. An early version of the score was deemed unplayable, so in 1963, Zimmermann prepared a vocal symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
using music from the opera for concert play. According to his widow, Zimmermann did not complete that original score. From 1963 to 1964, during a study visit to the Villa Massimo
Villa Massimo
Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo , is a German art institute in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo....
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Zimmerman revised his composition with further view to getting it performed.
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
broadcast scenes from Die Soldaten in 1963, but the first stage performance –conducted by Michael Gielen
Michael Gielen
-Professional career:Gielen was born in Dresden, Germany, to opera director Josef Gielen. Through his mother, Rose, he is the nephew of Eduard Steuermann and Salka Steuermann Viertel. He began his career as a pianist in Buenos Aires, where he studied with Erwin Leuchter and gave an early...
and the Cologne Opera– did not take place until 15 February 1965. The first US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
performance was on 7 February 1982 by the Opera Company of Boston
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the...
, led by Sarah Caldwell
Sarah Caldwell
Sarah Caldwell was a notable American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director of opera.- Life :Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was a child prodigy and gave public performances on the violin by the time she was ten years old...
. The New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
subsequently staged Die Soldaten in 1991, conducted by Christopher Keene
Christopher Keene
Christopher Keene was an American conductor.Born in Berkeley, California, Keene studied at the University of California, Berkeley. Associated with the Spoleto Festival from 1968 , he was co-founder of the Spoleto Festival USA, where he was Music Director from 1977 to 1980...
. The first United Kingdom performance was at the English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
in November 1996, with Jon Garrison
Jon Garrison
Jon Garrison is a successful American operatic tenor who has been performing in locations around the world since 1965. He first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 1974, in a secondary role in the company premiere of Death in Venice, which featured Sir Peter Pears...
as Desportes.
Roles
| Role | Voice type Voice type A voice type is a particular kind of human singing voice perceived as having certain identifying qualities or characteristics. Voice classification is the process by which human voices are evaluated and are thereby designated into voice types... | Premiere cast, 15 February 1965 Conductor Conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... : Michael Gielen Michael Gielen -Professional career:Gielen was born in Dresden, Germany, to opera director Josef Gielen. Through his mother, Rose, he is the nephew of Eduard Steuermann and Salka Steuermann Viertel. He began his career as a pianist in Buenos Aires, where he studied with Erwin Leuchter and gave an early... |
|---|---|---|
| Wesener, a goods merchant in Lille Lille Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium... |
bass Bass (voice type) A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C... |
Zoltán Kelemen |
| Marie, his daughter | soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody... |
Edith Gabry |
| Charlotte, his daughter | mezzo-soprano Mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above... |
Helga Jenckel |
| Wesener's old mother | contralto Contralto Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above... |
Maura Moreira |
| Stolzius, a mercer Mercery Mercery initially referred to silk, linen, and fustian textiles imported to England in the 12th century.The term later extended to goods made of these and the sellers of those goods.-Mercer:... in Armentières Armentières Armentières is a commune in the Nord department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in northern France. It is part of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole, and lies on the Belgian border, northwest of the city of Lille, on the right bank of the river Lys.... |
baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or... |
Claudio Nicolai |
| Stolzius's mother | contralto | Elisabeth Schärtel |
| Count Spannheim, a colonel | bass | Erich Winckelmann |
| Desportes, a nobleman | tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2... |
Anton de Ridder |
| A young gamekeeper | sprechgesang Sprechgesang Sprechgesang and Sprechstimme are musical terms used to refer to an expressionist vocal technique between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, sprechgesang is a term directly related to the operatic recitative manner of singing , whereas sprechstimme is... |
|
| Pirzel, a captain | tenor | Albert Weikenmeier |
| Eisenhardt, a padre Military chaplain A military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the... |
baritone | Heiner Horn |
| Haudy, an officer | baritone | Gerd Nienstedt |
| Mary, an officier | baritone | Camillo Meghor |
| Three young officers | tenor | Norman Paige, Hubert Möhler, Heribert Steinbach |
| Countess de la Roche | mezzo-soprano | Liane Synek |
| Young count, her son | tenor | Willi Brockmeier |
| The Countess de la Roche's servant | sprechgesang Sprechgesang Sprechgesang and Sprechstimme are musical terms used to refer to an expressionist vocal technique between singing and speaking. Though sometimes used interchangeably, sprechgesang is a term directly related to the operatic recitative manner of singing , whereas sprechstimme is... |
|
| An Andalusierin waitress | dance Dance Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting.... r |
|
| Madame Roux, coffee house owner | mute Muteness Muteness or mutism is an inability to speak caused by a speech disorder. The term originates from the Latin word mutus, meaning "silent".-Causes:... role |
|
| Civil servants, officers & captains | mute roles | |
| 18 officers and ensigns | sprechgesang & percussion Percussion instrument A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... |
Synopsis
The opera is in 4 acts and 15 scenes. Place and time: LilleLille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
& Armentières
Armentières
Armentières is a commune in the Nord department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in northern France. It is part of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole, and lies on the Belgian border, northwest of the city of Lille, on the right bank of the river Lys....
in French Flanders
French Flanders
French Flanders is a part of the historical County of Flanders in present-day France. The region today lies in the modern-day region of Nord-Pas de Calais, the department of Nord, and roughly corresponds to the arrondissements of Lille, Douai and Dunkirk on the Belgian border.-Geography:French...
, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Act 1
Scene 1 (strophe): Marie has moved from Armentières to Lille with her father Wesener, a fancy goods merchant. She writes a letter to the mother of her fiancé, Stolzius, a young draper in Armentières. An argument breaks out between Marie and her sister Charlotte, who is scornful of Marie's love for Stolzius.Scene 2 (ciacona I): Stolzius has been lovesick since Marie's departure for Lille, but he is encouraged when his mother brings him a letter.
Scene 3 (ricercari I): Desportes is a French-serving nobleman from Hainaut, and one of Wesener's customers. He courts the commoner Marie and wins her affection. Her father, however, forbids her to go with him to the theatre – for a commoner to accompany an officer in public would damage the family name.
Scene 4 (toccata I): At the trenches in Armentières, officers discuss with Padre Eisenhardt the relative merits of comedy – Haudy, one of the officers, holds the view that it has more value than a sermon. Eisenhardt maintains that comedy undermines the soldiers' sense of what is right – their loose morals have already brought misery to countless young women. Haudy counters with the argument, "once a whore, always a whore". No, replies the Padre, a whore would never be a whore if she were not forced to become one.
Scene 5 (nocturno I): Wesener advises his daughter to be cautious in her dealings with Desportes, although he secretly harbours the hope that she may marry the young aristocrat. In the meantime, he says, it would not be wise to give up Stolzius altogether. As stormclouds gather, Marie grows anxious at what lies ahead and the dilemma builds in her heart.
Act 2
Scene 1 (toccata II): The officers are relaxing at the Armentières café owned by Madame Roux. They call across the unsuspecting Stolzius and make insinuating remarks about Marie's relationship with Desportes.Scene 2 (capriccio, corale e ciacona II): Marie has received a reproachful letter from Stolzius. She is reading it in tears when Desportes enters. He scornfully dictates to her a brusque reply. His flattery finally has the desired effect – his spot with Marie is won. In the room next door Wesener's aged mother sings the folk song Rösel aus Hennegay which contains the prophetic line "Some day your cross will come to you". On a partitioned stage appear, on one side, Marie and Desportes as a couple engrossed in love play, and on the other, Stolzius and his mother, who is trying to convince her son that having broken off his engagement, the "soldier's whore" Marie was not worthy of him. But Stolzius defends her and swears revenge on Desportes.
Act 3
Scene 1 (rondino): A conversation between the Padre and Captain Pirzel, whose odd behaviour is portrayed as the result of the monotony of military service, reveals that major Mary –a friend of Desportes– is to be transferred from Armentières to Lille.Scene 2 (rappresentazione): In order to move closer to Marie, Stolzius offers Major Mary his services as a batman.
Scene 3 (ricercari II): Desportes has left Marie. When she starts accepting gifts from Major Mary, her sister Charlotte labels her a "soldier's girl". Marie claims she only behaved in this way in order to get news of Desportes. Mary invites the two sisters Marie and Charlotte for a drive – neither of them recognises the true identity of his batman Stolzius.
Scene 4 (nocturno II): Countess de la Roche reproaches her son, the young Count, for his behaviour towards Marie. She advises him to leave town and, in order to protect Marie from the advances of other officers, she declares herself willing to take the girl into her own house as a companion.
Scene 5 (tropi): The countess goes to find Marie at her father's house. In Charlotte's presence she makes the offer to take Marie into her household, persuading her it is the only way she can now save her honour.
Act 4
Scene 1 (toccata III): What the future holds in store for Marie is a living nightmare. Having turned down the Countess' offer in order to try to renew her contact with Desportes, he now subjects her to the attentions of his gamekeeper who makes a brutal sexual assault on her. Dishonoured and discredited, Marie wanders aimlessly while the Countess, the young Count, Wesener, Charlotte, Pirzel and the Padre search for her.Scene 2 (ciacona III): Mary and Desportes are eating their evening meal. Stolzius, who is serving them, overhears their conversation and learns of Marie's fate. He hands Desportes a bowl of poisoned soup, and before drinking some of the soup himself he triumphantly reveals his identity to the dying officer.
Scene 3 (nocturno III): Marie, now sunk to the level of a street beggar, encounters her father and asks him for alms. The old man does not recognise her, but out of concern for his daughter he gives her money. He then joins an endless procession of enslaved and fallen soldiers, in which the drunken officers also take part. In the final scene, the action builds to a vision of hell in which one human is raped by another, the individual by the collective conscience – and, in this instance, by the ruthless power of the army.
Staging and instrumentation
Even today a stage performance of Die Soldaten places very great demands on any opera company. In addition to the sixteen singing and ten speaking roles, it requires a one hundred-piece orchestra involving many unusual instruments and pieces of percussion. With its open action, a large amount of scenes which at times overlap one another or run simultaneously (the second scene of act 2, for example, or all of act 4), its multimedia structure incorporating film screens, projectors, tape recordings and loudspeakers, in addition to the sound effects of marching, engines and screams, Die Soldaten –an opera composed using the strict rules of twelve-tone music and presenting a high degree of complexity despite its careful design for the stage– is a uniquely complicated opera, both to stage and to watch.There are numerous unorthodox roles in this opera, but the most noticeable is the mass usage of banging chairs and tables on the stage floor as percussion instruments. This is carried out by many of the actors with non-singing roles. The composer also calls for 3 cinema screens, 3 film projectors & groups of loudspeakers on the stage and in the auditorium.
The orchestra is composed of: 4 flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s (all 4 doubling on piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
s, flute 3 also doubling on alto flute
Alto flute
The alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range...
in G), 3 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s (doubling also on oboe d'amore
Oboe d'amore
The oboe d'amore , less commonly oboe d'amour, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, between the oboe itself and the cor...
, oboe 3 also doubling on cor anglais
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
), 4 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s in B-flat (1, 3 & 4 also in A, clarinet 3 also bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
, clarinet 4 also on E-flat clarinet
E-flat clarinet
The E-flat clarinet is a member of the clarinet family. It is usually classed as a soprano clarinet, although some authors describe it as a "sopranino" or even "piccolo" clarinet. Smaller in size and higher in pitch than the more common B clarinet, it is a transposing instrument in E, sounding a...
), alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
in E-flat, 3 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s (2 & 3 also contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
), 5 horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
in F (all 5 also tenor tuba
Wagner tuba
The Wagner tuba is a comparatively rare brass instrument that combines elements of both the French horn and the tuba. Also referred to as the "Bayreuth Tuba", it was originally created for Richard Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Since then, other composers have written for it, most...
in B-flat, Horn 5 also bass tuba
Wagner tuba
The Wagner tuba is a comparatively rare brass instrument that combines elements of both the French horn and the tuba. Also referred to as the "Bayreuth Tuba", it was originally created for Richard Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Since then, other composers have written for it, most...
in F), 4 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s in C (1 & 2 also trumpets in B-flat & F; 3 & 4 also in B-flat & A and bass trumpet
Bass trumpet
The bass trumpet is a type of low trumpet which was first developed during the 1820s in Germany. It is usually pitched in 8' C or 9' B today, but is sometimes built in E and is treated as a transposing instrument sounding either an octave, a sixth or a ninth lower than written, depending on the...
in E-flat), 4 trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s (Trombone 4 contrabass trombone), bass tuba (also contrabass tuba), timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
(also small timpani), percussion (8-9 players), 3 crotales
Crotales
thumb|right|Crotales are often used with other mallet percussionCrotales , sometimes called antique cymbals, are percussion instruments consisting of small, tuned bronze or brass disks. Each is about 4 inches in diameter with a flat top surface and a nipple on the base. They are commonly...
(E-flat, F & G), 3 crotals (high, medium & low), gegenschlagblock (counterstroke block), 3 cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s, 4 gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s, 4 tamtam
TamTam
The tamtam is a percussion instrument that is similar to a gong. It is sometimes spelled tam-tam.TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to:* Tam-Tams, a weekly drum circle held Sundays in the summer in Montreal...
s, tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, 3 bongos
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
, 5 tomtoms
Tom-tom drum
A tom-tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snare.Although "tom-tom" is the British term for a child's toy drum, the name came originally from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala; the tom-tom itself comes from Asian or Native American cultures...
, tumba
Tumba (drum)
The tumba is a kind of long, thin drum, whose pitch depends on the part of the head being hit. Tumbas appear in Leroy Anderson's Jazz Pizzicato and Fiddle-Faddle , as well as the music of various Latin American dance bands and in Hans Werner Henze's opera The English Cat....
, military drum, 4 small drums, friction drum
Friction drum
Hornbostel-Sachs classification number 232.11-92A friction drum is a musical instrument found in various forms in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America...
, 2 large drums (one of them horizontal), 5 triangle (instrument)
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, cow bell
Cow bell
A cowbell or cow bell is a bell worn by freely roaming livestock, so that they do not run away or wander off without being heard. While bells were used on various types of animals, they are typically referred to as "cowbells" due to their extensive use with cattle.A trychel is a large cow bell...
s, steel sticks, 2 sets of tubular bell
Tubular bell
Tubular bells are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 . Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller...
s, 3 free-running railway rails, whip (instrument)
Whip (instrument)
In music, a whip or slapstick is a percussion instrument consisting of two wooden boards joined by a hinge at one end. When the boards are brought together rapidly, the sound is reminiscent of the crack of a whip. It is often used in modern orchestras, bands, and percussion ensembles.There are...
, castanets, rumbaholz, 2 wood covers, 3 wood drums, güiro
Güiro
The güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
, maracas, vibration pipe, xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, 2 harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
s, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, celesta
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
(2 players) & strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
.
On the stage (6 players):
I. 3 triangles (high register), 3 crotals (high), 2 basins (high), gong (small), tamtam (small), small drum, military drum, 2 bongos, agitating drum, large drum (with cymbals), 3 bass drums, cow bell (high), 2 tube bells, maracas & temple block (high).
II. 3 triangles (middle register), 3 crotals (middle), 2 basins (middle), 2 gongs (medium & large), small drum, 2 Tomtoms, agitating drum, 3 bass drums, cow bell, 6 tube bells, maracas & temple block (middle).
III. 3 triangles (deep register), crotal (deep), 2 basins (deep), gong (large), 2 tamtams (small & large), small drum, tomtom (deep), snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, 3 bass drums, cow bell (deep), 4 tube bells, maracas, 3 temple blocks (deep); jazz band
Jazz band
A jazz band is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands usually consist of a rhythm section and a horn section, in the early days often trumpet, trombone, and clarinet with rhythm section of piano, banjo, bass or tuba, and drums.-Eras:SwingDuring the swing era in the mid-twentieth...
: clarinet in B-flat, trumpet in B-flat & double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
(electrically amplified).
Music
The prelude is written to sound as mechanical as possible, with dissonant combinations of instruments colliding against each other rhythmically to portray the mechanised movements of the soldiers on stage. As with Alban BergAlban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
's operas Wozzeck
Wozzeck
Wozzeck is the first opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. It was composed between 1914 and 1922 and first performed in 1925. The opera is based on the drama Woyzeck left incomplete by the German playwright Georg Büchner at his death. Berg attended the first production in Vienna of Büchner's...
and Lulu
Lulu (opera)
Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted by Berg himself from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora .-Composition history:...
, the individual scenes are built on strict musical forms; strophes, chaconnes, ricercare, toccatas, etc. Musically, the work makes extensive use of twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique
Twelve-tone technique is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg...
, and expresses debts to Berg's Wozzeck, such as in the shared name of the principal female role (Marie) and the number of scenes in each opera (15).
Just as Zimmermann allows temporal levels to flow into one another, he also makes use of musical styles from several periods. Jazz rhythms (as in the coffee house scene), J.S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
chorales (from the St Matthew Passion), a folksong and the Dies Irae
Dies Irae
Dies Irae is a thirteenth century Latin hymn thought to be written by Thomas of Celano . It is a medieval Latin poem characterized by its accentual stress and its rhymed lines. The metre is trochaic...
sequence from a plainchant are juxtoposed and assembled in a way which creates a score which seethes with tension.
Discography & videography
- Bernhard KontarskyBernhard KontarskyBernhard Kontarsky is a German conductor, pianist, and teacher.Kontarsky studied at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. In 1964 he began his conducting career as Kapellmeister at the Staatstheater Stuttgart...
, conductor; Nancy ShadeNancy ShadeNancy Shade is a celebrated spinto soprano, best known as a singing-actress. She made her formal debut as Leonora in Il trovatore, in Louisville, in 1967. In 1971, she made her first of many appearances at the New York City Opera, as Musetta in La bohème...
, William CochranWilliam Cochran (tenor)William Cochran was born on June 23, 1943, in Columbus, Ohio, and is an internationally-noted Heldentenor. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Martial Singher. A winner of the Lauritz Melchior Heldentenor Foundation Award, he debuted with the Metropolitan Opera, as Vogelgesang in Die...
; Staatsoper StuttgartStaatsoper StuttgartThe Staatsoper Stuttgart is a German opera company based in Stuttgart, Germany.-History:The Stuttgart Staatsoper forms part of the Stuttgart State Theatre , which is a a three-branch-theatre complex and represents the largest theatre of its kind in Europe...
Chorus, Staatsorchester Stuttgart; 1988–1989 (Teldec) CD - Bernhard Kontarsky, conductor: Nancy Shade, Mark Munkittrick, Milagro VargasMilagro VargasMilagro Vargas is an American mezzo-soprano known for her distinctive voice and stage presence. She has appeared as an international soloist in operatic, orchestral, chamber music and recital settings.-Family Background and Studies:...
, Grace Hoffman, Michael Ebbecke, Elsie Maurer, William CochranWilliam CochranWilliam Cochran may refer to:* William Thad Cochran , U.S. Senator from Mississippi* William Gemmell Cochran , British-American statistician* William Cochran , British physicist...
, Alois Treml, Gregor Brodocz, Guy Renard, Karl-Friedrich Dürr, Klaus Hirte, Raymond Wolansky, Ursula Koszut, Jerrold van der Schaaf, Johannes Eidloth, Robert Wörle, Helmut Holzapfel; Staatsoper Stuttgart Chorus, Staatsorchester Stuttgart; Harry KupferHarry KupferHarry Kupfer is a German opera director. He studied theatre in Leipzig and directed his first opera, Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka, in 1958....
, director; 1989 (Arthaus) DVD - Steven SloaneSteven SloaneSteven Sloane is an American-born conductor based in Germany.He has been musical director of the Symphony Orchestra in Bochum since 1994. He is also musical director of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Stavanger, Norway, a post he has held since 2007.In August 1999, Sloane was appointed Music...
, conductor; Claudia Barainsky, Claudio Otelli, Frode Olsen, Katharina Peetz, Hanna Schwarz, Kathryn Harries, Andreas Becker, Peter Hoare, Robert Wörle, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Adrian Clarke, Robert Bork, Michael Smallwood, Christopher Lemmings, Bernhard Berchtold, Helen Field, Adrian Thompson; Bochumer Symphoniker; David PountneyDavid PountneyDavid Pountney is a British theatre and opera director and librettist internationally known for his productions of rarely performed operas and new productions of classic works...
, director; Robert Innes Hopkins, stage design; DVD of the live performance of the production which premiered on 5 Oct 2006 at the RuhrTriennale, staged at the Jahrhunderthalle, BochumBochumBochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...