Son and Stranger
Encyclopedia
Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde (often referred to in English as Son and Stranger) is a one-act Singspiel
written by Felix Mendelssohn
in 1829 to a German libretto
by the composer's friend Karl Klingemann, a poet who would later provide the same service for the oratorio Elijah
. The English title derives from a translation by critic, playwright, and poet Henry Fothergill Chorley
created for a London production of 1851 and still in use for the rare revivals in English-speaking countries. The title is sometimes also translated as Return of the Roamer.The work was published posthumously as Mendelssohn's opus
89.
, near Mold, Wales
. While there, Mendelssohn penned Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde as a short comic play with music for performance in honor of his parents' silver wedding anniversary upcoming in December. The first performance was a private affair at the Mendelssohn family home on December 26, 1829 before an audience of 120. As the composer, despite his mother's urgings to the contrary, considered the work a piece for strictly private occasions, it was not published in his lifetime, and no public performance took place until a production in Leipzig on April 10, 1851; the first performance in England was the 1851 London presentation giving rise to Chorley's translation.
Mendelssohn himself conducted the first, private production, and all the roles were assumed by family members or associates of the composer, only one of whom, tenor Eduard Mantius, was a professional singer. As a consequence, the score contains a musical peculiarity: the mayor's part comprises only a few bars of music, all written on the single note F
, because its creator, Mendelssohn's brother-in-law Wilhelm Hensel
, had no ability as a singer.
(in English "I am a Roamer") became a favorite for display in concert and parlor alike. The song also sometimes served as a test piece at Eisteddfodau. Modern productions, however, are rare, although a concert version was produced in Boston in early 2009.
, seven solo numbers in the form of strophic songs, a few ensembles, and a short finale. Its plot is a typical comic tale of concealed and mistaken identity, telling the story of how a charming imposter attempts to impersonate the long-absent son of the village mayor to win the hand of his ward, only to be frustrated when the true son returns in disguise.
The principals all make their entrances in short order. As the opera opens, village mayor Schultz regrets the absence of his son Hermann, fiancée of his ward Lisbeth but for many years away serving in the army. Hermann's mother then sings the opening number, a romance about a queen whose son became a hero despite her efforts to conceal him from the military disguised as a girl, and Lisbeth responds with a song revealing her longing for Hermann, whom she last saw when she was a child. Kauz, an itinerant peddler disguised as a night watchman, enters singing of his renown all across Europe and expressing intent to court Lisbeth. Hermann, whom no one has seen in some years, follows, disguised as a wandering musician; he sings a song in praise of soldiers as keepers of the peace. Lisbeth, recognizing his song as one that he sang in his youth, realizes his true identity almost immediately, but she respects his desire to remain incognito, and the parents mistake Kauz for Hermann and do their best to advance his cause. The two rivals interrupt each others' serenades during the succeeding night, the passage of which Mendelssohn depicts in an intermezzo, and the next morning Kauz impersonates Hermann at a gathering of the villagers to celebrate Schultz's fiftieth anniversary as mayor. Hermann makes an appearance, however, and with the truth revealed all ends happily.
live recording of the opera is available on Hänssler Classic No. 98487, with Juliane Banse
, Christian Gerhaher
, the Gächinger Kantorei
and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
under Helmuth Rilling
. The overture has appeared in various collections. During the 78 RPM era, "I Am a Roamer" appeared more than once, including both acoustic and electric recordings by Malcolm McEachern
and an Edison diamond disc by Arthur Middleton
.
Singspiel
A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...
written by Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
in 1829 to a German 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...
by the composer's friend Karl Klingemann, a poet who would later provide the same service for the oratorio Elijah
Elijah (oratorio)
Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament....
. The English title derives from a translation by critic, playwright, and poet Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley
Henry Fothergill Chorley was an English literary, art and music critic and editor. He was also an author of novels, drama, poetry and lyrics....
created for a London production of 1851 and still in use for the rare revivals in English-speaking countries. The title is sometimes also translated as Return of the Roamer.The work was published posthumously as Mendelssohn's opus
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
89.
Background
During his first visit to the British Isles in 1829, bad weather in August forced Mendelssohn to abandon a planned visit to Ireland and instead make an extended stay at the home of a new acquaintance, mining engineer and businessman John TaylorJohn Taylor (Civil Engineer)
John Taylor was an English land surveyor and civil engineer. He was born in Norwich, England and showed an interest in mining at a young age; in 1796 he improvised a mechanised copper ore crusher at Wheal Friendship, a mine just outside of Tavistock, Devon. This machine was improved over time and...
, near Mold, Wales
Mold, Flintshire
Mold is a town in Flintshire, North Wales, on the River Alyn. It is the administrative seat of Flintshire County Council, and was also the county town of Clwyd from 1974 to 1996...
. While there, Mendelssohn penned Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde as a short comic play with music for performance in honor of his parents' silver wedding anniversary upcoming in December. The first performance was a private affair at the Mendelssohn family home on December 26, 1829 before an audience of 120. As the composer, despite his mother's urgings to the contrary, considered the work a piece for strictly private occasions, it was not published in his lifetime, and no public performance took place until a production in Leipzig on April 10, 1851; the first performance in England was the 1851 London presentation giving rise to Chorley's translation.
Mendelssohn himself conducted the first, private production, and all the roles were assumed by family members or associates of the composer, only one of whom, tenor Eduard Mantius, was a professional singer. As a consequence, the score contains a musical peculiarity: the mayor's part comprises only a few bars of music, all written on the single note F
F (musical note)
F is a musical note, the fourth above C. It is also known as fa in fixed-do solfège.When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of Middle F is approximately 349.228 Hz. See pitch for a discussion of historical variations in...
, because its creator, Mendelssohn's brother-in-law Wilhelm Hensel
Wilhelm Hensel
Wilhelm Hensel was a German painter, brother of Luise Hensel, husband to Fanny Mendelssohn, and brother-in-law to Felix Mendelssohn....
, had no ability as a singer.
Reception
Die Heimkehr had great success before its intended audience, not least because of the mirth ensuing when Hensel, even prompted by humming on all sides, proved unable to sing the single note F that made up his part of the score. Following the work's posthumous publication, it overture achieved some popularity in four-hands piano reductions, and Kauz's patter songPatter song
The patter song is characterized by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note...
(in English "I am a Roamer") became a favorite for display in concert and parlor alike. The song also sometimes served as a test piece at Eisteddfodau. Modern productions, however, are rare, although a concert version was produced in Boston in early 2009.
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, December 26, 1829 (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... : Felix Mendelssohn ) |
|---|---|---|
| Schultz, mayor of the village | 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... |
Wilhelm Hensel Wilhelm Hensel Wilhelm Hensel was a German painter, brother of Luise Hensel, husband to Fanny Mendelssohn, and brother-in-law to Felix Mendelssohn.... |
| Hermann, his son | 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... |
Eduard Mantius |
| Hermann's mother | 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... |
Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn , later Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn... |
| Lisbeth, Schultz's ward | 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... |
Rebecka Mendelssohn |
| Kauz, a peddler impersonating Hermann | 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... |
Eduard Devrient Eduard Devrient Eduard Devrient was a German baritone, librettist, playwright, actor, theatre director and theatre reformer and historian.Devrient came from a theatrical family... |
| Chorus: villagers | ||
Synopsis
Die Heimkehr comprises an overtureOverture
Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...
, seven solo numbers in the form of strophic songs, a few ensembles, and a short finale. Its plot is a typical comic tale of concealed and mistaken identity, telling the story of how a charming imposter attempts to impersonate the long-absent son of the village mayor to win the hand of his ward, only to be frustrated when the true son returns in disguise.
The principals all make their entrances in short order. As the opera opens, village mayor Schultz regrets the absence of his son Hermann, fiancée of his ward Lisbeth but for many years away serving in the army. Hermann's mother then sings the opening number, a romance about a queen whose son became a hero despite her efforts to conceal him from the military disguised as a girl, and Lisbeth responds with a song revealing her longing for Hermann, whom she last saw when she was a child. Kauz, an itinerant peddler disguised as a night watchman, enters singing of his renown all across Europe and expressing intent to court Lisbeth. Hermann, whom no one has seen in some years, follows, disguised as a wandering musician; he sings a song in praise of soldiers as keepers of the peace. Lisbeth, recognizing his song as one that he sang in his youth, realizes his true identity almost immediately, but she respects his desire to remain incognito, and the parents mistake Kauz for Hermann and do their best to advance his cause. The two rivals interrupt each others' serenades during the succeeding night, the passage of which Mendelssohn depicts in an intermezzo, and the next morning Kauz impersonates Hermann at a gathering of the villagers to celebrate Schultz's fiftieth anniversary as mayor. Hermann makes an appearance, however, and with the truth revealed all ends happily.
Recordings
A complete compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
live recording of the opera is available on Hänssler Classic No. 98487, with Juliane Banse
Juliane Banse
Juliane Banse is a German soprano and noted lieder singer. She received her vocal training at the Zürich Opera, and with Brigitte Fassbaender in Munich. She won First Prize in the singing competition of the Kulturforum in Munich in 1989. In 1989, she made her operatic debut as Pamina in Mozart's...
, Christian Gerhaher
Christian Gerhaher
Christian Gerhaher is a German baritone and bass singer in opera, concert and notably Lied.- Biography :Christian Gerhaher studied with Paul Kuen and Raimund Grumbach at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and Lied with Friedemann Berger, already together with his accompanist for decades...
, the Gächinger Kantorei
Gächinger Kantorei
Gächinger Kantorei is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart now and is therefore...
and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orchestra for Radio Stuttgart, under the name Sinfonieorchester von Radio Stuttgart...
under Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
. The overture has appeared in various collections. During the 78 RPM era, "I Am a Roamer" appeared more than once, including both acoustic and electric recordings by Malcolm McEachern
Malcolm McEachern
Walter Malcom Neil McEachern was a noted Australian bass singer who enjoyed a successful career in the United Kingdom, both as a concert soloist and as one half of the comic musical duo Flotsam and Jetsam....
and an Edison diamond disc by Arthur Middleton
Arthur Middleton (bass-baritone)
Arthur Middleton was an American operatic and concert bass-baritone.-Life:...
.