The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent
Encyclopedia
The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent is a Lehrstück
by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht
, written in collaboration with Slatan Dudow
and Elisabeth Hauptmann
. Under the title Lehrstück it was first performed with music by Paul Hindemith
as part of the Baden-Baden festival
on 28 July 1929, at the Stadthalle, Baden-Baden
, directed by Brecht, designed by Heinz Porep.
practice of the arts". The 50-minute piece was conceived as a multi-media performance, including scenes of physical knockabout clown
ing, choral
sections and a short film
by Carl Koch, Dance of Death, featuring Valeska Gert
(
Along with its companion, the radio cantata Lindbergh's Flight
, the piece was offered as an example of a new genre
, "the teaching-play or Lehrstück", in which the traditional division between actor and audience is abolished; the piece is intended for its participants only (Brecht specifically including the film makers and clowns along with the chorus). The final chorus of Lindbergh's Flight appears at the beginning of The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent. "Cruelty, violence and death" are explored by the play, which "broaches the subject of complicity between the helper and the forces of power and violence." The action concerns a wrecked flight crew being brought to terms with their non-existence. While the pilot complains that he must not die, the others accept that their significance lies in being anonymous parts of a larger whole.
A grotesque clown scene, in which the first clown, called Smith, is violently dismembered by his two friends in an attempt to alleviate his pain, caused spectators at the Baden-Baden festival to riot, according to the actor who played Smith; the playwright Gerhardt Hauptmann walked out. (This clown scene was later reworked by Heiner Müller
in his Heartplay, 1981). Despite the controversy, the production was a critical success. Performances in Vienna
, Munich
, Mainz
, Dresden
, Breslau and Frankfurt
followed. Schott Music
published Lehrstück the same year with Hindemith's score.
One disagreement concerned the suitability of the clown scene. In two letters to his wife Hindemith observed that the scene was better spoken than played [acted] and, later, that with neither clowns nor film "the piece is beautiful and has the effect of an old classic." Brecht for his part objected to Hindemith's conception of Gebrauchsmusik
which leaned toward Gemeinschaftsmusik or Hausmusik, that is, communal music written for the use of the players, in the case of Lehrstück an orchestra of amateurs who were advised to freely make cuts according to circumstances. While Brecht's conception of the Lehrstück form also aimed at engaging the participants, he naturally viewed the music's 'use' as incidental to the ideas in the play and criticised Hindemith's different end: "the cellist in the orchestra, father of a numerous family, now began to play not from philosophical conviction but for pleasure. The culinary principle was saved." Each dug in his heels and after a 1934 radio broadcast in Brussels
neither allowed performances of the other's version. Brecht eventually published his revision in his Collected Plays but there were no public performances until a revival opened on 14 May 1958 in New York, nearly two years after Brecht's death.
The relation between these and the Lehrstück 'fragment' is not as straightforward as the table suggests. The first two are a simple splitting of Hindemith's #1, whereas Brecht's #3 is a merging of the original first and second investigations.
Lehrstücke
The Lehrstücke are a radical and experimental form of modernist theatre developed by Bertolt Brecht and his collaborators from the 1920s to the late 1930s. The Lehrstücke stem from Brecht's Epic Theatre techniques but as a core principle explore the possibilities of learning through acting,...
by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, written in collaboration with Slatan Dudow
Slatan Dudow
Slatan Theodor Dudow was a Bulgarian born film director and screenwriter who made a number of films in the Weimar Republic and East Germany....
and Elisabeth Hauptmann
Elisabeth Hauptmann
Elisabeth Hauptmann was a German writer who worked with Bertolt Brecht....
. Under the title Lehrstück it was first performed with music by Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
as part of the Baden-Baden festival
Donaueschingen Festival
The Donaueschingen Festival is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen...
on 28 July 1929, at the Stadthalle, Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
, directed by Brecht, designed by Heinz Porep.
Premiere
Brecht's programme note described the work as unfinished and as the "product of various theories of a musical, dramatic and political nature aiming at the collectiveCollective
A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project to achieve a common objective...
practice of the arts". The 50-minute piece was conceived as a multi-media performance, including scenes of physical knockabout clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
ing, choral
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
sections and a short film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
by Carl Koch, Dance of Death, featuring Valeska Gert
Valeska Gert
Valeska Gert was a German Jewish dancer and cabaret artist. She was also active as an actress and artists' model.-Life and career:...
(
Along with its companion, the radio cantata Lindbergh's Flight
The Flight across the Ocean
The Flight across the Ocean is a Lehrstück by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, inspired by We, Charles Lindbergh's 1927 account of his transatlantic flight...
, the piece was offered as an example of a new genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
, "the teaching-play or Lehrstück", in which the traditional division between actor and audience is abolished; the piece is intended for its participants only (Brecht specifically including the film makers and clowns along with the chorus). The final chorus of Lindbergh's Flight appears at the beginning of The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent. "Cruelty, violence and death" are explored by the play, which "broaches the subject of complicity between the helper and the forces of power and violence." The action concerns a wrecked flight crew being brought to terms with their non-existence. While the pilot complains that he must not die, the others accept that their significance lies in being anonymous parts of a larger whole.
A grotesque clown scene, in which the first clown, called Smith, is violently dismembered by his two friends in an attempt to alleviate his pain, caused spectators at the Baden-Baden festival to riot, according to the actor who played Smith; the playwright Gerhardt Hauptmann walked out. (This clown scene was later reworked by Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller
Heiner Müller was a German dramatist, poet, writer, essayist and theatre director. Described as "the theatre's greatest living poet" since Samuel Beckett, Müller is arguably the most important German dramatist of the 20th century after Bertolt Brecht...
in his Heartplay, 1981). Despite the controversy, the production was a critical success. Performances in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Breslau and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
followed. Schott Music
Schott Music
Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe and is currently the second oldest music publishing house. The company headquarters of Schott Music was founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, Germany in 1770.Established in...
published Lehrstück the same year with Hindemith's score.
From Lehrstück to The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent
Brecht almost immediately began revising and took especial exception to Hindemith's performance notes sanctioning cuts. Brecht approached Schott directly and it was from the publisher that Hindemith learned of the demanded changes in the text, which he was not interested in setting to new music. Brecht's text was published in 1930 in vol. two of his Versuche and Schott was forced to take the score out of print.One disagreement concerned the suitability of the clown scene. In two letters to his wife Hindemith observed that the scene was better spoken than played [acted] and, later, that with neither clowns nor film "the piece is beautiful and has the effect of an old classic." Brecht for his part objected to Hindemith's conception of Gebrauchsmusik
Gebrauchsmusik
Gebrauchsmusik is a German term, essentially meaning “utility music,” for music that exists not only for its own sake, but which was composed for some specific, identifiable purpose...
which leaned toward Gemeinschaftsmusik or Hausmusik, that is, communal music written for the use of the players, in the case of Lehrstück an orchestra of amateurs who were advised to freely make cuts according to circumstances. While Brecht's conception of the Lehrstück form also aimed at engaging the participants, he naturally viewed the music's 'use' as incidental to the ideas in the play and criticised Hindemith's different end: "the cellist in the orchestra, father of a numerous family, now began to play not from philosophical conviction but for pleasure. The culinary principle was saved." Each dug in his heels and after a 1934 radio broadcast in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
neither allowed performances of the other's version. Brecht eventually published his revision in his Collected Plays but there were no public performances until a revival opened on 14 May 1958 in New York, nearly two years after Brecht's death.
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, 28 July 1929 (Conductors: Alfons Dressel and Ernst Wolff) |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | 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... |
Josef Witt Josef Witt Kammersänger Josef Witt was a tenor who was a regular performer at the Vienna State Opera before WW II. His name is sometimes spelt Joseph Witt.... |
| Leader of the chorus | bass-baritone Bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende... |
Oszkár Kálmán Oszkár Kálmán Oszkár Kálmán was a Hungarian bass, remembered as the first Bluebeard. He was born in Kisszentpéter and in 1913 made his debut as Sarastro at the Royal Opera House in Budapest,... |
| Speaker | Gerda Müller-Scherchen Hermann Scherchen Hermann Scherchen was a German conductor.-Life:Scherchen was originally a violist and played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens... (German Wikipedia page) |
|
| Three mechanics, also three clowns | (spoken) | Theo Lingen Theo Lingen Theo Lingen , born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, director and screenwriter. He appeared in over 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960.-Life and career:... (Herr Schmitt), Karl Paulsen, Benno Carlé |
| Trained semichorus | mixed chorus Choir A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus... |
Hugo Holle's madrigal singers |
Synopsis
| As ultimately published by Brecht, the eleven scenes are: | The numbers in the score: |
|---|---|
|
|
The relation between these and the Lehrstück 'fragment' is not as straightforward as the table suggests. The first two are a simple splitting of Hindemith's #1, whereas Brecht's #3 is a merging of the original first and second investigations.
External links
- Schott's page on Hindemith's score.