Zeitoper
Encyclopedia
Zeitoper was a short-lived genre of opera
associated with Weimar
Germany. It is not known when or by whom the term was coined, but by 1928 Kurt Weill
("Zeitoper" in Melos) was able to complain that it was more a slogan than a description. Like opera buffa
it used contemporary settings and characters, comic or at least satiric plots (Max Brand's Maschinist Hopkins is a sole tragic example) and aimed at musical accessibility. Two distinguishing characteristics are a tendency to incorporate modern technology (Jonny spielt auf
: trains, Der Lindberghflug
: airplanes, Von Heute auf Morgen
: telephones, and even elevators) and frequent allusions to popular music, especially jazz
. This last, more than any social satire, earned the suspicion of the political right and ensured that it would not survive into the Nazi era.
Ernst Krenek
's Jonny spielt auf
(1927) is held up as the epitome of the genre. Other composers are Paul Hindemith
(Hin und zurück
, 1927, Neues vom Tage
, 1929), Wilhelm Grosz
(Achtung! Aufname! to a libretto by Bela Balazs
), and Weill's Die Bürgschaft
(1932). At the possible instigation of Krenek, the American George Antheil
also wrote a Zeitoper for Frankfurt, Transatlantic
(1930, originally titled Glare). In Von Heute auf Morgen
(1930) Arnold Schönberg attempted to have the last word on the fashion: at the end a child enters and asks the reconciled parents "What are modern people?" "That changes from one day to the next."
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
associated with Weimar
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
Germany. It is not known when or by whom the term was coined, but by 1928 Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
("Zeitoper" in Melos) was able to complain that it was more a slogan than a description. Like opera buffa
Opera buffa
Opera buffa is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ‘commedia in musica’, ‘commedia per musica’, ‘dramma bernesco’, ‘dramma comico’, ‘divertimento giocoso' etc...
it used contemporary settings and characters, comic or at least satiric plots (Max Brand's Maschinist Hopkins is a sole tragic example) and aimed at musical accessibility. Two distinguishing characteristics are a tendency to incorporate modern technology (Jonny spielt auf
Jonny spielt auf
Jonny spielt auf is an opera with words and music by Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. The work typified the cultural freedom of the 'golden era' of the Weimar Republic.-Performance history:...
: trains, Der Lindberghflug
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...
: airplanes, Von Heute auf Morgen
Von heute auf morgen
Von heute auf morgen is a one act opera composed by Arnold Schoenberg, to a German libretto by "Max Blonda," the pseudonym of Gertrud Schoenberg, the composer's wife...
: telephones, and even elevators) and frequent allusions to popular music, especially jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. This last, more than any social satire, earned the suspicion of the political right and ensured that it would not survive into the Nazi era.
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek
Ernst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...
's Jonny spielt auf
Jonny spielt auf
Jonny spielt auf is an opera with words and music by Ernst Krenek about a jazz violinist. The work typified the cultural freedom of the 'golden era' of the Weimar Republic.-Performance history:...
(1927) is held up as the epitome of the genre. Other composers are 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...
(Hin und zurück
Hin und zurück
Hin und zurück is an operatic 'sketch' in one scene by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer....
, 1927, Neues vom Tage
Neues vom Tage
Neues vom Tage is an opera in three parts by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer....
, 1929), Wilhelm Grosz
Wilhelm Grosz
Wilhelm Grosz was an Austrian composer, pianist and conductor.Wilhelm Grosz was born in Vienna. He studied music with Franz Schreker and Guido Adler. In 1921 he was appointed conductor of the Mannheim Opera, but returned to Vienna in 1922, where he worked as a pianist and composer...
(Achtung! Aufname! to a libretto by Bela Balazs
Béla Balázs
----Béla Balázs , born Herbert Bauer, was a Hungarian-Jewish film critic, aesthete, writer and poet....
), and Weill's Die Bürgschaft
Die Bürgschaft
The Hostage is a 1798 ballad by German poet Friedrich Schiller. He took the idea out of the medieval Latin collection of anecdotes and tales, the Gesta Romanorum.- Synopsis :...
(1932). At the possible instigation of Krenek, the American George Antheil
George Antheil
George Antheil was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with their cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices.Returning permanently to...
also wrote a Zeitoper for Frankfurt, Transatlantic
Transatlantic (opera)
Transatlantic is a Grand Opera in 4 acts by George Antheil written in 1928 to a libretto by the composer. It was premiered in Frankfurt on May 25, 1930...
(1930, originally titled Glare). In Von Heute auf Morgen
Von heute auf morgen
Von heute auf morgen is a one act opera composed by Arnold Schoenberg, to a German libretto by "Max Blonda," the pseudonym of Gertrud Schoenberg, the composer's wife...
(1930) Arnold Schönberg attempted to have the last word on the fashion: at the end a child enters and asks the reconciled parents "What are modern people?" "That changes from one day to the next."
Further reading
- Susan C. Cook Opera for a New Republic: the Zeitopern of Krenek, Weill and Hindemith (University of Michigan, 1988).