D Counters Wiehnacht
D Zäller Wiehnacht (high-level spelling: Zeller Christmas ) is a musical nativity play and Singspiel ( school opera ) by Paul Burkhard in Swiss German ( Zurich German ). It was performed for the first time in the village church in Zell (southeast of Winterthur) in 1960. The actors, storytellers and singers are all children.
After performances in 1960, 1961 and 1962 in Zell, the nativity scene praised "[t] he simplicity, the originality, the intense involvement of all those involved, the modernity and directness of the dialect text and the simple music". The nativity play has since been performed in many churches and schools and is the most famous nativity play in Switzerland.
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The Zäller Wiehnacht consists of eight songs, which are connected to a nativity play by scenes. The nativity play begins with the most famous song "Das isch de Schtärn vo Bethlehem" . It tells of the star of Bethlehem , which heralds the birth of Christ . The song has been included in the hymn book of the Evangelical Reformed Churches in German-speaking Switzerland (RG 426) and is often sung at Christmas time independently of the nativity scene.
Then the actors distribute the roles in the game and think about the topicality of the Christmas story.
The second song is embedded in the proclamation of the birth of Jesus by the angel Gabriel to Mary: «Kei mother knows what will happen to your child» .
This is followed by the departure of the wise men in the Orient. The confession that the new Savior will also be born for the "Moors" is given wide space in the text and in the song "Au für eus de Heiland is born" .
"Mir händ's smooth bim King Herod" is a critical song that describes the decadence at the court of the ruler Herod in Jerusalem. The party atmosphere at court is destroyed by the arrival of the three wise men who are looking for the newborn king. The scene ends with Herod's order to kill all boys under two years of age in Bethlehem .
The next scene takes place in the field with the shepherds. "Wake up, sleep bad!" is a musical representation of the announcement of the birth to the shepherds by angels. The shepherds are amazed that villains «(ropes and hangers)» like them hear the good news and wonder what they could give to Christ.
“Es Schöfli tuen em bring” is a song with a repetitive structure in which the shepherds bring the newborn Jesus several gifts and the same verse is sung for each gift. The climax of the last verse is: "I want to bring myself to him."
In "De Kaiser's befole hät" is about the census in the Bible , that of Emperor Augustus said to have been ordered. Then you see Maria and Joseph looking for a place in a hostel that ends in the stable of the "Herberge zum Sternen". Now all conceivable marginalized people come to the manger for which the Savior came into the world.
This is followed by the song "Was ist das für e Nacht" . This song was also included in the Reformed Hymnal (RG 422)
The game ends with the assembly of all figures at the crib. When the individual characters appear, an excerpt from their respective song is sung again.
Songs
- That is the Schtärn of Bethlehem
- No mother knows what will happen to her child
- The Savior is born for eus
- I have no problem with King Herod
- Wake up, sleep bad!
- Bring Schöfli do em
- De Kaiser would have obeyed
- What a night
Publications
- Screenplay: D 'Zäller Wiehnacht, a nativity play by Paul Burkhard, Musikverlag & Bühnenvertrieb Zürich 1961
- Score: D 'Zäller Wiehnacht, a nativity play by Paul Burkhard, Musikverlag & Bühnenvertrieb Zürich 1965
An original recording in Zell under the direction of the composer and a later performance by the Hinwil School are available in stores.
On the occasion of a new performance by the primary school in Zell on the 100th birthday of the author, the tendency towards the “politically correct” rewriting of children's literature from the 20th century led to a new version of the song Au for eus, rabeschwarzi Mohre . In the same year an "experimental production" was staged at the Schauspielhaus Zurich
Individual evidence
- ↑ Short biography of Paul Burkhard on omeinpapa.ch , accessed November 20, 2009
- ↑ September 7, 2007, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, homage in the cradle of the “Zäller Wienacht”, premiere of the documentary “O my Papa” in the church in Zell
- ↑ Swiss School Theater, Swiss Society for Theater Culture, Yearbook 1967, 156f.
- ^ Reformed hymnbook: newer song melodies (by melody type) (PDF file; 28 kB)
- ^ Hymn book of the Evangelical Reformed Churches in German-speaking Switzerland, Zurich and Basel 1998
- ^ "Version for the primary school in Zell 2011 by Charlotte Joss" ( SRF ).
- ↑ Philipp Ramer, Journey into the past Advent times. A slightly different “Zäller Wiehnacht” in the chamber of the Zürcher Schauspielhaus , NZZ , November 28, 2011.