The new song
The new song is a story by Arthur Schnitzler that appeared on April 23, 1905 in the daily newspaper Neue Freie Presse in Vienna.
content
In the summer Karl Breiteneder, the son of a turner, had preferred to be alone with his girl, Marie Ladenbauer. Marie, "a good-natured creature" who was attached to Karl "without saying a lot", performed as a soloist in her parents' folk singer society in a suburb of Vienna. This gave Karl and Marie enough opportunities to get together in larger company on the weekends. In addition, Karl regularly visited the Maries family and spent hours there.
In winter Marie became seriously ill and later lost her eyesight as a result of the illness.
Now the blind woman should appear in public for the first time after her recovery. The Kapellmeister Rebay wrote a song especially for Marie that exactly hits her grief:
"How beautiful it used to be in the world, - Where the sun shone on me in the forest and in the field, - Where I took my sweetheart for a walk on Sunday in the country - And out of love he only led me to her Hand. - Now the sun never rises to me and the stars, - And happiness and love are so far from me! "
Karl had hesitated for weeks before paying the sick man a visit; but had never been able to bring himself to take the step. Now, after Marie's successful comeback, Karl makes the first attempt at rapprochement. More precisely, he does not utter a single word on the occasion, although the blind woman encourages him to do so three times. Marie doesn't get over it. She steals away and chooses suicide.
reception
- When Karl has to prove his love for Marie, he fails this test. Schnitzler does not pronounce the failure Karl guilty.
- Sprengel briefly raises the question of Karl Breiteneder's guilt and the question of the sentimentality in Schnitzler's prose.
Web links
literature
- source
- Arthur Schnitzler: The new song. P. 465–481 in Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Arthur Schnitzler: Leutnant Gustl. Stories 1892 - 1907. With an afterword by Michael Scheffel . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1961 (2004 edition). 525 pages, ISBN 3-10-073552-8
- First edition in book form
- The new song . In addition to the fate of the Baron von Leisenbohg , Die Weissagung , Die Fremde and Andreas Thameyer's last letter contained in: Arthur Schnitzler: Dämmerseelen. Novellas. S. Fischer, Berlin 1907. 132 pages
- Secondary literature
- Michaela L. Perlmann: Arthur Schnitzler. Metzler Collection, Vol. 239. Stuttgart 1987. 195 pages, ISBN 3-476-10239-4
- Peter Sprengel : History of German-language literature 1900 - 1918. Munich 2004. 924 pages, ISBN 3-406-52178-9