The distant sound
| Work data | |
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| Original title: | The distant sound |
| Shape: | thoroughly composed |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Franz Schreker |
| Libretto : | Franz Schreker |
| Premiere: | August 18, 1912 |
| Place of premiere: | Frankfurt , Opera House |
| Playing time: | approx. 2¼ hours |
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The distant sound is an opera in three acts by Franz Schreker . The premiere took place in Frankfurt am Main in 1912 .
action
first act
The work is set in Germany and Venice around 1900. The young composer Fritz leaves Grete, his lover, behind and looks for the "distant sound " that should fill his artistic work in a foreign country . In a frenzy, Grete's father plays his daughter to the host of the “Zum Schwan” inn. Since Grete does not want to accept the landlord's proposal, she leaves her parents' house at night and in fog. At first she thinks of suicide , but when she contemplates the moonlit landscape, her will to live wins out. She abandons herself to an old matchmaker who followed her.
Second act
Years later, Grete, who has become a well-known courtesan , celebrates a lavish party with her admirers on an island off Venice. The present count has fallen madly in love with Grete, but he rebuffed leaves, because it reminds them too much to Fritz. As a distraction, she calls a competition: Whoever performs the most beautiful song can spend a night with her. Shortly before the end of the competition, Fritz appears, whose search for the "distant sound" has so far been unsuccessful. He recognizes Grete, sings of his love and is chosen as the winner. When he realizes what has become of his former beloved, he turns away from her in disgust. In desperation, Grete surrenders to the Count.
Third act
Fritz 'opera “Die Harfe ” fails at the premiere. Among the audience is also Grete, who is now working as a street whore. Fritz realizes too late that he shouldn't have turned Grete away. When she returns to him, he dies of exhaustion in her arms.
Remarks
The composer Franz Schreker celebrated his first operatic success with “Der ferne Klang”. The basic elements of his special tonal language are clearly recognizable: rich in modulation and moving harmonies to the edge of tonality as well as a lush orchestration . The vocal parts are worked out with a bel canto intensity based on the model of Puccini . The artist problem and the hinted escape into illusory worlds were dealt with very often around 1900. The figure of Fritz has autobiographical traits. At the time this work was being created, Schreker was also looking for the “pure sound”.
At the premiere at the Frankfurt Opera in 1912, the tenor Karl Gentner (1876–1922) played and sang the main male role of Fritz .
literature
- Christopher Hailey: Franz Schreker. 1878-1934. A cultural biography. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1993, ISBN 0-521-39255-1 (Chapter 2: The distant sound: “So very something new” in the Google book search).
- Ulrike Kienzle: The trauma behind the dream: Franz Schreker's opera 'Der ferne Klang' and Viennese modernism. Ed. Argus, Schliengen 1998, ISBN 3-931264-05-X (zugl .: Frankfurt (Main), Univ., Diss., 1997).
- Thomas Leibnitz: Franz Schreker. The distant sound (1912). In: Günter Brosche (Ed.): Musicians' manuscripts from Heinrich Schütz to Wolfgang Rihm. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-15-010501-3 , pp. 124–125 (with illustration of the handwriting on the particell page, sheet 3v).
- Walter Windisch-Laube: Far away in the approaching sound: Franz Schreker's Windharp Opera . In: Ders .: An air-born muse mysterious string play. On the symbol of the Aeolian harp in texts and tones since the 19th century, Vol. 2/2. Are, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-924522-18-9 , pp. 665-732 (also: Frankfurt (Main), Univ., Diss. 2000).
Web links
- The distant sound : sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Action of Der ferne Klang at Opera-Guide landing page due to URL change currently not available