Johann Faustus (Eisler)

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Johann Faustus is the title of an opera planned by Hanns Eisler and only completed in fragments, and is at the same time his only literary work. Eisler used the Faust figure in his libretto to process and criticize the prevailing cultural situation after the founding of the German Democratic Republic in an ideological critique. With its Faust-Goethe theme, it concerned the central point of the official GDR self-image of “maintaining (German) national culture ” and can be understood as Eisler's most important contribution to the formalism debate.

The genesis

The first suggestion to approach this subject reached back to his exile in California. Thomas Mann had been working on his novel: “Doctor Faustus” since 1943, he presented this manuscript several times in between to Eisler and others for discussion. Mann also describes this in: "The Origin of Doctor Faustus" , also about the joint, cheerful discussions about it in Arnold Schönberg's house . When the book appeared in 1947, Eisler was one of the first to read it.

On July 13, 1951, the anniversary of the death of his teacher Arnold Schönberg, from whom he only found out two days later, Eisler finished the first draft of his Faust libretto. Already at this time he had deep doubts about the way of working, he felt pushed out of the previous spontaneity and eagerness to experiment and tried - as he wrote - to achieve a mature, well-rounded, valid performance. At the same time, he had the right to write this libretto in such a way that everyone really understands it, an opera that likes you and you with the people, by reintroducing the elements of popular drama.

In his claim, Eisler also goes back to the early puppetry as the most important form of transmission of the popular material, renewed by a performance by an Erzgebirge puppet theater, and to the Viennese figure of Hanswurst, the Kasperl, which he was very familiar with from his time in Vienna in 1921, such as can be read in his diary entries.

Despite his doubts about the first draft, he sent the manuscript to Thomas Mann and Lion Feuchtwanger, who were still in the United States and both of them certified that it was a "work of high poetic rank" in their reaction to the draft. Eisler also discussed the piece with Brecht while it was being written. Mann remarked in his letter that “the whole thing is pretty provocative”. After completion in August 1952, Eisler handed the manuscript over to the Aufbau-Verlag, the book edition appeared in October 1952. However, after heated political debates, the book had to be withdrawn from circulation.

The GDR first performance of the text took place in 1982 in the Berliner Ensemble.

content

foreplay

The prelude takes place in the underworld , the realm of the dead. Pluto , the ruler of the underworld, hears the complaints of the death shipper Charon and his " agents ". They regret not having any more great souls. The general bad situation is identified as the cause. People are doing so badly that they can no longer commit sins . Pluto mentions Doctor Faust as a noble, extraordinary soul . He asks the devil Mephisto to lead Faust to the underworld, since he behaved in the spirit of hell during the peasant wars . Mephisto knows more about Faust: out of desperation, he earned four doctorates and, disgusted by reason and science , is turning back to religion .

The implied guilt of Faust is carried out more and more as the action progresses. By turning away from the peasants and fearfully rejecting the peasant uprising, he betrayed them. Faust acted against his own belief. He suffers and regrets this betrayal .

1st act: Wittenberg

Faust finds no consolation in the Bible , since such a "child belief" is no longer possible for him. He sees the " black art " as a possible way out, but still hesitates to subscribe to it and decides to go out among people. He meets the disabled peasant warrior Karl . Faust regrets him but considers the armed struggle of the peasants to be a mistake. Faust himself is the son of a farmer and Karl has known him since childhood. The betrayal becomes twofold: against the farmer and against his own origin. In the end, the hesitant intellectual has to let himself be laughed at by the revolutionary peasant for his praise of apolitical, socially distant science and shyly walks away.

After returning home, he decides to indulge in the "black art". He conjures up the underworld and the "agents of Pluto" appear. But only Mephisto appears to him as a suitable servant. After some hesitation, he makes a pact with him . The period is 24 years. Faust demands the fulfillment of all his earthly wishes to become a lovable person and the mastery of the arts . In return, Mephisto demands that Faust not wash, read, not enter a university and not love anyone. The contract is above all an escape from the past and an attempt to forget. Faust's first order is then to make him forget two songs from the peasant war.

Since Faust no longer wants to be reminded of the Peasants' War and its betrayal, he demands of Mephisto to travel to Atlanta. They are accompanied by Hanswurst , whom Wagner hired as Faust's servant. He is a simple, shrewd, food-inclined farmer. He fled forced recruitment during the Peasant Wars. His appearances are full of situation comedy and play on words.

Act 2: Atlanta

Once in Atlanta, the strangers are questioned suspiciously by the servants of the Lord of Atlanta. One is skeptical of new things, one is not interested in magic, and business acumen is always important.

While Hanswurst is being fed by the maid Grete , Faust is bored with Else , the mistress of Atlanta. She tells self-pity that the creation of the garden cost many of her slaves their lives. But just as the former swamp keeps coming up in the garden, the " negro " keeps coming through in the slave . Whipping only helps for a short time. Faust is disgusted.

Faust promises the performance of a new art, the Black Games. Scenes are chosen from the Bible that Faust is supposed to show as an illusion . First, Faust shows the David Goliath story . While an Atlantic general thinks history is rebellious , the victory of the weak peasant over the mercenary Philistine is cheered by the slaves. The second game shows how the slave Joseph resists the seduction of Potiphar's wife and thus maintains the unity of the slaves. He cannot be corrupted and a hierarchy emerges within the slaves.

In the third game, Faust is supposed to show the three Jews who insist on their faith against King Nebuchadnezzar II . The original story is told by a secretary: The Jews persist in their faith. That's why they're pushed into an oven. There they begin to sing and Nebuchadnezzar, touched, releases them. For the Atlantic general, this is another “propaganda tale”. Thereupon Mephisto promises a new version of his "Lord" Faust. In the Schwarzspiel, the three Jews simply burn to death. The songs are still sung by the slaves of Atlantas. The servants of the Lord, the “dark-eyed ones”, whip them for it. The Lord of Atlanta indignantly points to the equality in Atlanta. He gives two insignificant examples that ignore the differences between the rich and the poor.

In one last black game, inspired by a slave, Faust shows the scenery of a golden age with reference to Ovid : Fraternity, freedom, equality and peace are called for. The rulers of Atlanta are appalled at the details of the black game, while the slaves cheer.

The gentleman from Atlanta is jealous of Faust. He had overheard Faust's conversation with Elsa and seen the final embrace. The black games did the rest. Mephisto therefore warns Faust not to attend the banquet . He would be arrested and charged with hatred against Atlanta and revolutionary ideas. As a possible proof, Mephisto pulls a book by Thomas Müntzer out of Faust's pocket. Mephisto reads various passages. Faust replies with the penalties on it. But since he touched the book and thus broke the contract, Mephisto cannot help him. All you have left is to flee.

The little devil wood grouse gets the order from Mephisto to save Hanswurst. He's still with Grete and he's happy. Auerhahn tries to force Hanswurst to make a pact with him and the underworld as well. Hanswurst refuses, because he is attached to his "little devoured soul". Finally, Hanswurst Auerhahn squeezes some presents for Grete and a future post as a night watchman in Wittenberg and thus concludes a contract with Auerhahn. For Auerhahn it is the only way to get the hesitant Hanswurst to leave.

The remaining Grete is interrogated by the "sinister eyes".

3rd act: Wittenberg

Dissatisfied with the brief superficial fame in Atlanta and back in Wittenberg, Faust wants to become a great role model for the Germans, "a Faustian nature". Faust wants the recognition of great men. On Mephisto's advice, an exhibition of treasures allegedly brought from Atlanta is set up. The peasant war was costly, and the nobility is looking for new sources of money. When the nobility arrives, an old servant collapses because he recognizes in them the murderers of his sons during the peasant war. But the poor population is also crowding into the exhibition. Wagner announced that Faust would give more treasures to the nobility in order to mitigate the consequences of the peasant war. There is restlessness. Also present is the new night watchman Hanswurst, who was dismissed by Faust. He is ridiculed as a wretched figure by the insurgent farmer Fischer . When Hanswurst discovers his Grete among a group of exhibited “natives”, he touches her and the figures crumble to dust. Wagner reports that she was severely punished as a traitor in Atlanta.

Under Fischer's leadership, all showcases will now be smashed and all treasures will fall apart. The anxious Faust flees to Mephisto. The guards shoot fishermen. Mephisto gives Faust the responsibility. Faust is desperate and needs company. That's why you're flying to Leipzig , in Auerbach's cellar . There Faust interprets the Orpheus saga to students . When Faust realizes that he is just boring his audience, he asks Mephisto for help. It shows an illusion in which Odysseus , Circe and their companions perform a dance as pigs. Faust flees in disgust.

Back in Wittenberg he hides in his palace. Close to madness and no longer able to bear himself, he lets the mirrors drape and washes imaginary blood from his hands all the time.

Nobles honor him for his opposition to Müntzer . You declare him a great role model, but again a kind of role model that Faust did not strive for. When Luther hugs him, Faust turns away.

In the important Confessio , Faust tells his life story. Since he could not bear the poverty of the peasants, he went to the monastery . When he mendacity and helplessness of the Church recognized against poverty, he joined Luther. After Luther called for a fight against the peasants, he joined Müntzer. However, after the peasant uprisings began, he returned to Luther fearfully. As a doctor, he desperately tried to help. He then switched helplessly to the legal profession , then turned morose to philosophy . But since he could never do anything for the well-being of the people, but did not dare to join the revolutionary peasants, he gave himself up to the "black art". But now he realizes that this was only his deepest fall. He connected with the hated gentlemen. After this final betrayal, all he sees for himself is doom:

Now I am miserable to the bottom,
And so everyone should go who
does not have the courage
to stand by his cause.

Mephisto pulls him back into the play and tells that he too is an outcast traitor and repents. There is also a way out for Faust, a possible reparation . He just needed time. Faust hopes again. But Mephisto triumphantly announces his end. Although only twelve years had passed, the contract had expired: a farmer's day only had twelve hours of work. But Faust had 24 hours of him. With an old pawn rule, Mephisto takes advantage of Faust.

Faust wanders through the city in remorse. Hanswurst insults him as a traitor. Tricks and good deeds no longer help him. When he weakens around midnight, Mephisto appears as a doctor and takes him with him. Hanswurst is called by a tough woman. Karl has the last appearance; a boy accompanying him sings a hopeful song. Two citizens think that Karl cannot be beaten.

Performances

See also

literature

Primary literature

  • Hanns Eisler: Johann Faustus. Opera. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin (GDR) 1952
  • Hanns Eisler: Johann Faustus. Final version. Edited by Hans Bunge. With an afterword by Werner Mittenzwei. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin (GDR) 1983
  • Hanns Eisler: Johann Faustus. Opera . With an afterword by Jürgen Schebera. Faber and Faber, Leipzig 1996, ISBN 3-928660-63-2

Secondary literature

  • Academy of Sciences of the GDR (ed.): Literary life in the GDR 1945-1960. Literature concepts and reading programs. Berlin 1979
  • Martin Buchholz : The red fist - About Hanns Eisler's “Johann Faustus” In: specifically 04/1977, pp. 44–46
  • Hans Bunge: The debate about Hanns Eisler's "Johann Faustus". A documentation . Edited by the Brecht Center Berlin. Basisdruck, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-86163-019-2 ( English review )
  • Mark W. Clark: Hero or Villain? Bertolt Brecht and the crisis surrounding June 1953. (PDF) In: Journal of Contemporary History . Vol. 41, No. 3, 2006, pp. 451-475, ISSN  0022-0094
  • Peter Davies: Hanns Eisler's "Faustus" Libretto and the Problem of East German National Identity. (PDF): Music & Letters , Vol 81, No. 4, Nov. 2000, pp 585-598.. ISSN  0027 to 4224
  • Hanns Eisler: Two letters to Bertolt Brecht. In: Sense and Form. Contributions to literature (edited by the German Academy of the Arts). Special issue Hanns Eisler 1964. Berlin 1964
  • Hanns Eisler: Collected Works. Vol. 2. Music and Politics. Writings 1948–1962 (edited by S. Eisler, M. Grabs). Leipzig 1982
  • Klaus F. Gille: "Whoever tries hard ...": Considerations for fist reception. In: Neophilologus , Vol. 68, No. 1, Winter 1984, pp. 105-120, ISSN  0028-2677
  • Manfred Grabs: Hanns Eisler - Work and Edition. In: Arbeitsheft 28 (edited by the Academy of the Arts of the GDR). Berlin 1978
  • Ernst Fischer: Doctor Faustus and the German Peasant War. In: Sense and Form . Issue 6. 1952. Berlin 1952
  • Jan Knopf: Testator Dr. Johann Faust. Hanns Eisler Faustoper and German traditions. In: Joachim Dyck, Heinrich Gossler u. a .: Brecht discussions . Kronberg / Taunus 1974
  • Künstlerhaus Bethanien (ed.): Hanns Eisler, Johann Faustus: between peasant war and black art. A production by Theater-Manufaktur Berlin. Künstlerhaus Bethanien 1977
  • Georg Lukács : Faust and Faustus. From the drama to the human species of the tragedy of modern art . Selected Writings II. Berlin 1967
  • Gert Mattenklott: Brecht and Eisler in Vienna and Berlin. The work on Faustus. In: John Warren, Zitzlsperger (Ed.): Vienna Meets Berlin. Cultural Interaction 1918–1933 . P. Lang, Oxford / New York 2005, ISBN 3-03910-548-5 , pp. 217-282
  • Karl-Otto Maue: Hanns Eisler's "Johann Faustus" and the problem of inheritance. Interpretation of the libretto and its contemporary discussion in the GDR 1952/53 . Kümmerle, Lauterburg 1981, ISBN 3-87452-516-3
  • Christoph Müller: Faust in the German misery - The Tübingen premiere of Johann Faustus. In: Theater heute 5/1974
  • Gerhard Müller: Eisler and the Faustus Debate. In: Hanns Eisler Society e. V .: Hanns Eisler the contemporary. Positions - Perspectives. Materials on the Eisler festivals in 1994 (edited by Günter Mayer). Leipzig 1997
  • Inge Münz-Koenen u. a .: Literary life in the GDR 1945–1960. Berlin 1979
  • Ulrich Roland: Goethe's “Faust” and the fabric of Faust in the GDR. On reception problems from 1945–1955. Greifswald 1984
  • Irmgard Schartner: Hanns Eisler, Johann Faustus. The work and its performance history. Lang, Frankfurt / Main / Berlin / Bern / New York / Paris / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-631-33363-3
  • Peter Schweinhardt (Ed.): Hanns Eisler's "Johann Faustus". 50 years after the opera text was published in 1952 . Symposium. Breitkopf and Härtel, Wiesbaden / Leipzig / Paris 2005, ISBN 3-7651-0381-0
  • Socialist magazine for art and society . Issue 20/21. Berlin 1973 (new edition 1975)
  • Deborah Vietor-Engländer : Faust in the GDR . Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt / Bern 1986
  • Deborah Vietor-Engländer, Hans Bunge: The debate about Hanns Eisler's "Johann Faustus". In: Weimar contributions . Journal of Literary Studies, Aesthetics and Cultural Studies, Vol. 38, No. 2, 1992, pp. 308-314, ISSN  0043-2199
  • Klaus Völker: German National Opera without Music - To Hanns Eisler's Johann Faustus. In: Theater heute 5/1974
  • W. Zobl: The dispute about Eisler's revolutionary reorganization of the Dr. Faustus. In: Hanns Eisler . Special volume of the magazine Das Argument (AS 5), Berlin (West) 1975

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Mellenthin: The dispute over Eisler's Faust draft 1953
  2. ↑ Hanns Eisler, Notes on Dr. Faustus
  3. ^ Hanns Eisler: Writings 1948–1962 . Berlin / GDR, 1982. P. 132ff.
  4. ↑ HEGW II, p. 16