La Passion selon Marc - Une Passion après Auschwitz

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Work data
Title: The Markus Passion - A Passion after Auschwitz
Original title: La Passion selon Marc - Une Passion après Auschwitz
Shape: Passion Oratorio
Original language: Hebrew, Aramaic, Old French, German
Music: Michaël Levinas
Premiere: April 12, 2017
Place of premiere: Église St-François in Lausanne
Playing time: approx. 1 ¼ hours
people

La Passion selon Marc - Une Passion après Auschwitz (German: "The Markus Passion - A Passion after Auschwitz") is an oratorio for soloists, choir and orchestra by Michaël Levinas . It was premiered on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in the Saint-François Church in Lausanne and depicts the Passion event from a Jewish perspective with references to the Holocaust .

structure

First part. “Partie Hébraïque” - Hebrew part

The first part of the oratorio consists of three sections in Hebrew and Aramaic:

  • No. 1. Kaddish - male voices of the choir accompanied by orchestra and organ
  • No. 2. El maleh Rachamim - funeral prayer
  • No. 3. Lecture des noms - names of Holocaust victims read out by the evangelist, accompanied by the “murmur” of the orchestra and a choral psalmody

Second part. “Partie Chrétienne - Évangile selon St Marc” - Christian part - Gospel according to Saint Mark

The second part contains the unabridged text of chapters 14 and 15 of the Gospel of Mark in Old French, based on a 13th century Bible manuscript that was transcribed by Michel Zink for the oratorio. In contrast to the Gospels according to Matthew and John , the Passion Report of the Gospel of Mark contains no anti-Jewish statements. Levinas decided in favor of Old French because it is more sonorous and colorful (“plus sonore et colorée”) than modern French, but also allows a tonal transformation of the spiritual content in terms of rhythm and content. He completed the text with verses from the Mystères et Passions by Arnoul Gréban from the 15th century. The “tears of the mother” (“Larmes de la mère”) structure the Gospel account.

The individual sentences are overwritten as follows:

  • No. 1. Première imploration de la Mère
  • No. 2. La Pasque from Juys
  • No. 3. La Béthanie ("Boiste pleine de narde preciuse")
  • No. 4. Cantiques de Jésus
  • No. 5. Refrain: récit de la trahison de Judas
  • No. 6. La Cène; thème de la Croix
  • No. 7. Thème de l'Eucharistie; thème de la crucifixion
  • No. 8. Deuxième imploration de la Mère
  • No. 9. L'engagement de Pierre
  • No. 9a. Troisième imploration de la Mère
  • No. 10. Arrestation de Jésus: Baiser de Judas. Récit par l'Évangeliste
  • No. 11. La Trahison de Pierre. Le chant du coq
  • No. 11a. Récit du Golgotha
  • No. 12. La Crucification
  • No. 13. La Descente de la Croix. Le soir étant venu. La nuit du Sabbath tombe lentement

Third part. "That of your grief (Ce deuil)" - two poems by Paul Celan

The third part consists of two German-language poems by Holocaust survivor Paul Celan .

The lock is performed by the soprano and accompanied by two flutes, piano, harp and gong.

The oratorio ends with Espenbaum . The mezzo-soprano sings it as a soloist without any instrumental accompaniment.

  • No. 1. The lock
  • No. 2. Aspen tree

orchestra

The orchestral line-up of the oratorio includes the following instruments:

The violists and cellists also play harmonicas in D.

In some places the cellos and double basses are prepared with pieces of paper.

Some of the choristers are given pipes.

Work history

Levina's Markus Passion was commissioned by the association “Musique pour un temps présent” from Yverdon-les-Bains , which endeavors to promote “contemporary music creation in connection with current philosophical theological and religious questions” with a focus on the interreligious dialogue, especially with Judaism. The aim of the composition was to tell the story of the Passion from a Jewish perspective.

Magali Léger (soprano), Marion Grange (mezzo-soprano), Guilhem Terrail (countertenor) and Mathieu Dubroca (baritone) sang at the world premiere on April 12, 2017 in the Église St-François in Lausanne . Marc Kissóczy directed the Ensemble Vocal Lausanne and the Orchester de chambre de Lausanne. The performance was broadcast live on Radio West Switzerland and on France Musique . Arte Concert then made a video recording available on the Internet.

There were subsequent performances on April 13, 2017 in the St. Peter Cathedral in Geneva, on April 14 in the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Freiburg and on September 21 in Strasbourg .

literature

  • Jean-Marc Tétaz, Pierre Gisel: Une Passion après Auschwitz? Autour de la Passion selon Marc de Michael Levinas. Beauchesne 2017, ISBN 9782701022529

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ A vocal range between baritone and tenor that occurs in French opera, named after Jean-Blaise Martin .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Indication in the score.
  2. ↑ a b c booklet for the premiere.
  3. ^ Paul Celan's meeting with Nelly Sachs on celan-projekt.de. The poem Die Schleuse can also be found here . Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  4. ↑ The memory must not end with lpb-bw.de. The poem Espenbaum can also be found here. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  5. ↑ La Passion selon Marc on the website of “Musique pour un temps présent”, accessed on October 25, 2017.
  6. ↑ Carole Schneuwly: Look where it hurts. In: Freiburger Nachrichten, April 13, 2017, accessed on October 25, 2017.
  7. ↑ Georges Scherrer: In Levina's “Markus Passion” after Auschwitz, the son weeps for his mother. Article from April 7, 2017 on the website of the Catholic Church Switzerland, accessed on October 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Markus Passion - A Passion after Auschwitz" by Michaël Levinas ( memento from October 26, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) on Arte Concert , accessed on October 25, 2017, video no longer available.