Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian |
| Original title: | Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien |
| Shape: | Mystery in Five Acts (Mansions) |
| Original language: | French |
| Music: | Claude Debussy |
| Libretto : | Gabriele D'Annunzio |
| Premiere: | May 22, 1911 |
| Place of premiere: | Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris |
| Playing time: | approx. 5 hours (music alone approx. 1 hour) |
| Place and time of the action: | Rome and environs, around 288 AD |
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Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien ( The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian ) (L 124) is a work for the stage, a “mystery in five acts” with music by Claude Debussy and text by Gabriele D'Annunzio .
The monumental work was written in 1911 and premiered on May 22nd of this year at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. D'Annunzio designed the French text (in 3938 verses) for the dancer Ida Rubinstein , who was supposed to take on the role of the martyr Sebastian. Debussy was to write a few choruses, orchestral interludes and arias for this tremendous text mass, for reasons of time he came (in collaboration with André Caplet ) However, only about an hour's incidental music , stand against the text about four hours.
The premiere turned into a scandal, the Archbishop of Paris, Léon-Adolphe Amette , forbade all Catholics to attend the performances because of the depiction of the saint by a scantily clad Jewish and Russian woman, Ida Rubinstein. As a result, all of D'Annunzio's works were placed on the Librorum Prohibitorum index . The reviews and the behavior of the audience were accordingly snubbed or bored with the duration (over five hours).
The complete work is rarely performed in its original form. The sentimental and long fin de siècle text D'Annunzio may be responsible for this. On the concert stage, however, Debussy's music can assert itself on the one hand in concert performances, on the other hand, the version for symphony orchestra “Fragments Symphoniques” by Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht has achieved some popularity. In a new version of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin from 2012, the legend of the saints was staged and expanded to include interventions by five young contemporary composers. With actress Hanna Schygulla in the role of Saint Sebastian, the performance in Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church attracted a lot of attention.
Structure:
1. La Cour des Lys (The Court of the Lilies)
2. La Chambre magique (The Magic Chamber)
3. Le concile des faux Dieux (The court of false gods)
4. Le Laurier blessé (The wounded laurel tree)
5. Le Paradis (The Paradise)
swell
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, Claude Debussy: Le Martyre de Saint-Sébastien. De la création 1911 a la reprise a l'Opéra de Paris 1957. (Revue Musicale, Paris 1957)
Recordings
The music was recorded with abbreviated text by inter alia:
- 2008 Heidi Grant Murphy , Dagmar Pecková , Nathalie Stutzmann, Dörte Lyssewski, Collegium Vocale Gent (choir direction: Christoph Siebert), SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg under Sylvain Cambreling (Glor Classics GC08181)
- 1984 Colin Davis (conductor) / Petr Weigl : Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien. Film for WDR and Czech television by Petr Weigl. With Michael Biehn (title role), Anne Sofie von Otter, among others
- 1953 Suzanne Danco , Nancy Waugh, Lise de Montmollin, Union Chorale de la Tour-de-Peilz (choir director Robert Mermoud), l'Orchestere de la Suisse Romande under Ernest Ansermet Decca; digitized on Naxos
- 1952 Frances Yeend , Anna Kaskas , Miriam Stewart, Oklahoma City Symphony Chorale (choir director Robert Roudié), Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra Victor Alessandro , Allegro / Elite