Living hours (one-act cycle)

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Lively hours. Four One-Acts is a one-act cycle by Arthur Schnitzler that was published in book form by S. Fischer in 1902 . The world premiere took place on January 4, 1902 at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. The connecting element of the pieces is the relationship between artistic creation and the meaning of life.

Lively hours

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Heinrich's mother, court councilor, died at the age of 53. Heinrich, the young writer, has had a writer's inhibition for two or three years . The 60-year-old retired civil servant Anton Hausdorfer, Heinrich's fatherly friend, also mourns the loss of his beloved friend. Heinrich thinks back to his boyhood. The young man is unsure whether to sympathize with Anton's grief. Anton now reveals to him that the mother died because of the only son. Heinrich cannot believe the enormity. Anton insists on his claim. The court councilor could not see how her incurable illness had disrupted her son's writing profession. When Heinrich has recovered, he makes up his mind to lend duration to those “living hours” of the mother, namely by writing. Anton remains skeptical and also thinks back. Heinrich's “whole writing” is nothing compared to a single “living hour” of the beloved court councilor.

reception

  • The actor Wilhelm von Wymetal asked Schnitzler about Heinrich's nature. It's about the question of whether an author needs such drastic events as the death of a person to write something. Schnitzler's answer of May 13, 1902 can be found in the two-volume edition of the letter.
  • Sprengel calls the construction of the piece loose and Korte speaks of " tabloid drama ".

The woman with the dagger

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Pauline meets the young Leonhard several times in the picture gallery. He confesses his love to the married young woman. Too late, signals the beloved. Tomorrow she is going to Italy with her husband, the poet. Besides, she doesn't love Leonhard. Leonhard sticks firmly to his decision. In the coming, for both of them the last possible and only night, Pauline will be his.

A leap back in time to the 16th century is carried out on the stage - into Italy into the epoch in which the picture The woman with the dagger , in front of which the two are currently standing, was painted. Now is Pauline Paola and Leonhard Lionardo. The constellation in the late Middle Ages is, as it were, a congruent one with the modern age. Much more, the painter Lionardo owned Paola, someone else's wife, last night. Now that the betrayed husband is approaching, Lionardo wants to kill himself out of love for Paolo, so that he "won't give himself away with one look".

Enter the husband. Paola points to the still living Lionardo and confesses to the husband the love affair. Lionardo wants to be killed by the husband on the spot. The latter renounces revenge and generously opens the gate to freedom. Paola stabs Lionardo.

A leap forward into modern times ends the drama at the same time: the determined Pauline wants to spend the coming night with Leonhard.

shape

The piece is cleverly built. The short excursion into the late Middle Ages anticipates the outcome of the drama. So Pauline will kill Leonhard after the night together.

reception

  • Sprengel places the piece in Schnitzler's drama, in which the partner tolerates “temporary infidelity” in the artist marriage.

The last masks

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The action takes place in the “Extrakammerl” of the Vienna General Hospital and revolves around the patient Karl Rademacher, who believes he is about to die. Instigated by his fellow patient Florian Jackwerth, Rademacher decides to take revenge on his former friend, who has surpassed him professionally, before he dies. He believes he can draw satisfaction from his revenge: “I… die in the hospital. - But it doesn't matter ... - because now the moment comes when I can crush him. ”However, when the old friend comes and takes care of him as a good friend does, he removes any basis from Rademacher's hatred. Because of Weihgast's generosity, Rademacher is condemned to silence. Finally he gives up his plans: “Desk -? - Do what you want. Burn because of me! ... masterpieces! - And if so ... posterity is only for the living ”. He can still die in peace, realizing that this visit is worth as much, if not more, than his plans for revenge.

characters

Karl Rademacher is a 54-year-old journalist who - although he considers himself quite talented - did not manage to achieve fame or fortune through his work. He is in the hospital, and his shabby appearance and completely gray hair underline his suspicion that he will have to die soon: "I can feel it ... tomorrow morning it may all be over". The doctors, on the other hand, claim that he will soon be healthy again: "Doctor Halmschlöger tells me it's just a question of good care ... you'll be leaving the hospital in a few weeks".

The second patient is called Florian Jackwerth . He is an actor around 28 years old, who is skinny, but looks well-groomed, as far as that is possible for a patient in the hospital. For him, a stay in hospital is just an opportunity to improve his professional skills ("Do you think one of us goes to the hospital for free? You can learn something there"). The doctors, however, are less optimistic: “A poor devil of an actor. ... has no idea that it will be underground in eight days at the latest. "

Alexander Weihgast , a former friend of Rademacher, is an elegantly dressed poet of around 55 years of age who has kept himself well.

Dr. Halmschlöger is a young secondary doctor who, in the eyes of his colleague, treats patients too good- naturedly (“Well, listen, the people here are just taking advantage of your good-naturedness”), which makes him more popular with patients: “the doctor Halmschlöger. A fine gentleman, just a little cocky. "

Dr. In contrast to his colleague, Tann , the second secondary doctor, is dressed a little carelessly and is more strict with the patients.

Juliane Paschanda is the guard and is described as "fat, good-natured, and not yet old". She can laugh at Jackwerth's jokes, but makes sure that they don't get out of hand: “How people can imitate them ... Well, you won't stop! You sin. "

literature

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Gilbert visits his former lover Margarethe. In the dialogue it turns out that both have processed the story of their past relationship in a novel each. Of course, each of the two authors has vigorously covered the traces. However, one flaw has been made. Both authors have inserted their correspondence word for word into the respective text of the novel. The choice between writing and marrying the baron is easy for Margarethe. Marriage is, by the way, the elegant solution to the problem of published love letters. Margarethe has her novel, which is about to be delivered, crushed, throws the copy that the baron brings back from a visit to the publisher into the fire and gives himself up to marry.

reception

  • Farese calls those writers hypocrites who cannibalize love experiences.
  • According to Sprengel, Schnitzler alludes to events in Munich's artistic circles .

Performances

expenditure

  • Arthur Schnitzler: Lively Hours. Four one-act plays . Berlin: S. Fischer 1902.
    • 1st - 4th Edition = 1,000 to 4,000, 1902
    • 5th edition = 5,000, 1903
    • 6th edition = 6,000, 1906
    • 7th edition = 7,000, 1909
    • 8th-9th Edition = 8,000 to 9,000, 1912
    • 10-12 Mintage = 10,000 to 12,000, 1922
  • First printing of Lebendige Stunden: Arthur Schnitzler: Lebendige Stunden. One act. Neue Deutsche Rundschau, vol. 12, issue 12, December 1901, pp. 1297–1306. 
  • Stage manuscript of Lebendige Stunden: Arthur Schnitzler: Lebendige Stunden. Acting in 1 act . Berlin 1901.

Further editions

Radio plays

Musical arrangements

Film adaptations

literature

Contemporary

  • Anonymous review: Die Gegenwart, 31 (Vol. 61), No. 2, Jan. 11, 1902, p. 30.
  • Hermann Bahr : Lebendige Stunden (Four characters by Arthur Schnitzler: "Lebendige Hours", "The Woman with the Dagger", "The Last Masks" and "Literature". Performed for the first time in the Carl Theater on May 6, 1902. First Presentation of the Berlin German Theater). In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt , vol. 36, no. 102, May 7, 1902, pp. 1-4. 
  • Hermann Bahr: Lebendige Stunden (four one-act plays: "Lebendige Stunden", "The Woman with the Dagger", "The Last Masks", "Literature" by Arthur Schnitzler. First performed at the Deutsches Volkstheater on March 14, 1903). In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt, vol. 37, no. 73, March 15, 1903, pp. 2–3. 
  • Max Burckhard : Die Zeit (Vienna), vol. 51, no. 392, May 10, 1902, pp. 90–91.
  • Karl Emil Franzos : German Poetry, 32, 1, April 1902, pp. 47–56.
  • Karl Frenzel : Deutsche Rundschau, vol. 28 (vol. 3), no. 8, May 1902, p. 300.
  • Stefan Großmann in Quelle, vol. 4, issue 1 of October 1, 1910, pp. 13-14.
  • Maximilian Harden : Die Zukunft, vol. 38, March 29, 1902, pp. 535-540.
  • Ernst Heilborn : Die Nation, Vol. 19, No. 15, January 11, 1902, pp. 237-238.
  • Erich Kalkschmidt: Der Kunstwart , vol. 15, no. 8, January 2nd, 1902, pp. 395–396.
  • Alfred Kerr : Neue Deutsche Rundschau , vol. 13, no. 5, May 1902, pp. 551-553.
  • Max Lorenz: Prussische Jahrbücher, Vol. 107, H. 2, February 1902, pp. 373–376.
  • Max Martersteig : German monthly publication, vol. 1, no. 4, January 1902, pp. 790–791.
  • Felix Poppenberg : miniatures of fate . Der Türmer, Vol. 4, H. 5, February 1902, pp. 555-561.
  • Heinrich Stümcke: Stage and World, Vol. 4, Vol. 1, H. 8, January 1902, pp. 346–347.
  • Gustav Zieler: The literary echo , vol. 4, no. 9, February 1902, col. 631–633.
  • Ernst Detleff. Der Kunstwart, vol. 17, no. 2, 2nd October issue, 1903, p. 100.

To the pieces

  • Hans Peter Bayerdörfer: From conversation piece to sausage comedy. To Arthur Schnitzler's one-act plays. In: Yearbook of the Schiller Society, vol. 16 (1972), pp. 516-575.
  • Françoise Derré: L'œuvre d'Arthur Schnitzler. Imagere viennoise et problemes humains. Paris 1966
  • Wolfgang Lukas : The self and the foreign. Epochal life crises and their solution in Arthur Schnitzler's work. Munich 1996.
  • Reinhard Urbach : Schnitzler commentary on the narrative writings and dramatic works . Munich: Winkler 1974, pp. 169–176.

More general

  • Giuseppe Farese: Arthur Schnitzler. A life in Vienna. 1862-1931 . Translated from the Italian by Karin Krieger . CH Beck Munich 1999. 360 pages, ISBN 3-406-45292-2 . Original: Arthur Schnitzler. Una vita a Vienna. 1862-1931. Mondadori, Milan 1997
  • Peter Sprengel: History of German-Language Literature 1870–1900. From the founding of the empire to the turn of the century . CH Beck , Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-44104-1
  • Gero von Wilpert : Lexicon of world literature. German Authors A - Z . S. 555, 2nd column, 23. Zvu Stuttgart 2004. 698 pages, ISBN 3-520-83704-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Schnitzler: Letters 1875–1912 . Ed .: Therese Nickl and Heinrich Nickl. S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin 1981, p. 450-451 .
  2. ^ Sprengel, p. 452, 19th Zvu
  3. ↑ Hermann Korte: Afterword. In: Heinz Ludwig Arnold (ed.): Arthur Schnitzler: Reigen. The one-act. With an afterword by Hermann Korte . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1961 (edition 2000), p. 596, 11. Zvu
  4. ↑ Source, p. 353, 18. Zvo
  5. ^ Sprengel, p. 500, 19. Zvo
  6. ↑ Farese, p. 103 middle
  7. ^ Sprengel, p. 500, 3rd Zvo
  8. ^ Hans Heinz Hahnl : Austrian half-tragedies of resignation . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna September 2, 1962, p. 4 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).