Paul Dessau (1974)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Paul Dessau |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1974 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gitta Nickel |
| script | Gitta Nickel Wolfgang Schwarze |
| production | DEFA studio for short films on behalf of the television of the GDR |
| music |
Paul Dessau Friedrich Goldmann |
| camera | Niko Pawloff |
| cut | Gitta Nickel |
Paul Dessau is a documentary made by DEFA Studio for Short Films in 1974 . It was commissioned by East German television and directed by Gitta Nickel .
action
The film does not represent a biographical course of Paul Dessau's life, but rather individual stages from it are shown. In addition to statements from his friends and colleagues, excerpts from interviews are repeatedly shown in which he also explains how he came up with the name Pauken-Paule .
It starts with a choir singing one of his songs, which he thinks is far too happy, which is why he steps in and in the subsequent interview takes the view that music is not a relaxation medium, because there are pills for relaxation or even going for a walk, which is significantly cheaper . He also expresses the opinion that although there are only 12 tones in music, they are used differently in socialism and capitalism . As an example, he cites the Requiem for Lumumba , whose lyricist Karl Mickel said that no fascist would understand this music. He plays this requiem to a group of young people and asks for a subsequent discussion. A young woman asks him why he has so many disharmonies in his compositions, to which he replies that it is relative, because what is harmony to one is disharmony to another, i.e. what one likes does not appeal to others. Most people have prejudices that they need to learn to overcome.
In a meeting of the social council of the German State Opera Berlin , Paul Dessau speaks about his understanding of music and tries to convey his attitude. It's about his opera Einstein , which he calls an anti-opera and from which longer excerpts of the rehearsal work are shown. He tells how he got the material and how he asked Bertolt Brecht , who also wanted to write a play about Albert Einstein , to help him. Brecht assumed that Dessau would be finished in two years, but it turned out to be eighteen years. Further excerpts from the rehearsals with the director Ruth Berghaus and the singers Reiner Süss , Theo Adam and Peter Schreier will follow.
This is followed by statements by Paul Dessau, in which he describes his path from a musical, middle-class family to a communist. He was strongly influenced by the Spanish Civil War , to which he dedicates several songs, the most famous of which is Spain's Heaven , which was made famous by Ernst Busch and which is reproduced in the film with documentary recordings. He is discussing this and his song The Young World in Berlin at the 10th World Festival in Berlin with a group of young people. Recordings of how he teaches a school class are of course not missing. Another section deals with a solidarity event with Chile in the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, where he is supposed to play the piano. But that is not enough for him and within four days he composes three songs based on texts by Pablo Neruda , which are his contribution to this event.
Then he tells how he was persuaded by a secretary to join the Communist Party while working for Warner Brothers in the USA . Then Gisela May sings his setting of the text Song of a German Mother by Bertolt Brecht. The next topic is a visit to Paris after the Second World War , when he reads in the newspaper about German neo-fascists rioting cemeteries. This makes him so angry that he wants to process this topic in a composition and he looks for partners who can support him. One of them is the composer Boris Blacher , another is the conductor Herbert Kegel , the result is the opera The Condemnation of Lucullus with a libretto by Bertolt Brecht. Here Dessau takes the opportunity to tell about his collaboration with Brecht, which also includes film clips from the Berliner Ensemble with the Brecht play Coriolan and recordings by Helene Weigel with a song from Mother Courage and her children . It continues with recordings of a performance of the condemnation of Lucullus in Brno and with pictures and expressions of opinion by Italian communists about the performance in La Scala in Milan . The director in Italy was Giorgio Strehler , who then gave his opinion on the music of Paul Dessau and the Volkstheater. At the end of his production he had Lukullus hung upside down, which is reminiscent of Benito Mussolini and underlines the antifascist mandate of the opera.
The composer Hans Werner Henze speaks about a song that he wrote for Paul Dessau for his birthday and that would not have come about without the song style he developed. While the song is playing, a Vietnamese couple with a toddler is shown on the screen bringing flowers to the grave of their loved ones. Then he once again expresses the friendship with Paul Dessau, which has greatly enriched his life. Another composer, the Italian Luigi Nono, talks about the admiration that the Italian communists show Paul Dessau, especially for his battle songs. This is followed by recordings of the premiere of Einstein in the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and the subsequent celebration, at which Gret Palucca is also present.
At the end of the interview, he regrets that some of the conductors in the GDR are not keeping pace with the development of music, because people are already further and do not only want to hear Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann .
production
Paul Dessau was shot on ORWO -Color and completed using black and white documents. The film premiered on December 15, 1974 on the occasion of Paul Dessau's 80th birthday in the first program of GDR television .
criticism
In the Berliner Zeitung , Gisela Herrmann said:
“To draw a portrait of Paul Dessau - there is no obligation. To draw it in such a way that the observer level of the documentary artist gives the viewer the space to become a participant and empowering explorer - this is what G'Ha Nickel's clever artistic handwriting shows. Your film performs a subtle, sentimental one. fresh engagement with a personality. A creative film composition with the great composer in terms of image selection, train of thought and rhythm. "
Awards
- 1975: XII. International TV Festival Prague : Prize of the Intervision Jury
- 1975: XII. International TV Festival Prague: Prize of the Press
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Neues Deutschland from December 15, 1974, p. 8
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of December 19, 1974, p. 6
- ↑ Neues Deutschland from June 19, 1975, p. 4