Quodlibet (Old Viennese People's Theater)

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In the old Viennese folk comedy of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Quodlibet (popular: "Mess, Mischmasch") is a song form. They used various forms of classical music ( aria , duet , trio , ensemble , recitative ) and combines them with simple, often banal folk songs , Schnaderhüpfelnn , G'strampften and marches into an independent, small work of art.

dramaturgy

The quodlibet is organically embedded in the plot and is its continuation on a musical level. In contrast to the couplet , the characters do not step out of the plot to comment, but in the quodlibet the plot is pushed forward. There are decisive moments of action that are of indispensable importance for the progress of the piece and its understanding, sometimes even dramatic situations arise. Often the Quodlibet is also the continuation of a love or jealousy story.

A quodlibet always takes place between several figures and achieves its charm through the contrast of the apparently incompatible musical elements. The characters remain true to their character and their milieu and achieve a comical effect by expressing themselves in the most difficult forms of music with the same ease as they do in their everyday language.

Recognizing a well-known melody in the Quodlibet is an additional stimulus, but not a prerequisite for the comic or musical effect. Usually there is only one Quodlibet per piece, mostly in the second half of the piece.

Johann Nestroy

In the work of Johann Nestroy (1801–1862) in particular , the Quodlibet is one of the fixed components of the Viennese local posse . Nestroy was an opera singer himself, his partner Marie Weiler came from Singspiel, so the Quodlibets in Nestroy's pieces are usually specially tailored to these two actors. One of Nestroy's best-known roles on the opera stage was the role of Sarastro in Mozart's Magic Flute . His strong affinity for Mozart can be seen in the musical quotes in the quodlibets of The Talisman ( La clemenza di Tito ), Höllenangst (aria "This image is enchanting beautiful" from the Magic Flute) and Das Gewürzkrämerkleeblatt (trio of the three boys from the Magic Flute, at Nestroy sung by three spice dealers).

Quodlibets with a dramatic course of action are available from Nestroy in Das Gewürzkrämerkleeblatt (1845), where three husbands who have been betrayed discover each other's wife as an adulteress for their reassurance, or for free! (1857). Entanglements in love are at the center of the quodlibets in Der böse Geist Lumpazivagabundus (1833), Das Haus der Temperamente (1837), Höllenangst (1849) and in Der Talisman (1840), where in Nestroy's most famous Quodlibet the hero Titus Feuerfuchs between the goose-girl Salome Pockerlitz the gardener Flora Baumscher is torn back and forth.

There are also Quodlibets by Nestroy, which, each introduced by a prelude, were performed independently. The audience had the opportunity to see their favorite actors in a variety of roles, and it was a welcome opportunity for the actors to show themselves at their "best". This “confusion” of scenes and people came primarily at so-called benefit performances (the income from this evening belonged entirely to the beneficiary). Six such dramatic quodlibets by Nestroy have been handed down: The farce The journey with the steam wagon (premiered on December 5, 1834 "for the benefit" (benefit) of his friend Wenzel Scholz ), The incoherent context (1830), Magical express car journey through the comedy world (1830) , Two bowls full of Mardi Gras donuts (1831), humorous express car journey through the theater world (1832), The Stitched Comedy (1840) and The Quodlibet of Different Centuries with Prelude The Dramatic Carpenter (a "scene and person mess of several pieces" , First performance on May 12, 1843 in the Theater an der Wien ).

interpretation

Quodlibets are often incorrectly classified and performed as "opera parodies". However, in the Quodlibet the acting persons never leave their identity and do not become “Valkyries” or “hero tenors” within their performance. Nestroy, on the other hand, has also emerged as the author of proven operatic parodies ( Tannhäuser and Lohengrin based on the works of the same name by Richard Wagner , Robert der Teuxel based on Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable or Judith and Holofernes - a satire on Friedrich Hebbel's drama Judith ).

literature

  • Hilde Sochor : Quodlibet or opera parody? Plea for the preservation of a Viennese delicacy . In: Nestroyana , Volume 26 2006, Issue 3–4, publications of the International Nestroy Society, Vienna 2006