Solidarity song

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The solidarity song, written by Bertolt Brecht and set to music by Hanns Eisler , is a workers song . The song is between 1929 and 1931, against the background of the Great Depression (1929), the last World War (1914–1918) and the social question for the film Kuhle Wampe or: Who Owns the World? originated.

There are two different versions of the lyrics, both from Brecht. Far better known is the second song text , written during the war in Spain , which expresses the situation more abstractly and ideologically, while the early text referred specifically to the film Kuhle Wampe .

Brief description

In 1932 the first text version of the song was premiered with the participation of numerous workers' choirs and athletes. It spread quickly in the last months of the Weimar Republic, especially at sporting events. The original text begins with the lines: "Come out of your hole, which is called an apartment / And after a gray week a red weekend follows!".

Memorable musical implementation of the word " solidarity " at the end of the chorus: The first four syllables sounded on one and the same pitch (a d above the subdominant G minor chord) a semitone (sung deeper, the last syllable is namely c sharp above the dominant A major chord). The four closing bars of the song bring this half-close twice in a row. This leaves the question “Whose tomorrow is tomorrow, whose world is the world?” Musically open and unanswered.

In its melodic outlines, the refrain follows the BACH motif. The four tones sound on the first beats of bars 1, 2, 5 and 6. The motif is further sequenced with tones d and c sharp in bars 9 and 10 (see above) .

The song is used in Frederic Rzewski's 1975 piano work The People United Will Never Be Defeated! cited several times. The last two bars of the solidarity song served as a pause for the radio station Voice of the GDR .

The text was translated into several languages ​​and adapted to the melody rhythm.

reception

In 1961, the composers Andre Asriel , Fritz Geißler , Herbert Kirmße , Günter Kochan , Siegfried Köhler , Dieter Nowka , Joachim Werzlau and Ruth Zechlin composed orchestral variations on Eisler's solidarity song , some of whom were Eisler's pupils.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Lyrics from 1931 in Russian, Dutch and English translations as well as details on distribution (in Russian), accessed on March 18, 2018.