Tranquilla Trample
Tranquilla Trampeltreu, the persistent turtle is the title of the first children's opera by the composer Wilfried Hiller and the young adult book author Michael Ende .
Origin and premiere
The musical fable in rondo form was created 1980-1981 and was on 9. July 1981 at the City Museum in Munich conducted by the composer premiered . His wife Elisabeth Woska, Michael Stralek and Wilfried Hiller were responsible for the production. Michael Stralek, Max Glas and Erika Gerdis were responsible for the marionettes, puppets and other equipment. Two other works by Hiller were performed in the presentation of the world premiere.
The fable is designed in such a way that it is equally suitable for staged and concert performances. Wilfried Hiller dedicated it to his son Carl Amadeus.
action
The title and main character of the fable is a turtle named Tranquilla Trampeltreu. She is very slow in walking and thinking ( Latin tranquilla , the quiet). But because she is extremely stubborn, she is nicknamed "the persistent tortoise".
On the occasion of the wedding of the great-maned majesty, the lion Leo the twenty-eighth, the entire animal kingdom is invited to the festival. Tranquilla Trampeltreu wants to be there too and is on her way. Because of its slowness, it is viewed with suspicion by many traveling animals. But in order to show up in time for the celebration, she remains stubborn and does not allow anyone to dissuade her. Only in this way can she reach her goal, which she ultimately reaches with a long delay.
Motif story
The motif of persistently pursuing a lofty goal, who despite years of delay still achieves his goal, which has changed and has remained the same in a higher sense, can be found several times in literature, for example in the different versions of the The legend of the fourth king in Edzard Schaper 1961 or Henry van Dyke 1895. References to the many stories of the rapture can also be made.
Musical line-up
Wilfried Hiller assigns certain musical instruments and a musical genre to each animal . On its way, the turtle, which is walking in a slow turtle march , encounters so many musical forms: a grasshopper dancing a tango , a snail crawling in slow blues , and an arrogant lizard that sings like an opera. Two ravens and a monkey appear as further figures. A narrator connects the musical episodes.
meaning
"The musical fable 'Tranquilla Trampeltreu' points new directions in the field of theater for children," said Carl Orff about the work.
"Tranquilla Trampeltreu" is one of the four pieces for musical theater that mark a high point in the fruitful collaboration between Hiller and Ende. Both authors attach great importance to theater that stimulates mind and heart. Hiller's music never comes to the fore. She comments, underlines, explains, only marks the individual figures and their characters and movements. The mythical creatures come to life and become true beings for children.
In an essay for the Opernwelt magazine, youth culture researcher Gunter Reiß complained about the "neglect of the libretto in children's music theater". Hiller and Ende introduced a trend reversal in this development with their musical fables. Originally conceived for the record, the fables are designed like a radio play. In the course of the collaboration between the authors, further, more dramatic works were created, the scenic performances of which were and are very successful.
literature
- Tranquilla Trample . (Record cover). Deutsche Grammophon Junior Stereo 2546 058, 1981
- Gunter Reiß (Ed.): Theater and music for children. Contributions and sources on Herfurtner, Hiller, Ponsioen, Schwaen, on children's drama and puppet theater . (= Children's and youth culture, literature and media ; Volume 12). Lang, Frankfurt am Main et al. 2001 ISBN 3-631-34484-8
- Richard Braun et al. a .: Harenberg, composers lexicon. 760 composers and their work . Harenberg, Dortmund 2001 ISBN 3-611-00978-4 , page 426f.