WozzeckIn 1972 Elias Canetti said: 'with Wozzeckm Buchner achieved the most complete revolution in the whole of literature'. The same can be said of Berg's opera, as revolutionary in the history of music in our century as in opera in particular. Mark DeVoto and Theo Hirsbrunner discuss why this infinitely complex and formal score perfectly suits the confused and disordered nature of the play. In his famous essay about the opera (written in 1968, but given here for the first time in English) Theador Adorno shows how what seems fragmentory in the text is actually complete, and how the music responds to the words; Kenneth Segar offers a new interpretation of the play in the light of the most recent Buchner research. Also for the first time, the complete edition of the play as Berg knew it is set out with a translation so that readers can see not only what he kept for his liberetto but also what he omitted. This unique source material is complemented by a series of critical reactions to the first London production in 1952 illustrating the controversy which has surrounded the opera since its 1925 Berlin premiere, and the extent to which our aesthetics have changed over the last forty years. |
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Page 44
... stands with somewhat uncertain outlines in my memory , but that given in New York under Dimitri Mitropoulos only ten months since . I had felt then not only the power of the individual sections of the opera , but the cogency of its ...
... stands with somewhat uncertain outlines in my memory , but that given in New York under Dimitri Mitropoulos only ten months since . I had felt then not only the power of the individual sections of the opera , but the cogency of its ...
Page 89
... stands outside her door . Wozzeck comes rushing up to her . [ 7 ] MARIE spoken WOZZECK staring at her and shaking ... stand there ... Devil ! Was it there you saw him ? Just as the day's long and the world ancient , many people can stand ...
... stands outside her door . Wozzeck comes rushing up to her . [ 7 ] MARIE spoken WOZZECK staring at her and shaking ... stand there ... Devil ! Was it there you saw him ? Just as the day's long and the world ancient , many people can stand ...
Page 90
... stands staring at her . ' Better a knife - blade ' ... WOZZECK [ 12 ] ' Lieber ein Messer ' ... Der Mensch ist ein Abgrund , es schwindelt Einem , wenn man hinunter schaut ... in a frightened whisper Ah ! Man is a chasm . It makes you ...
... stands staring at her . ' Better a knife - blade ' ... WOZZECK [ 12 ] ' Lieber ein Messer ' ... Der Mensch ist ein Abgrund , es schwindelt Einem , wenn man hinunter schaut ... in a frightened whisper Ah ! Man is a chasm . It makes you ...
Contents
an Interpretation Kenneth Segar | 15 |
On the Characteristics of Wozzeck Theodor W Adorno | 37 |
Thematic Guide | 53 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Act Three Alban Berg Andres Andrew Porter Angus McBean APPRENTICE Archiv Universal Edition Arnold Schönberg Augen barracks Blut Büchner Büchner's play Caspar Neher Change of scene characters child chord Christel Goltz composer Covent Garden dance donkey dramatic Drum Major einmal Erich Kleiber Esel Franz Frederick Dalberg geht gentlemen girls Gott guter Mensch hab's Halli Hallo hand heiss Herr Doctor Herr Hauptmann Herren heut Hopp human immortal jetzt Kerl Komm kommt läuft Leut libretto Mann Margret Marie's room Marko Rothmüller Menschen Metropolitan Opera murder muss Natur night Opus orchestra Otakar Kraus performance pissing première Ringel Scene Five Scene Four Scene Three schön Schönberg score sehen shaving the Captain singing Soldaten soldiers soll Sonne spoken stage steht symphony Teufel theme todt Tom Hammond tonal Translation by Andrew Unsterblich viel Vienna Wagner Walter Berry Weib Weibsbild Welt wieder Wozzeck zwei