Korngold's Masterpiece / Singing Vacuum Cleaner

Hans Tschiritsch, with his Zwitscheridu (hybrid cello / dijeridu; two more of his instruments are in the background), and Robert Rønnes, bassoon, performing part of a new work by Werner Schulze

In the course of one weekend: an opera, a sneak preview of a new work based on overtones, a play, and a 'Gesprächskonzert.' I’ll write about the latter two tomorrow, but to begin with, a few words about the Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his greatest work, Die tote Stadt, produced at the Wiener Staatsoper. Korngold was a ‘wunderkind’---Mahler pronounced him a genius, and the critic Eduard Hanslick, ‘a little Mozart.’ He impressed Puccini and Richard Strauss as well. His father, the leading music critic Julius Korngold, stepped in to complete the opera’s libretto after the first librettist jumped ship. (Even Korngold suffered through librettist horrors.) Composed when he was only 23, Die tote Stadt tells the story of a Paul’s intense grief for the young Marie, his dead wife; his attraction to Marietta, a woman who resembles her; and his nightmare, where he is driven to strangle Marietta after she ceaselessly mocks the dead Marie. The origin of the story, Bruges la Morte, by Georges Rodenbach, was a popular novel around the turn of the century. In the novel, the male character eventually murders his lover. Yet in the opera, the murder occurs only during the nightmare, leading to the main character’s liberation from his obsession. (A rarity in opera, to allow the woman to stay alive---although this opera nevertheless orbits around Marie, the dead wife.) This superlative production, my favorite of anything I’ve seen thus far, was conducted by Philippe Auguin, and directed by Willy Decker. Klaus Florian Vogt sang the part of Paul, the main character, and a nimble Angela Denoke, the parts of Marietta / Marie.

The endlessly inventive orchestration balanced the composer's somewhat sentimental style. Heard with astonishing clarity from where I was perched in a box seat the players, Korngold's score would be worth studying for orchestration techniques alone. He often infuses lyrical passages with unannounced clouds of dissonance to convey a sense of foreboding. One of the most obvious places he deploys this technique is toward the end of the well-known “Marietta’s Song.” Korngold must have inspired legions of Hollywood film composers. For instance, one section in the opera, a kind of signature sound for westerns (low open fourths and fifths, punctuated by brass), was completely familiar to me even though I hadn't previously heard this opera. Indeed, Korngold himself ended up in Hollywood, at first temporarily residing there in order to score a film. He then stayed, due to the danger of returning to Austria. Of the several films he scored, two of the most well-known are A Midsummer Night’s Dream (for which he arranged Mendelssohn’s incidental music), and The Adventures of Robin Hood (earning him an Oscar, and also credited with saving his life).

Yesterday afternoon I attended a seminar at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (University for Music and Performing Arts), thoughtfully pointed out by my friend Nancy Van de Vate, an American composer based in Vienna. The subject of the seminar, new methods of overtone composition, was demonstrated largely by a partial performance of Concerto Roberto (to be premiered in Oslo later this year) written by Werner Schulze for the incredible bassoonist / composer Roberto Rønnes and scored for invented instruments, bassoon, overtone singers, and piano. Prof. Schulze gave a dynamic presentation about the work, his influences and methods, to visiting students who were participating in the International Meeting of Music Therapy Studies. The rich overtone singing of the Austrian musician and inventor, Hans Tschiritch, was surely an inspiration to these students. Hopefully they were inspired to seek out opportunities for exploring overtone singing in greater depth, to use in their healing practices. Do have a look at the site for Tschiritch. It includes photos of his strikingly original chess sets and, more relevant to this post, links to several of his instrument inventions and their sounds. Of particular interest to me, as I'm working on a short opera starring a vacuum cleaner, is the Singenden Sauger (singing vacuum cleaner).