The Wooden Prince (Hungarian: A fából faragott királyfi) Op. 13, Sz. 60, is a one-act pantomime ballet composed by Béla Bartók in 1914-1916 (orchestrated 1916-1917) to a scenario by Béla Balázs. It was first performed at the Budapest Opera on 12 May 1917 under the conductor Egisto Tango.
The Wooden Prince has never achieved the fame of Bartók's other ballet, The Miraculous Mandarin (1926), but it was enough of a success at its premiere to prompt the Opera House to stage Bartók's opera, Bluebeard's Castle the following year (it had been waiting for a performance since 1911). Like Bluebeard, The Wooden Prince uses a huge orchestra (it even includes saxophones), though the critic Paul Griffiths believes it sounds like an earlier work in style (Griffiths p.71). The music shows the influence of Debussy and Richard Strauss, as well as Wagner (the introduction echoes the prelude of Das Rheingold). Bartók used a scenario by the poet Béla Balázs, which had appeared in the influential literary journal Nyugat in 1912.
Béla Viktor János Bartók ( /ˈbɑrtɒk/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbeːlɒ ˈbɒrtoːk]; March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer (Gillies 2001). Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of ethnomusicology.
Béla Bartók was born in the small Banatian town of Nagyszentmiklós in the Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (since 1920 Sânnicolau Mare, Romania) on March 25, 1881. Bartók's family reflected some of the ethno-cultural diversities of the country. His father, Béla Sr., considered himself thoroughly Hungarian, because on his father's side the Bartók family was a Hungarian lower noble family, originating from Borsod county (Móser 2006a, 44; Bartók 1981, 13), though his mother was from a Roman Catholic Serbian family (Bayley 2001, 16). His mother, Paula (born Paula Voit), had German as a mother tongue, but was ethnically of "mixed Hungarian" origin: Her maiden name Voit is German, probably of Saxon origin from Upper Hungary (Since 1920 in Czechoslovakia, since 1993 in Slovakia), though she spoke Hungarian fluently.[citation needed] Among her closest forefathers there were family names like Polereczky (Magyarized Polish or Slovak) and Fegyveres (Magyar). Béla displayed notable musical talent very early in life: according to his mother, he could distinguish between different dance rhythms that she played on the piano before he learned to speak in complete sentences (Gillies 1990, 6). By the age of four, he was able to play 40 pieces on the piano; his mother began formally teaching him the next year.
Originally performed by Diamond Head
Now I see his face, I see his smile
Such a lonely place, no golden mile
Eyes tell of morbid tales of his black heart
His deeds through ages past tell of his part
See his face, see his smile
Time to die
Angel from below, change my dreams
I want for glory's hour, for wealth's esteem
I wish to sell my soul, to be reborn
I wish for earthly riches, don't want no crown of thorns
See his face, see his smile
Time to die
I was born a fool, don't want to stay that way
Devil take my soul, with diamonds you repay
I don't care for heaven, so don't you look for me to cry
And I will burn in hell, from the day I die
See his face, see his smile
(Thompson)
Buster, he sold the heat
With a rock-steady beat
An earthquake is erupting
But not in Orange street
A ghost-dance is preparing
You got to help us with your feet
If you're not in the mood to dance
Step back, grab yourself a seat
This may not be uptown Jamaica
But we promise you a treat
Buster bowl me over with your bogus dance
Shuffle me off my feet
Even though I'll keep on runnin'
I'll never get to Orange street
So I set it up myself to say
For the man who set the beat
So I'll leave it up to you out there
To get him back on his feet
Buster bowl me over with your bogus dance
Shuffle me off my feet
Even though I'll keep on runnin'
I'll never get to Orange street
Bring back the
Who is the
We want the
Now I see his face, I've seen him smile
Such in a lonely place, no golden mile
His eyes tell morbid tales, of his black heart
His deeds through ages past, tell of his part
See his face, see his smile
Time to die
An angel from below, change my dreams
I want for glory's hour, for wealth's esteem
I wish to sell my soul, to be reborn
I wish for earthly riches, don't want no crown of thorns
See his face, see his smile
Time to die
I was born a fool, don't want to stay that way
Devil take my soul, with diamonds you repay
I don't care for heaven, don't you look for me to cry
And I will burn in Hell, from the day I die
See his face, see his smile
instrumental
All alone I go through the night
Along the walk ways wandering
With an empty bottle that fills my life
A sleeping lullaby's scares a mice
Hard to lay on a bed of ice
But I refuse to face the truth
And this is all that I can do
My heart is here in God it lays
I'm just like you oh, please don't run Away
Hey you! Pass and then you never stop
If you want have a little time to talk
I never loose my dignity
I am the prince
So why are you afraid of me?
It's you and your eyes don't wanna see
No way to loose my dignity
Things never change
I live my life alone among you
Every single day and every night
The life you're worried about tonight
You have to know it's all for me
My one and only way to be
My heart is here in God it lays
So don't avoid me
I'm just like you oh, please don't run Away
Hey you! Pass and then you never stop
If you want have a little time to talk
I never loose my dignity
I am the prince
So why are you afraid of me?
It's you and your eyes don't wanna see
No way to loose my dignity
Things never change
I live my life alone among you
Hey you! Pass and then you never stop
If you want have a little time to talk
I never loose my dignity
I am the prince
So why are you afraid of me?
It's you and your eyes don't wanna see
No way to loose my dignity
Things never change
Hey you! Pass and then you never stop
If you want have a little time to talk
I never loose my dignity
I am the prince
Things never change
I walk alone
At dead of night, a shadow floats in
I'm gripped in pleasure I'm gripped in fright
Howling once again for innocent blood
An all-time loser, but you're my God, Mr.Lee
Down on my knees with the face in the dirt, I obey the
master
Live on the scraps you scorn, treat me like a grinded
worm
[Refrain:]
Oh, prince arise from the ashes again
My prince arise come and hear my plea, come and hear
my plea
Oh, prince arise from the ashes again
My prince arise come and hear my plea, come and hear
my plea
He's an English gentleman
His bloodshot eyes they hypnotize
He just stands there and watches me
Frozen blood in my veins, but I like it
Down on my knees with the face in the dirt, I obey the
master
Live on the scraps you scorn, treat me like a grinded
worm
[Refrain:]
Oh, prince arise from the ashes again
My prince arise come and hear my plea, come and hear
my plea
Oh, prince arise from the ashes again
My prince arise come and hear my plea, come and hear
my plea
Your slave, I'm your slave punish me - A servant of
the dark
Your slave, I'm your slave punish me
An unholy creature a child of the night
Let me be, let me be your renfield I'll do everything
you want
Let me be, let me be your renfield I'll give you
everything you need
[Solo: Lohmann]