Carl Maria von Weber
Operas Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn (1802) Silvana (1810) Abu Hassan ( 1811) Der Freischütz (1821) Euryanthe (1823) Oberon (1826) Die drei Pintos (completed by Gustav Mahler, 1888)
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Der Freischütz (usually translated as The Marksman^[1] or The Freeshooter^[2]) is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin. It is considered the first important German Romantic opera,^[3] especially in its national identity and stark emotionality.^[4] The plot is based on the German folk legend of the Freischütz and many of its tunes were inspired by German folk music. Its unearthly portrayal of the supernatural in the famous Wolf's Glen scene has been described as "the most expressive rendering of the gruesome that is to be found in a musical score".^[5]

Performance history[link]

Despite its daring innovations (and some scathing attacks by critics),^{[citation needed]} it quickly became an international success, with some 50 performances in the first 18 months after the premiere.^{[citation needed]} Among the many artists influenced by Der Freischütz was a young Richard Wagner.^[6] A version in French with recitatives was prepared by Hector Berlioz for a production at the Paris Opera in 1841.^[7] This was revived at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 2011.^[8]

The overture and the "Huntsmen's Chorus" from Act 3 ("With princely enjoyment and manly employment ...") are often performed as concert pieces.

Roles[link]

Costume designs for Samiel and Caspar in the original production

Synopsis[link]

Der Freischutz, J. 277 - Overture Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Courtesy of Musopen

An 1822 illustration of Der Freischütz depicting the opening scene with Max and Kilian.

Place: Bohemia

Time: At the end of the Thirty Years War

Act 1[link]

The young assistant forester Max loves Agathe and is to become the successor to Cuno, the head forester and Agathe's father. But a test of skill in marksmanship is required, the trial to be held the following day.

At a target shooting, Max loses to the young peasant Kilian, who is proclaimed "King of marksmen." (Chorus: "Victoria! der meister soll leben"/"Victory! Long live the master"; the good-naturedly mocking song of Kilian: "Schau der Herr"/"Let him gaze on me as king.")

Because Max has had ill luck for several days he easily falls under the influence of Caspar, who persuades Max to cast seven magic bullets to be used in the contest. Caspar, whose soul is to be forfeited to the devil on the following day, hopes to obtain three more years of grace by substituting Max in his place. (Trio: Cuno, Caspar, Max; chorus: "O diese Sonne"/"O the sun, fearsomely it rises.")

Left alone, Max sinks into deep melancholy at the thought of losing Agathe through failure at the shooting contest. (Aria: "Durch die Wälder"/"Through woods and fields.") Caspar with weird incantations tries to imbue him with courage. (Song: "Hier im ird'schen Jammerthal"/"Here in this vale of tears.")

He hands Max his gun loaded with a magic bullet, and to his own astonishment Max kills an eagle soaring at a great height. He resolves to go with Caspar at midnight to the terrible Wolf’s Glen to cast the magic bullets, which will kill anything the shooter wants, in order to win the prize. Caspar, left alone, triumphs. (Aria: "Schweig! damit dich Niemand wart"/"Silence, let no one warn him.")

Act 2[link]

Design for the Wolf's Glen (1822, Weimar)

Agathe's chamber

Agathe is filled with sad forebodings. She sings of her meeting with a hermit in the forest, who told her that in some danger which menaced her, she would be protected by her bridal wreath. At the moment when Max shoots the magic bullet, the picture of Agathe’s ancestor hanging against the wall falls to the floor, slightly wounding her. Agathe's cousin and companion Aennchen replaces it. (Duet: "Schelm, halt fest!"/"Rogue, hold fast, I will teach you.") Agathe is still more disturbed, but Aennchen endeavours to cheer her with jests. (Arietta: "Kommt ein schlanker Bursch gegangen"/"Comes a pretty boy this path.")

Agathe left alone awaits Max with the news of his success, which she decides to interpret as a favourable omen. (Recitative and aria: "Wie nahte mir der Schlummer . . . Leise, leise"/"My eyelids droop in slumber . . . Low, low, sacred words".)

Max arrives; he acknowledges that he has not been the victor, but explains that he has killed a deer, which he will bring this evening from the Wolf’s Glen. Notwithstanding the prayers of Agathe and Aennchen, Max departs. (Trio: "Wie? Was? Entsetzen!"/"What, oh horror! there in the wolf’s gorge?")

The Wolf’s Glen at night

Caspar calls upon Samiel, the Black Huntsman, for assistance, and prepares the casting of the magic bullets. Max arrives and is warned by the spirit of his mother to abandon the project. Samiel conjures up the shape of Agathe, representing her as drowning herself in despair at Max’s ill success, whereupon he plunges into the glen and with demoniacal noise the casting of the bullets is begun.

Act 3[link]

Agathe’s chamber

Agathe is praying. (Aria: "Und ob die Wolke sie verhülle"/"Through clouds obscure still shines the sun in radiant sky.") Her doubts have returned, owing to a dream of ill omen, but Aennchen again cheers her with laughter and song. (Romance and aria, subsequently added by Weber: " Einst träumte meiner sel'gen Base"/"My deceased cousin had a dream.") The bridesmaids arrive with the bridal wreath. (Song: "Wir winden dir den Jungfern-Kranz"/"We wind round thee the bridal wreath.") When Aennchen opens the box, however, she finds within a funeral wreath, which still further increases Agathe’s misgivings. She is somewhat comforted by the memory of the hermit’s promise that she shall be protected by her bridal wreath.

Design for the Act 3 finale (original 1821 production)

The meeting of the marksmen

Having split the seven bullets between them, Max has used four and Caspar has used three. Max demands Caspar give him his last bullet to use in the final shooting contest, but Caspar refuses. As Max leaves, Caspar shoots a fox, thus making Max's bullet the seventh and controlled by the Evil One.

The prize shooting

Prince Ottokar awaits Max at his tent. (Chorus of foresters: "Was gleicht wohl auf Erden"/"What excels the pleasures of the chase.") Max is now to shoot a dove. As he takes aim, Samiel, the black huntsman, appears to guide the bullet, and causes Max to fire at Agathe, who is apparently wounded. (Finale: "Schaut, o schaut"/"See, oh see, he shoots his bride.") Agathe falls, but her bridal wreath has deflected the bullet, which struck Caspar. Agathe revives from her faint. Caspar, seeing a holy hermit by her side, realizes that he has failed. Samiel grasps him instead of Max, whereupon Caspar expires with a curse upon his lips. Prince Ottokar orders the corpse to be thrown into the Wolf’s Glen, then demands and receives an explanation from Max. In spite of pleas from Cuno, Agathe, peasants, and huntsman, the infuriated Prince pronounces the sentence of banishment. Before this can be carried out, however, the hermit enters into their midst. The Prince acknowledges the holy man, and asks for his counsel. The hermit explains that the combined effects of love for Agathe, and fear of losing her should he fail the shooting trial are what caused Max to stray from a life that was formerly without fault. The hermit goes on to condemn the trial shot, suggests a probationary year as penalty, and asks who among the assembled has looked into their own heart and would be willing to cast the first stone. If Max lives a faultless life, he will gain forgiveness and be permitted to marry Agathe. The Prince commends the hermit for his wisdom saying a higher power speaks through him. The Prince ends his pronouncement by saying he, himself, will place the hand of Agathe in that of Max when the probation is over. The opera ends with the ensemble singing prayers of thanks.

Instrumentation[link]

The opera "Der Freischütz" is scored for a standard-sized orchestra composed of:

In the orchestra pit: 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings (violin I and II, viola, cello, double bass)

Onstage: 1 clarinet, 2 horns, 1 trumpet, violins, celli

Recordings[link]

Derivative works[link]

• In 1841, Hector Berlioz added a ballet for a production of the opera in Paris. He orchestrated Weber's piano piece Invitation to the Dance for this purpose, but the orchestration soon became principally known as a concert piece in its own right.
• Franz Liszt prepared a piano transcription of the overture in 1846 (S.575).
• The Black Rider is a stage musical by Robert Wilson, Tom Waits, and William S. Burroughs, based on Der Freischütz.
• Magic Hunter,^[13] a Hungarian film, updates the story to the present time, with Max (Gary Kemp) as a police marksman.

References[link]

Notes

Sources

• Boyden, David D. (1959). An Introduction to Music. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-09149-2. ISBN 0-571-09149-0.
• Brown, Clive (1992). "Freischütz, Der ('The Freeshooter') Romantische Oper in three acts" in Sadie 1992, vol. 2, pp. 296–299.
• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "18 June 1821". Almanacco Amadeus. Accessed 18 March 2009 (Italian)
• Fisher, Burton (2002). Weber's Der Freischütz. Opera Journeys Publishing. ISBN 1-930841-56-6
• Holden, Amanda, editor (2001). The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4.
• Kobbé, Gustav (1997). The New Kobbé's Opera Book, edited by The Earl of Harewood and Antony Peattie. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0-399-14332-8.
• Kutsch, K. J.; Riemens, Leo (2003). Grosses Sängerlexikon (fourth edition, in German). Munich: K. G. Saur. ISBN 978-3-598-11598-1.
• Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-228-9.
• Singleton, Esther (1899). "Der Freischütz", A Guide to the Opera, pp. 77–90. Dodd, Mead & Company
• Weber, Carl Maria von (n.d. [1895]). Der Freischütz, complete score. Leipzig: C. F. Peters. Plate 8449. Dover reprint: IMSLP file #72740

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Der Freischütz

• Recording of "Wie nahte mir der Schlummer...Leise, leise" by Lotte Lehmann in MP3 format
• Creative Commons-licensed recordings of Der Freischütz in Ogg and MP3 formats.
• Der Freischütz: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Stanford discography, accessed 18 March 2009
• description of ELPE-Musique edition of Berlioz' recits (in German with audio samples)

Carl Maria von Weber, by Thomas Lawrence, 1814

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 1786 – 4–5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school.

Weber's operas Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon greatly influenced the development of the Romantic opera in Germany. Der Freischütz came to be regarded as the first German "nationalist" opera, Euryanthe developed the Leitmotiv technique to a hitherto-unprecedented degree, while Oberon anticipated Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream and, at the same time, revealed Weber's lifelong interest in the music of non-Western cultures. This interest was first manifested in Weber's incidental music for Schiller's translation of Gozzi's Turandot, for which he used a Chinese melody, making him the first Western composer to use an Asian tune that was not of the pseudo-Turkish kind popularized by Mozart and others.

A brilliant pianist himself, Weber composed four sonatas, two concertos and the Konzertstück (Concert Piece) in F minor, which influenced composers such as Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn. The Konzertstück provided a new model for the one-movement concerto in several contrasting sections (such as Liszt's, who often played the work), and was acknowledged by Stravinsky as the model for his Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. Weber's shorter piano pieces, such as the Invitation to the Dance, was later orchestrated by Berlioz, while his Polacca Brillante was later orchestrated by Liszt.

Weber compositions for woodwind instruments occupy an important place in the musical repertoire. His compositions for the clarinet, which include two concertos, a concertino, a quintet and a duo concertante, are regularly performed today. His Concertino for Horn and Orchestra requires the performer to simultaneously produce two notes by humming while playing—a technique known as "multiphonics". His bassoon concerto and the Andante e Rondo ungarese (a reworking of a piece originally for viola and orchestra) are also popular with bassoonists.

Weber's contribution to vocal and choral music is also significant. His body of Catholic religious music was highly popular in 19th century Germany, and he composed one of the earliest song cycles, Die Temperamente beim Verluste der Geliebten ([Four] Temperaments on the Loss of a Lover). Weber was also notable as one of the first conductors to conduct without a piano or violin.

Weber's orchestration has also been highly praised and emulated by later generations of composers – Berlioz referred to him several times in his Treatise on Instrumentation while Debussy remarked that the sound of the Weber orchestra was obtained through the scrutiny of the soul of each instrument.

His operas influenced the work of later opera composers, especially in Germany, such as Marschner, Meyerbeer and Wagner, as well as several nationalist 19th-century composers such as Glinka. Homage has been paid to Weber by 20th century composers such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Mahler (who completed Weber's unfinished comic opera Die drei Pintos and made revisions of Euryanthe and Oberon) and Hindemith (composer of the popular Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber).

Weber also wrote music journalism and was interested in folksong, and learned lithography to engrave his own works.

Life[link]

Childhood[link]

Weber was born in Eutin, Holstein, the eldest of the three children of Franz Anton von Weber and his second wife, Genovefa Brenner, a Viennese singer. The "von" was an affectation; Franz Anton von Weber was not actual aristocracy. Franz Anton began his career as a military officer in the service of the Duchy of Holstein, and after being fired, went on to hold a number of musical directorships. In 1787 Franz Anton went on to Hamburg where he founded a theatrical company.

Franz Anton's brother Fridolin, married Cäcilia Weber and had four musical daughters, Josepha, Aloysia, Constanze and Sophie, all of whom became notable singers. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart attempted to woo Aloysia, composing several pieces for her. But after she rejected his advances, Mozart went on to marry Constanze.

A gifted violinist, Franz Anton had ambitions of turning Carl into a child prodigy like Franz's nephew-by-marriage, Mozart. Carl was born with a congenital hip disease and did not begin to walk until he was four. But by then, he was already a capable singer and pianist.^[1]

Education[link]

Weber's father gave him a comprehensive education, which was however interrupted by the family's constant moves. In 1796, Weber continued his musical education in Hildburghausen, where he was instructed by the oboist Johann Peter Heuschkel.

On 13 March 1798, Weber's mother died of tuberculosis. That same year, Weber went to Salzburg to study with Michael Haydn, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn, who agreed to teach Carl free of charge.^[1] Later that year, Weber traveled to Munich to study with the singer Johann Evangelist Wallishauser and organist Johann Nepomuk Kalcher.

1798 also saw the twelve year old Weber's first published work, six fughettas for piano, published in Leipzig. Other compositions of that period, among them a mass, and his first opera, Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins (The Power of Love and Wine), are lost; but a set of Variations for the Pianoforte was later lithographed by Weber himself, under the guidance of Alois Senefelder, the inventor of the process.

In 1800, the family moved to Freiberg in Saxony, where Weber, then 14 years old, wrote an opera called Das stumme Waldmädchen (The Silent Forest Maiden), which was produced at the Freiberg theatre. It was later performed in Vienna, Prague, and Saint Petersburg. The young Weber also began to publish articles as a music critic, for example in the Leipziger Neue Zeitung in 1801.

In 1801, the family returned to Salzburg, where Weber resumed his studies with Michael Haydn. He later continued studying in Vienna with Georg Joseph Vogler, known as Abbé Vogler, founder of three important music schools (in Mannheim, Stockholm, and Darmstadt); another famous pupil of Vogler was Giacomo Meyerbeer, who became a close friend of Weber.

Early career 1803–1810[link]

In 1803, Weber's opera, Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn (Peter Schmoll and his Neighbors) was produced in Augsburg, and gave Weber his first success as a popular composer.

Vogler, impressed by his pupil's talent, recommended him to the post of Director at the Opera in Breslau in 1806. Weber sought to reform the Opera by pensioning off older singers, expanding the orchestra, and tackling a more challenging repertoire. His attempts at reform were met with strong resistance from the musicians and the Breslau public. Weber's time at Breslau was further complicated one night when he accidentally ingested engraver's acid that his father had left stored in a wine bottle. Weber was found unconscious and took two months to recover. The incident permanently ruined his singing voice.^[2]

He left his post in Breslau in a fit of frustration and from 1807 to 1810, Weber served as private secretary to Duke Ludwig, brother of King Frederick I of Württemberg. Weber's time in Württemberg was plagued with troubles. He fell deeply into debt and had an ill-fated affair with Margarethe Lang, a singer at the opera. Furthermore, Weber's father Franz Anton misappropriated a vast quantity of Duke Ludwig's money. Franz Anton and Carl were charged with embezzlement and arrested on 9 February 1810. Carl was in the middle of a rehearsal for his opera Silvana when he was arrested and thrown in prison by order of the king. Though no one doubted Carl's innocence, King Frederick I had grown tired of the composer's pranks. After a summary trial, Carl and his father were banished from Württemberg. Nevertheless, Carl remained prolific as a composer during this period, writing a quantity of religious music, mainly for the Catholic mass. This however earned him the hostility of reformers working for the re-establishment of traditional chant in liturgy.

Later career 1810–1826[link]

In 1810, Weber visited several cities throughout Germany; from 1813 to 1816 he was director of the Opera in Prague; from 1816 to 1817 he worked in Berlin, and from 1817 onwards he was director of the prestigious Opera in Dresden, working hard to establish a German Opera, in reaction to the Italian Opera which had dominated the European music scene since the 18th century. On 4 November 1817, he married Caroline Brandt, a singer who created the title role of Silvana.^[3] In 1819, he wrote perhaps his most famous piano piece, Invitation to the Dance.

The successful premiere of Der Freischütz on 18 June 1821 in Berlin led to performances all over Europe. On the very morning of the premiere, Weber finished his Konzertstück in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, and he premiered it a week later.

In 1823, Weber composed the opera Euryanthe to a mediocre libretto, but containing much rich music, the overture of which in particular anticipates Richard Wagner. In 1824, Weber received an invitation from The Royal Opera, London, to compose and produce Oberon, based on Christoph Martin Wieland's poem of the same name. Weber accepted the invitation, and in 1826 he travelled to England, to finish the work and conduct the premiere on 12 April.

Weber's grave in Dresden

Weber was already suffering from tuberculosis when he visited London; he died at the house of Sir George Smart during the night of 4–5 June 1826.^[3] Weber was 39 years old. He was buried in London, but 18 years later his remains were transferred to the family vault in Dresden. The eulogy at the reburial was performed by Wagner.

His unfinished opera Die drei Pintos (The Three Pintos) was originally given by Weber's widow to Giacomo Meyerbeer for completion; it was eventually completed by Gustav Mahler, who conducted the first performance in this form in Leipzig on 20 January 1888.

Legacy[link]

Weber's piano music all but disappeared from the repertoire. One possible reason for this is that Weber had very large hands and delighted in writing music that suited them.^[4] There are several recordings of the major works for the solo piano (including complete recordings of the piano sonatas and the shorter piano pieces, by Garrick Ohlsson, Alexander Paley and others), and there are recordings of the individual sonatas by Claudio Arrau (1st Sonata), Alfred Brendel (2nd Sonata), Sviatoslav Richter (3rd Sonata) and Leon Fleisher (4th Sonata). The Invitation to the Dance, although better known in Berlioz's orchestration (as part of the ballet music for a Paris production of Der Freischütz), has long been played and recorded by pianists (e.g., Benno Moiseiwitsch [in Carl Tausig's arrangement]). Invitation to the Dance also served as the thematic basis for Benny Goodman's swing theme song for the radio program Let's Dance.

Works[link]

	Der Freischütz - Overture Skidmore College Orchestra; courtesy of Musopen Concerto for Bassoon in F Major, 1st movement (piano transcription) Kat Walsh (bassoon) and Amy Crane (piano)
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Grand Duo Concertant for clarinet and piano 1. Allegro con fuoco 2. Andante con moto 3. Allegro William McColl (clarinet) and Joeseph Levine (piano)

Operas[link]

Church music[link]

• Missa sancta No. 1 in E-flat, J. 224 (1818)
• Missa sancta No. 2 in G, Op. 76, J. 251 (1818–19)

Symphonies[link]

• Symphony No. 1 in C (1812)
• Symphony No. 2 in C (1813)

Vocal works with orchestra[link]

• Cantata Der erste Ton for chorus and orchestra, Op. 14, J. 58 (1808 / revised 1810)
• Recitative and rondo Il momento s'avvicina for soprano and orchestra, Op. 16, J. 93 (1810)
• Hymn In seiner Ordnung schafft der Herr for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op. 36, J. 154 (1812)
• Cantata Kampf und Sieg for soloists, chorus and orchestra, Op. 44, J. 190 (1815)
• Scene and Aria of Atalia Misera me! for soprano and orchestra, Op. 50, J. 121 (1811)
• Jubel-Cantata for the 50th royal jubilee of King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony for soloist, chorus and orchestra, Op. 58, J. 244 (1818)

Concertos[link]

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 11, J. 98 (1810)
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 32, J. 155 (1812)
• Konzertstück in F minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 79, J. 282 (1821)
• Bassoon Concerto in F major, Op. 75, J. 127 (1811 / revised 1822)
• Andante and Rondo Hungarian (Andante e Rondo Ongarese) for Bassoon and Orchestra in C minor, Op. 35, J. 158 (1813), revised from J. 79 (1809) for viola
• Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73, J. 114 (1811)
• Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 74, J. 118 (1811)
• Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra in C minor/E-flat major, Op. 26, J. 109 (1811)
• Grand Potpourri for Cello and Orchestra in D major, Op. 20, J. 64 (1808)
• Variations for Cello and Orchestra in D minor, J. 94 (1810)
• Concertino for Horn and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 45, J. 188 (1815)
• Romanza Siciliana for Flute and Orchestra, J. 47 (1805)
• Six Variations on the theme A Schüsserl und a Reind'rl for Viola and Orchestra, J. 49 (1800 / revised 1806)
• Andante and Hungarian Rondo for Viola and Orchestra, J. 79 (1809)
• Adagio and Rondo for Harmonichord and Orchestra in F major, J. 115 (1811)

References[link]

Notes

Sources

• Friese-Greene, A. (1993) Weber, The Illustrated lives of the great composers, New ed., London : Omnibus, ISBN 0-7119-2081-8
• Henderson, D. G. and Henderson, A. H. (1990) Carl Maria von Weber : a guide to research, Garland composer resource manuals 24, New York ; London : Garland, ISBN 0-8240-4118-6
• Meyer, S. C. (2003) Carl Maria Von Weber and the Search for a German Opera, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-34185-X
• Reynolds, D. (Ed.) (1976) Weber in London, 1826, London : Wolff, ISBN 0-85496-403-7
• Warrack, J. H. (1976) Carl Maria Von Weber, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-241-91321-7
• Warrack, J. H., Macdonald, H. and Köhler, K-.H. (1985) Early romantic masters 2: Weber, Berlioz, Medelssohn, The composer biography series, London : Macmillan, ISBN 0-333-39014-8

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carl Maria von Weber

• Information about the new Carl Maria von Weber Edition
• The works of Carl Maria von Weber
• Carl Maria von Weber cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Free scores by Carl Maria von Weber in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Free scores by Carl Maria von Weber at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Carl Maria von Weber in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Der Freischütz Soprano (free MP3)
• Texts on Wikisource:
  • "Weber, Karl Maria von". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 
  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Weber, Carl Maria Friedrich Ernest von". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
  • Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). "Weber, Karl Maria von". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.. Wikisource 
  • Karl Maria von Weber in the University Musical Encyclopedia

Statue of Rip van Winkle in Irvington, New York, not far from "Sunnyside", the home of Washington Irving

"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. Written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England, it was part of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. Although the story is set in New York's Catskill Mountains, Irving later admitted, "When I wrote the story, I had never been on the Catskills."^[1]

Plot summary[link]

Dutch people playing nine pins (kegelen). Painted 1650-1660 by Jan Steen.

The story of Rip Van Winkle is set in the years before and after the American Revolutionary War. In a pleasant village, at the foot of New York's "Kaatskill" Mountains, lives the kindly Rip Van Winkle, a colonial British-American villager of Dutch descent. Rip is an amiable though somewhat hermitic man who enjoys solitary activities in the wilderness, but is also loved by all in town—especially the children to whom he tells stories and gives toys. However, a tendency to avoid all gainful labor, for which his nagging wife (Dame Van Winkle) chastises him, allows his home and farm to fall into disarray due to his lazy neglect.

One autumn day, Rip is escaping his wife's nagging, wandering up the mountains with his dog, Wolf. Hearing his name being shouted, Rip discovers that the speaker is a man dressed in antiquated Dutch clothing, carrying a keg up the mountain, who requires Rip's help. Without exchanging words, the two hike up to an amphitheatre-like hollow in which Rip discovers the source of previously-heard thunderous noises: there is a group of other ornately-dressed, silent, bearded men who are playing nine-pins. Although there is no conversation and Rip does not ask the men who they are or how they know his name, he discreetly begins to drink some of their liquor, and soon falls asleep.

He awakes in unusual circumstances: it seems to be morning, his gun is rotted and rusty, his beard has grown a foot long, and Wolf is nowhere to be found. Rip returns to his village where he finds that he recognizes no one. Asking around, he discovers that his wife has died and that his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else. He immediately gets into trouble when he proclaims himself a loyal subject of King George III, not knowing that the American Revolution has taken place; George III's portrait on the town inn has been replaced by that of George Washington. Rip is also disturbed to find another man is being called Rip Van Winkle (though this is in fact his son, who has now grown up).

The men he met in the mountains, Rip learns, are rumored to be the ghosts of Hendrick (Henry) Hudson's crew. Rip is told that he has apparently been away from the village for twenty years. An old local recognizes Rip and Rip's now-adult daughter takes him in. Rip resumes his habitual idleness, and his tale is solemnly taken to heart by the Dutch settlers, with other hen-pecked husbands, after hearing his story, wishing they could share in Rip's good luck, and have the luxury of sleeping through the hardships of war.

Characters in the story of Rip Van Winkle

• Rip Van Winkle – a henpecked husband who loathes 'profitable labor'.
• Dame Van Winkle – Rip Van Winkle's cantankerous wife.
• Rip – Rip Van Winkle's son.
• Judith Gardenier – Rip Van Winkle's daughter.
• Derrick Van Bummel – the local schoolmaster and later a member of Congress.
• Nicholas Vedder – landlord of the local inn.
• Mr. Doolittle – a hotel owner.
• Wolf – Rip's faithful dog
• The Ghosts of Henry Hudson and his crew – Ghosts that share purple magic liquor with van Winkle.

Composition and publication history[link]

The first installment of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon included "Rip Van Winkle".

After a failed business venture with his brothers, Irving filed for bankruptcy in 1818.^[2] Despondent, he turned to writing for possible financial support, though he had difficulty thinking of stories to write. He stayed in Birmingham, England with his brother-in-law Henry Van Wart.^[3] The two were reminiscing in June 1818 when Irving was suddenly inspired by their nostalgic conversation.^[4] Irving locked himself in his room and wrote non-stop all night. As he said, he felt like a man waking from a long sleep. He presented the first draft of "Rip Van Winkle" to the Van Wert family over breakfast.^[5]

"Rip Van Winkle" was one of the first stories Irving proposed for his new book, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon. Irving asked his brother Ebeneezer to assist with publication in the United States. As Irving wrote, "I shall feel very anxious to hear of the success of this first re-appearance on the literary stage – Should it be successful, I trust I shall be able henceforth to keep up an occasional fire."^[6] 2000 copies of the first octavo-sized installment which included "Rip Van Winkle" were released on June 23, 1819, in New York, Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, published by Cornelius S. Van Winkle and sold at a somewhat expensive 75 cents.^[7] A British edition was published shortly after by John Miller, who went out of business immediately after. With help from friend Walter Scott, Irving was able to convince John Murray to take over British publication of the Sketch Book.^[8]

Literary forerunners[link]

The story is similar to the German folktale "Peter Klaus"^[4] by Johann Karl Christoph Nachtigal, which is a shorter story set in a German village.

The story is also similar to the ancient Jewish story about Honi M'agel who falls asleep after asking a man why he is planting a carob tree which traditionally takes 70 years to mature, making it virtually impossible to ever benefit from the tree's fruit. After this exchange, he falls asleep on the ground and is miraculously covered by a rock and remains out of sight for 70 years. When he awakens, he finds a fully mature tree and that he has a grandson. When nobody believes that he is Honi, he prays to God and God takes him from this world.

In Christian tradition there is the well-known story of "The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", recounting a group of early Christians who hid in a cave about 250 AD, to escape the persecution of Christians during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius, fell into a miraculous sleep and woke some 200 years later during the reign of Theodosius II, to discover that the city and the whole Empire had become Christian. This Christian story is recounted by Islam and appears in a famous Sura of the Koran, Sura Al-Kahf. The story recalls a group of young monotheists escaping from persecution within a cave and emerging hundreds of years later.^[9] Irving, who wrote a biography of the Prophet Muhammad, may have been familiar with the story.

The story is also similar to a 3rd century AD Chinese tale of Ranka, as retold by Lionel Giles in A Gallery of Chinese Immortals, and an 8th-century Japanese tale, "Urashima Tarō".

In Orkney there is a similar folktale linked to the burial mound of Salt Knowe adjacent to the Ring of Brodgar. A drunken fiddler on his way home hears music from the mound. He finds a way in and finds the trowes (Trolls) having a party. He stays and plays for two hours, then makes his way home to Stenness, where he discovers fifty years have passed. The Orkney Rangers believe this may be one source for Washington Irving's tale, because his father was an Orcadian from the island of Shapinsay and would almost certainly have known the tale.

In Ireland, the story of Niamh and Oisin has a similar theme. Oisin falls in love with the beautiful Niamh and leaves with her on her snow white horse to Tir Na nOg – the land of the ever-young. Missing his family and friends, he asks to pay them a visit. Niamh lends him her horse, warning him never to dismount, and he travels back to Ireland. But three hundred years have passed; his family and fellow warriors are all dead. Some men are trying to move a boulder. Oisin reaches down to help them. The girth of the horse's saddle snaps and he falls to the ground. Before the watching eyes of the men he becomes a very, very old man.

Diogenes Laertius, an Epicurean philosopher of the third century, includes the story of Epimenides in his book On the Lives, Opinions, and Sayings of Famous Philosophers, in chapter ten in his section on the Seven Sages of Greece, precursors to the first philosophers. The sage Epimenides is said to have slept in a cave for fifty-seven years. But unfortunately, "he became old in as many days as he had slept years". Although according to the different sources that Diogenes relates, Epimenides lived to be one hundred and fifty-seven years, two hundred and ninety-nine years, or one hundred and fifty-four years old.^[10]

Adaptations[link]

Joseph Jefferson as Rip Van Winkle, 1896

The story has been adapted for other media for the last two centuries, from stage plays to an operetta to cartoons to films.

Actor Joseph Jefferson was most associated with the character on the 19th century stage and made a series of short films in 1896 recreating scenes from his stage adaptation, and which are collectively in the U.S. National Film Registry. Jefferson's son, Thomas, followed in his father's footsteps and played the character in a number of early 20th century films.

Composer Ferde Grofe spent twenty years working on a symphonic tone poem based on Rip Van Winkle, eventually reworking the material into his Hudson River Suite. One of the movements is entitled "Rip Van Winkle" and is a musical depiction of the story.

The 1960s Tale Spinners For Children record series included a dramatization of the Rip van Winkle story in which the name of Rip's daughter was changed to "Katrina" and the characters of Nicholas Vedder and Derrick Van Bummel were given more importance.

In the 16th episode of The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, which originally aired on January 16, 1965, Mr. Magoo (voiced by Jim Backus) plays Rip Van Winkle.^[11]

The story also inspired an episode of The Flintstones entitled "Rip Van Flintstone", which originally aired on November 5, 1965.^[12] In it, Fred falls asleep at the Slate Company Picnic and dreams he has awakened in Bedrock twenty years in the future, now a city with a population of 30,000. Besides a change in his personal appearance (Fred has grown a long beard, his hair has turned white and he needs a cane) he first finds out that Slate Company has gone out of business. Fred has been presumed dead and is now alone and forgotten; Barney has become a rich oil tycoon and Wilma has become a bitter old widow. The only one to remember him is his daughter Pebbles, now a full-grown woman who has married Bamm Bamm. Betty is mentioned in the dream sequence but not seen, implying that she has died. At one point during the episode, he even says, "Maybe I have fallen asleep for twenty years like in that Rip Van Winklestone story." However, Fred suddenly wakes up young again, realzing he was only momentarily dreaming.

A claymation version of the story was produced and directed by Will Vinton in 1978 and was nominated for an Academy Award Nomination for Short Subject Animation. The animated film was named Rip Van Winkle.^[13]

In the Faerie Tale Theatre children's television series hosted by Shelley Duvall in the 1980s, Francis Ford Coppola directed the episode "Rip Van Winkle" in which the Hollywood actor Harry Dean Stanton played the title role.^[14]

There is also an episode of the HBO show Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales For Every Child. They retold popular fairy tales by setting them in different cultures and settings and featuring voices provided by celebrities. For Rip Van Winkle they did a Feminist retelling of the story, given a 1960s twist, and told from the point of view of Rip's wife Vanna.

The TV show Wishbone showed the dog imagining himself as the title character, complete with the men playing ninepins and his mistaking the George Washington Inn for his old hangout of the King George Inn. It is set against the family meeting an elderly black woman who has not lived in her town since childhood, and her remarking at the change since her return makes her feel akin to Rip van Winkle.

The premise of the animated series Futurama where the main character Phllip J. Fry was cryogenically frozen from the year 1999 to 2999, was based on Rip Van Winkle.

Real life[link]

Similar events have happened in real life. The Russian Pioneer Psychologist Ivan Pavlov described a case of a man apparently sleeping 20 years, and there was another case in the Ukraine.^[15]

See also[link]

• Rip Van Wink from The Beano
• Rip van Winkle from Hellsing
• Rip Van Winkle Bridge
• Sleeping Beauty

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Rip Van Winkle

Sources[link]

• "Rip Van Winkle", illustrated by N. C. Wyeth (1921).
• "Rip Van Winkle", e-text from Bartleby.
• "Rip Van Winkle", audio version from 1946.
• "Rip Van Winkle", 1896 film.
• "Karl Katz", a comparison.

Other[link]

• Rip Van Winkle Study Guide
• Irving in Birmingham
• "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" – Irving's Fictions of Revolution
• A film clip of a 1896 Rip Van Winkle film starring Joseph Jefferson is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

Rudolf Kempe (born 14 June 1910 in Dresden, died 12 May 1976 in Zürich) was a German conductor.

Biography[link]

Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and then in the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, from 1929. In addition to oboe, he played the piano regularly, as a soloist, in chamber music or accompanying, as a result of which, in 1933, the new Director of the Leipzig Opera invited Kempe to become a répétiteur, and later a conductor, for the opera.^[1]

During the Second World War Kempe was conscripted into the army, but instead of active service was directed into musical activities, playing for the troops and later taking over the chief conductorship of the Chemnitz opera house.^[1]

Career[link]

Opera[link]

Kempe directed the Dresden Opera and the Dresden Staatskapelle from 1949 to 1952, making his first records, including Der Rosenkavalier, Die Meistersinger and Der Freischütz. ‘He obtains some superlative playing from the Dresden orchestra,’ commented The Record Guide.^[2] He maintained a relationship with the Dresden orchestra for the rest of his life, making some of his best-known records with them during the stereo era.

His international career began with engagements at the Vienna State Opera in the 1951 season, for which he conducted Die Zauberflöte, Simon Boccanegra, and Capriccio.^[1]

He was invited to succeed Georg Solti as chief conductor of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 1952 to 1954, and was permitted by the East German authorities to do so without severing his ties with Dresden.^[1] In 1953 Kempe appeared with the Munich company at the Royal Opera House in London, where the General Administrator, Sir David Webster, quickly decided that Kempe would be an ideal Musical Director for the Covent Garden company. Kempe resisted the appointment, and did not accept the top job at any opera house after leaving Munich in 1954. He nonetheless conducted frequently at Covent Garden and was immensely popular there,^[1] conducting among other works, Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Un Ballo in Maschera and Madama Butterfly, of which the critic Andrew Porter compared Kempe’s conducting favourably with that of Arturo Toscanini and Victor de Sabata.^[3] As a guest conductor, Kempe frequently revisited Munich conducting mostly the Italian repertory.

Kempe’s début at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus was in 1960. The Ring cycle he conducted there in that year was notable for multiple casting, with the role of Wotan split between Hermann Uhde and Jerome Hines, and Brünnhilde between Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson.

Orchestral[link]

Kempe was associated with the Royal Philharmonic (RPO) from 1955. In 1960, he became its Associate Conductor, chosen by the orchestra's founder, Sir Thomas Beecham.^[4] From 1961 to 1962 he was Principal Conductor of the RPO, and from 1963 to 1975 its Artistic Director. A member of the RPO later said of Kempe, "He was a wonderful controller of the orchestra, and a very great accompanist ... Kempe was like someone driving a racing-car, following the piano round the bends."^[5] Kempe abolished Beecham's male-only rule, introducing women into the RPO: an orchestra without them, he said, "always reminds me of the army."^[1] In 1970, the RPO named him Conductor for Life, but in 1975, he resigned his post with the orchestra.^[6]

From 1965 to 1972 Kempe worked with Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, and from 1967 to his death conducted the Munich Philharmonic, with whom he made international tours and recorded the first quadraphonic set of the Beethoven symphonies.

In the final months of his life, Kempe was the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The opening concert of the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts on 16 July 1976, in which he was to have conducted his BBC forces in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, became a memorial concert for him following Kempe's death in Zürich aged 65.^[7]

References[link]