'Ein dürftiger Stoff': Hermann and the Failure of German Liberation Opera (1815–1848). Issue 2 (24th September 2018)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- 'Ein dürftiger Stoff': Hermann and the Failure of German Liberation Opera (1815–1848). Issue 2 (24th September 2018)
- Main Title:
- 'Ein dürftiger Stoff': Hermann and the Failure of German Liberation Opera (1815–1848)
- Authors:
- van Kooten, Kasper
- Abstract:
- Abstract : This article traces the development of national opera on political-historical themes in Germany between 1815 and 1848 and attempts to explain why this genre ultimately did not succeed. The focus will lie on the warrior hero Arminius/Hermann, one of the most potent national symbols of the nineteenth century, who was indeed brought to the German opera stage, but could never conquer it. The period between 1815 and 1848 not only forms a crucial phase in the coming of age of German opera against the background of a burgeoning national conscience, but also presents a lacuna in the current literature on Arminius as an opera character. Two early nineteenth-century Arminius opera projects will be discussed: musical realizations of August von Kotzebue's 1813 libretto Hermann und Thusnelde and French composer Hippolyte Chélard's 1835 opera Die Hermannschlacht, based on a libretto by Carl Weichselbaumer. Questions of authorship, patronage, musical style and reception will be addressed. This article presents a history of an operatic 'misfit' that fills a hiatus in the study of German nineteenth-century opera and will add to our understanding of the peculiar relation between opera and German national thought during the first half of the century.
- Is Part Of:
- Nineteenth-century music review. Volume 16:Issue 2(2019)
- Journal:
- Nineteenth-century music review
- Issue:
- Volume 16:Issue 2(2019)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 16, Issue 2 (2019)
- Year:
- 2019
- Volume:
- 16
- Issue:
- 2
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2019-0016-0002-0000
- Page Start:
- 249
- Page End:
- 272
- Publication Date:
- 2018-09-24
- Subjects:
- Music -- 19th century -- History and criticism -- Periodicals
780.903405 - Journal URLs:
- http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=NCM ↗
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S1479409817000817 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1479-4098
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store
- Ingest File:
- 11405.xml