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Wozzeck
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stepnwolf
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Sat Apr 07 2001 at 14:22:40
This
opera
presents the descent into
madness
of the soldier Wozzeck who is the subject of a heartless
military
experiment
where he is fed only
beans
as the
doctor
observes the effect of his restricted
diet
on his
mental
disintegration
.
Alban Berg
(1885 - 1935) started to write his opera Wozzek after seeing the play by Georg Büchner (called Woyzeck) in 1914, but because of
World War I
, it wasn't finished until 1922 and first produced in 1925. The simple plot is built around Wozzek who murders his cheating
girlfriend
, Marie, and commits
suicide
, while their child, unable to comprehend the
tragedy
, plays nearby.
The
music
, however, is anything but simple with its rich
mixture
of
style
s, ranging from the post-
romantic
to the purely
atonal
serial music
of his teacher
Arnold Schoenberg
. Adding
popular
and
folk
element
s to the mix, the
composer
removes any
comfortable
framework
the
listener
might need to create the
illusion
of
stability
in the work. Still, Berg provided a
subliminal
center
in his use of
classical
musical
structure
s: the first act is a collection of 5 pieces representing
aspect
s of Wozzeck's
persona
in
relation
to other
character
s in his
life
; the second is a
symphony
in five movements, and the third act is a series of five
variation
s set on different
ostinato
s. Neither the
plot
nor an account of the musical form conveys the sheer power of the opera that left me completely drained after seeing it. From the first scene where Wozzek shaves the doctor (Langsam, Wozzeck, Langsam! (Slowly, Wozzeck, Slowly) to the first
scene
in act three where Wozzeck, in a
Sprechgesang
, moans "Blut! Blut" (Blood! Blood!), the listener has watched and felt
madness
descend
: the last
connection
with
reality
has snapped. In total contrast, the last scene presents their child alone on stage,
innocent
of what has happened, singing "Hop Hop!"
Reference: http://www.excite.com/entertainment/fine_arts/classical_music/composers/20th_century/atonal/berg_alban/?search=wozzek
printable version
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