Home Music Musings Literatur & Literature Wine Opinions Favorite Films WWII Memories News !! Opera Favorites Literature & Music German Riesling Running Tips A High-Tech Career Contact Music Diary Memorial Music Wine Diary Favorite Recipes Observations ...   Musical Chimes My Music     Writings

---

Literature and Music

A great deal of music takes its inspiration from literature, and not just opera. But since opera requires plot and dialogue, one would expect that literature, especially plays, would be a natural basis for operatic libretti. Over time, I've become aware of many operas based on literary works, some well-known and some unusual ones; as always, I make no claim of completeness. With rare exceptions, and because of my interest in it, I'll restrict the music to that of the 20th century. Lieder, as well, are basically poems, from magnificent to mundane, put to musical accompaniment by voice and instrument(s). Whole books have been written on this subject, so only selective samples will be noted here. One music-literary area will be considered separately (and later) from the rest because of its extent: the Faust legend.

Opera and Literature German / Austrian Eastern European        (.i.e., Czech, Hungarian, etc.) English / U.S. French Russian Scandinavian Literature and Other Music        (.i.e., not opera) Undine und Musik        Undine in Literatur und Musik

Literature and Opera: Some Examples

French Literature	Opera
Voltaire: Candide	Leonard Bernstein: Candide
Emile Zola: Thérèse Raquin	Tobias Picker: Thérèse Raquin

Russian Literature	Opera
Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita	York Höller: Der Meister und Margarita
Nikolai Gogol: Dead Souls	Rodion Shchedrin: Dead Souls (1976)
Leo Tolstoy: The Three Hermits A folk tale retold.	Stephen Paulus: The Three Hermits
Leo Tolstoy: War and Peace	Sergei Prokofiev: War and Peace (1953)

Top

Scandinavian Literature	Opera
August Strindberg: A Dream Play	Ingvar Lidholm: Ett Drömspel (1992)
August Strindberg: Miss Julie	Ned Rorem: Miss Julie

Top

Literature and Other (non-opera) Music: Some Examples

Literary Work	Musical Work
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: Don Quixote de la Mancha	Richard Strauss: Don Quixote The character of the misguided knight is portrayed by the cello and a distinct motif, rather than by words from the book.
Fyodor Dostoevsky: The Brothers Karamazov	Boris Blacher: Der Großinquisitor Based on the Grand Inquisitor segment of Dostoevsky's novel.
Friedrich Dürrenmatt: Der Tunnel   Mehr über diese Erzählung bei Der Tunnel	Fabio Ciardi (1960- ): Ormond Brasil 10 (2002) A 24-minute melodrama for reciter and piano, based freely on the Dürrenmatt short story. The title comes from the name of the cigar that the main character smokes.
Franz Kafka: Tagebuch (Diary)	György Kurtág: Kafka-Fragments A set of 40 pieces, some extremely short, of selected fragments from Kafka's diary, for soprano and violin.
Rainer Maria Rilke: Die Weise von Tod und Liebe des Cornets Christoph Rilke	Frank Martin: Die Weise von Tod und Liebe des Cornets Christoph Rilke  Viktor Ullmann: Die Weise von Tod und Liebe des Cornets Christoph Rilke Unusual in that it presents a speaker (rather than singer) with musical accompaniment, i.e., a true "melodrama".
Bertolt Brecht: An die Nachgeborenen (1939) A long poem by the well-known, left-leaning playwright, poet and writer.	Wilhelm Fortner: An die Nachgeborenen  Gottfried von Einem: An die Nachgeborenen
Anna Seghers: Das Siebte Kreuz (1942) The book describes the flight of one of seven escapees from a prison camp, and his efforts to stay free even as the others are recaptured.	Hans Werner Henze: Symphony No. 9 (1997) In this symphony for mixed choir and orchestra, each of the seven movements refers to a significant incident in the book, using poems by Hans-Ulrich Treichel, based on those incidents rather than text from the book itself. The work is "Dedicated to the heroes and martyrs of German anti-fascism".
Georg Trakl: Grodek A poem by the German expressionist	Matthias Ronnefeld: Grodek (Op. 7) A new composer to me; the work was played at a recent (May 2005) concert in New York
Adalbert Stifter: Bergkristall A well-known story of children lost in the mountains	Sylvano Bussotti (1931- ): Bergkristall (1954-73) for large orchestra A ballet in one act and seven scenes
Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass	Karl Amadeus Hartmann: Symphony No. 1, "Versuch eines Requiems" Several of the symphony's movements include translations of Whitman poems, including "Lilacs.." .  Roger Sessions: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed A setting for orchestra, chorus and soloists.
Walt Whitman: The Wound Dresser	John Adams: The Wound Dresser

Top

---

Last updated 6/7/05

Top

Home