{"id":1444,"date":"2012-05-30T10:30:45","date_gmt":"2012-05-30T14:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/?p=1444"},"modified":"2012-08-16T15:34:30","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T19:34:30","slug":"newly-digitized-busoni-and-schreker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/2012\/05\/30\/newly-digitized-busoni-and-schreker\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly Digitized: Busoni and Schreker"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we began digitizing scores from our collections over a decade ago, one area of focus was works from the operatic repertoire existing in multiple versions. If opera is a genre ripe for reinterpretations – as novels, plays, libretti, and scores themselves are recycled and revisioned – both of this week’s scores are products of the resulting palimpsest of musical influences.<\/p>\n

First, a vocal score of Busoni’s two-act number opera, Turandot<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Ferruccio<\/a>

Ferruccio Busoni. Original cover, Turandot. Mus 633.5.605<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/em>\n<\/div>\n

[Turandot. Vocal score]. Turandot : eine chinesische Fabel nach Gozzi in zwei Akten<\/a> \/ Worte und Musik von Ferruccio Busoni; Klavierauszug mit Text von Philipp Jarnach. Leipzig: Brietkopf & H\u00e4rtel, [c1918]. Mus 633.5.605.<\/p>\n

Although it premiered in 1917 as a double-bill with Arlecchino<\/a> (link to digitized vocal score), Turandot<\/em> has its origin in incidental music composed over a decade earlier for Carlo Gozzi’s 1762 play of the same title. Writing in a 1911 issue of Bl\u00e4tter des Deutschen theaters<\/em> devoted to the play, Busoni describes his composition: “I have employed exclusively original oriental motives and forms and believe I have avoided the conventional theatre exoticism.”1<\/sup> These themes were themselves taken from examples of Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indian music published in August Wilhelm Ambros’ Geschichte der Musik<\/em>, as well as the English song “Greensleeves”.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

Our second work is a full score of Franz Schreker’s Das Spielwerk<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Franz<\/a>

Franz Schreker. Leise's final lullaby, from Das Spielwerk. Mus 800.42.615<\/p><\/div>
\n<\/em>\n<\/div>\n

[Spielwerk]. Das Spielwerk: Mysterium in einem Aufzug<\/a> \/ von Franz Schrecker. Wien: Universal-Edition, c1921. Mus 800.42.615<\/p>\n

The simultaneous Frankfurt and Vienna premieres of Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin<\/a> (link to digitized vocal score) in 1913 had not been a success, thanks in part to a hostile reception by the Viennese critic Julius Korngold. Schreker condensed and extensively reworked the opera in 1915 and 1916; his revisions include replacing the original overture with the prelude to the second act, and changing the ending from the fiery disaster of the first version to a lullaby sung by Leise to her deceased son. The new, one-act Das Spielwerk<\/em> premiered in Munich in 1920, conducted by Bruno Walter.<\/p>\n

-Kerry Masteller<\/p>\n

\n

1. Busoni, Ferruccio, “The Turandot Music,” in The Essence of Music and Other Papers<\/em>, trans. Rosamond Ley (New York: Dover, 1965), 61, http:\/\/hollis.harvard.edu\/?itemid=|library\/m\/aleph|007922884 (HOLLIS record)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Original text: “Ich habe ausschlie\u00dflich originale orientalische Motive und Wendungen verwandt und glaube den konventionellen Theater-Exotismus umgangen zu haben.” Busoni, Ferruccio, “Zur ‘Turandot’-Musik,” Bl\u00e4tter des Deutschen theaters<\/em> (Berlin), Jahrg.1 Nr. 6 (27 October 1911): 83-84, http:\/\/hdl.handle.net\/2027\/njp.32101018921104?urlappend=%3Bseq=99 (full text)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. For an analysis of the sources used in the Turandot Suite<\/em>, see Antony Beaumont, Busoni the Composer<\/em> (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, c1985), 76-86, http:\/\/hollis.harvard.edu\/?itemid=|library\/m\/aleph|000220150 (HOLLIS record)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

See also August Wilhelm Ambros, Geschicte der Musik: mit zahlreichen notenbeispielen und musikbeilagen<\/em>, Vol. 1, Die Musik des griechischen Alterthums und des Orients (Leipzig: F.E.C. Leuckart, 1887-1911), http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:HUL.FIG.GITEM:HW2LWX (full text)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we began digitizing scores from our collections over a decade ago, one area of focus was works from the operatic repertoire existing in multiple versions. If opera is a genre ripe for reinterpretations – as novels, plays, libretti, and scores themselves are recycled and revisioned – both of this week’s scores are products of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2249,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13829],"tags":[4299,19752,19751,5832,14789],"class_list":["post-1444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digital-collections","tag-digital-scores","tag-ferruccio-busoni","tag-franz-schreker","tag-opera","tag-scores","post-preview"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6lSEF-ni","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1444"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1459,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions\/1459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/loebmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}