Chester Simon Kallman (January 7, 1921 – January 18, 1975) was an
American poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
, librettist, and translator, best known for collaborating with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
on opera librettos for
Igor Stravinsky and other
composers
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
.
Life
Kallman was born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
of
Ashkenazi Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
ancestry. He received his B.A. at
Brooklyn College and his M.A. at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
. He published three collections of poems, ''Storm at Castelfranco'' (1956), ''Absent and Present'' (1963), and ''The Sense of Occasion'' (1971). He lived most of his adult life in New York, spending his summers in Italy from 1948 through 1957 and in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
from 1958 through 1974.
In 1963 he moved his winter home from
New York to
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Greece. He died there of a heart attack on January 18, 1975, eleven days after his 54th birthday. Kallman had been the beneficiary of the entirety of Auden's estate, but himself died
intestate
Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...
, with the result that the estate was inherited by his next-of-kin, his father, Edward Kallman (1892–1986), a New York dentist in his eighties.
Career
Together with his lifelong friend (and sometime lover
)
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, Kallman wrote the libretto for
Stravinsky's ''
The Rake's Progress
''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...
'' (1951). They also collaborated on two librettos for
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...
, ''
Elegy for Young Lovers
''Elegy for Young Lovers'' (German: ') is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.
Background
The opera was first performed in a German translation by Louis, Prince of Hesse and by ...
'' (1961) and ''
The Bassarids
''The Bassarids'' (in German: ') is an opera in one act and an intermezzo, with music by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, after Euripides's ''The Bacchae''.
The conflict in the opera is between hu ...
'' (1966), and on the libretto of ''
Love's Labour's Lost'' (based on Shakespeare's play) for
Nicolas Nabokov
Nicolas Nabokov (Николай Дмитриевич Набоков; – 6 April 1978) was a Russian-born composer, writer, and cultural figure. He became a U.S. citizen in 1939.
Life
Nicolas Nabokov, a first cousin of Vladimir Nabokov, and of ...
(1973). Additionally, they wrote the libretto "Delia, or, A Masque of Night" (1953), intended for
Stravinsky but never set to music. They were commissioned to write the lyrics for ''
Man of La Mancha'', but Kallman did no work on the project, and the producers decided against using Auden's contributions.
Kallman was the sole author of the libretto of ''
The Tuscan Players'' for
Carlos Chávez
Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by nativ ...
(1953, first performed in 1957 as ''Panfilo and Lauretta'').
He and Auden collaborated on a number of libretto translations, notably ''The Magic Flute'' (1956) and ''Don Giovanni'' (1961). Kallman also translated Verdi's ''
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
'' (1954), Monteverdi's ''
The Coronation of Poppea'' (1954) and many other operas.
Bibliography
;Poems
*''An Elegy'' (1951). New York: Tibor de Nagy Gallery. (pamphlet poem)
*''Storm at Castelfranco'' (1956). New York: Grove Press.
*''Absent and Present: poems'' (1963). Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.
*''The Sense of Occasion: poems'' (1971). New York: George Braziller.
;Libretti
*''
The Rake's Progress
''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...
'' (1951, with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, for music by
Igor Stravinsky) New York: Boosey & Hawkes.
*''Delia, or A masque of Night'' (1953, with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
; published in ''Botteghe Oscure'' XII; never set to music)
*''
Elegy for Young Lovers
''Elegy for Young Lovers'' (German: ') is an opera in three acts by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman.
Background
The opera was first performed in a German translation by Louis, Prince of Hesse and by ...
'' (1961, with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, for music by
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as ...
).
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
:
B. Schott's Söhne.
*''Love Propitiated'' (pbd. 1963, for music by
Carlos Chavez; first performed as ''Panfilo and Lauretta'', 1957, then as ''Love Propitated'', 1961). New York: Mills Music.
*''
The Bassarids
''The Bassarids'' (in German: ') is an opera in one act and an intermezzo, with music by Hans Werner Henze to an English libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, after Euripides's ''The Bacchae''.
The conflict in the opera is between hu ...
'' (1966, with W. H. Auden, for music by Hans Werner Henze). Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne.
*''
Love's Labour's Lost'' (1973, with W. H. Auden, for music by Nicolas Nabokov). Berlin: Bote & Bock.
;Translations (published)
*''
Bluebeard's Castle
''Duke Bluebeard's Castle'' ( hu, A kékszakállú herceg vára, link=no, or ''The Blue-Bearded Duke's Castle'') is a one-act expressionist opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of t ...
'' (1952; translation of the libretto by
Béla Balázs
Béla Balázs (; 4 August 1884 in Szeged – 17 May 1949 in Budapest), born Herbert Béla Bauer, was a Hungarian film critic, aesthetician, writer and poet of Jewish heritage. He was a proponent of formalist film theory.
Career
Balázs was th ...
for the opera by
Béla Bartók). New York: Boosey & Hawkes
*''
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
'' (1954; translation of the libretto of the opera by Arrigo
Boito
Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 1842 10 June 1918) (whose original name was Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito and who wrote essays under the anagrammatic pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio) was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer, ...
). New York: G. Ricordi.
*''
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...
'' (1956, with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, translation of the libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder for an NBC Opera Theatre production of the opera by
Mozart). New York: Random House.
*''
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
'' (1959; translation of the libretto by Felice Romani for the opera by
Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style duri ...
). New York: G. Ricordi.
*''The Prize Fight'' (1959; translation of the libretto by Luciano Conosciani for
Vieri Tosatti
Vieri Tosatti (born Rome, 1920 - died there, 1999) was an Italian composer. He is best known for his operas, among them ''Il sistema della dolcezza'' (1948), after Edgar Allan Poe's "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", and ''Partita ...
's opera ''Partita a Pugni''). Milan: Ricordi.
*''
Don Giovanni'' (1961, with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, translation of the libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte for an NBC Opera Theatre production of the opera by
Mozart). New York: Schirmer.
*''
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (german: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, links=no) is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the ...
'', translation of the libretto by
Bertolt Brecht for the opera by Kurt Weill. (pbd. 1976, with W. H. Auden). Boston: David Godine.
*''Arcifanfano, King of Fools'' (pbd. with a recording, 1992, with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
, translation of the libretto by Carlo Goldoni for the opera by
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (2 November 1739 – 24 October 1799) was an Austrian composer, violinist, and silvologist. He was a friend of both Haydn and Mozart.
(webpage has a translation button)
Life
1739–1764
Dittersdorf was born in ...
).
;Editions
*''An Elizabethan Song Book'' (1955, with
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
and
Noah Greenberg). New York: Anchor Books.
References
Sources
*
Humphrey Carpenter
Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter (29 April 1946 – 4 January 2005) was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inkl ...
, ''W. H. Auden: A Biography'' (1981).
* W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, ''Libretti and Other Dramatic Writings by W. H. Auden'' (1988), ed. by
Edward Mendelson
__NOTOC__
Edward Mendelson (born March 15, 1946) is a professor of English and Comparative Literature and the Lionel Trilling Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. He is the literary executor of the Estate of W. H. Auden and the au ...
.
* Dorothy J. Farnan, ''Auden in Love'' (1984)
* Thekla Clark, ''Wystan and Chester'' (1995).
*
Richard Davenport-Hines
Richard Peter Treadwell Davenport-Hines (born 21 June 1953 in London) is a British historian and literary biographer, is a Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.
Early life
Davenport-Hines was educated at St Paul's School, London, 1967- 71 ...
, ''Auden'' (1996)
External links
*
W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman letters to Irving and Anne Weiss, 1940s-2000 held by the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
New York Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kallman, Chester
1921 births
1975 deaths
20th-century American poets
American opera librettists
Brooklyn College alumni
American gay writers
Jewish American writers
LGBT Jews
American LGBT poets
Writers from Brooklyn
University of Michigan alumni
20th-century dramatists and playwrights
American male poets
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American Jews
20th-century LGBT people