is a secular

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

() in three parts, composed by Frank Martin. It is based on the medieval story of

Tristan and Iseult Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...

, as reconstructed by

Joseph Bédier Joseph Bédier (28 January 1864 – 29 August 1938) was a French writer and scholar and historian of medieval France. Biography Bédier was born in Paris, France, to Adolphe Bédier, a lawyer of Breton origin, and spent his childhood in Réunion. ...

in 1900. Martin set excerpts of the novel to music for twelve vocalists and a

chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

of seven

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. The work was premiered in concert on 26 March 1942 at the

Tonhalle, Zürich The Tonhalle is a concert hall in Zurich, home to the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, one of Switzerland's leading orchestras. The 1455-seat hall, located at Claridenstrasse 7 in Zurich, was inaugurated in 1895 by Johannes Brahms. The hall is conside ...

. A first scenic performance was given in German, (''The Magic Potion''), on 15 August 1948 at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

History

Frank Martin began in 1938 to compose an oratorio around the medieval story of

, that Richard Wagner had set in ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was compose ...

''. He was prompted by a commission from to compose a piece of around 30 minutes for his chamber choir, the Zürcher Madrigalchor, ideally for twelve voices and few instrumental players. He took the text from

's novel ''Le Roman de Tristan et Iseut'', a reconstruction of the story that the medievalist had published in 1900, using writings by

Béroul Béroul was a Norman or Breton poet of the 12th century. He wrote ''Tristan'', a Norman language version of the legend of Tristan and Iseult of which a certain number of fragments (approximately 3000 verses) have been preserved; it is the earlies ...

and

Eilhart von Oberge Eilhart von Oberge was a German poet of the late 12th century. He is known exclusively through his Middle High German romance ''Tristrant'', the oldest surviving complete version of the Tristan and Iseult story in any language.''The Arthurian Handbo ...

. Martin preferred these early sources to the later poem by

Gottfried von Strassburg Gottfried von Strassburg (died c. 1210) is the author of the Middle High German courtly romance ', an adaptation of the 12th-century ''Tristan and Iseult'' legend. Gottfried's work is regarded, alongside the ''Nibelungenlied'' and Wolfram von Esc ...

that had inspired Wagner. It meant a distance to the German whose work was admired by the Nazis. Martin set in 1938 the excerpt about the love potion, titled ''Le Philtre''. This early short version was first performed on 16 April 1940. Martin, fascinated with the story, chose two more chapters from Bédier's novel, ''La forêt du Morois'' and ''La mort''; in 1940 and 1941 he assembled a more substantial structure of three parts, in 18 scenes with prologue and epilogue. The focus is on death rather than on love. The complete work was premiered on 26 March 1942 at the

, again by the Zürcher Madrigalcor. A first scenic performance was given on 15 August 1948 at the

Salzburger Landestheater The Salzburg State Theatre (''Salzburger Landestheater'') is a theatre situated in Salzburg, Austria, a venue for opera, theatre, and dance, contemporary and older works, with resident companies of actors, singers and dancers. The theatre presents ...

as part of the

, directed by

Oscar Fritz Schuh Oscar Fritz Schuh (15 January 1904 – 22 October 1984) was a German-Austrian opera director, theatre director and opera manager. He is known for directing Mozart operas at the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival in productions that tour ...

in set and costumes by

Caspar Neher Caspar Neher (born Rudolf Ludwig Caspar Neher; 11 April 1897 – 30 June 1962) was an Austrian-German scenographer and librettist, known principally for his career-long working relationship with Bertolt Brecht. Neher was born in Augsburg. He ...

, and conducted by

Ferenc Fricsay Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen. Biography Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, E ...

. Martin, who felt that the audience had to understand the text, prepared the translation himself, together with . The composition was published by

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, they originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market (which had until then been dominated by Leipzig-base ...

. The music has been performed in concert often, but also been staged as a

chamber opera Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra. Early 20th-century operas of this type include Paul Hindemith's ''Cardillac'' (1926). Earlier small-scale operas such as Pergoles ...

several times, including in Zürich, Paris and Berlin. A version in English, ''The Love Potion'', was approved by Martin's widow, Maria, and was produced at the

Boston Lyric Opera Boston Lyric Opera (BLO) is an American opera company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1976. BLO is the largest and longest-lived opera company in New England. BLO employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalists ...

in 2015. Another version in English, translated by

Hugh Macdonald Hugh John Macdonald (born 31 January 1940 in Newbury, Berkshire) is an English musicologist chiefly known for his work within the music of the 19th century, especially in France. He has been general editor of the ''Hector Berlioz: New Edition of ...

, was performed by

Chicago Opera Theater The Chicago Opera Theater (COT) is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. COT is a resident company at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago's Millennium Park and is currently in residence at the newly renovated Studeb ...

in 2016, and the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

in 2017, directed by Polly Graham and conducted by James Southall; it was recorded as a video. It was staged in French in 2023 by

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Shrek's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, '' Fennimore und Gerda'' by Frede ...

in 2023.

Composition

The work is written for a vocal ensemble of twelve voices; seven of them also appear in solo roles. The orchestra is a chamber music ensemble of two

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s, two

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

s, two

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and

. The duration is given as 90 minutes.

Roles

Music

The music has been described as refined and concentrated, rich in harmonies and textures. It is comparable to Schubert's

Lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

and Britten's church parables. The atmosphere of "accessibility, openness and detachment" compares to music by

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

. The principal roles express themselves in dialogue and

inner monologue Intrapersonal communication is the process by which an individual communicates within themselves, acting as both sender and receiver of messages, and encompasses the use of unspoken words to consciously engage in self-talk and inner speech. Intr ...

, but also comment their actions as choir members. It leads to detachment but not without passion, rather to "a heightening of emotion".

Recordings

The first recording was made of the Salzburg scenic production, recorded on 24 August 1948, with

Alfred Poell Alfred Poell (18 March 1900 – 30 January 1968) was an Austrian operatic baritone. Poell was born in Linz, Austria and studied medicine at the University of Innsbruck and obtained his doctorate there. He practised for a time as a neck specialist ...

as a narrator, and

conducting soloists and members of the choir of the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

and of the

Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra The Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Filharmóniai Társaság Zenekara'') is Hungary's oldest extant orchestra. It was founded in 1853 by Ferenc Erkel under the auspices of the Budapest Philharmonic Society. For many years i ...

, Orfeo 5982293.Frank Martin: Oratorium "Le Vin Herbe" (Der Zaubertrank)
JPC, retrieved 7 October 2017 A reviewer noted that the conductor was able in nuanced work to give the work both "room to breathe" and "surge", and that the choir participates with drama and "charismatic storytelling" in solo segments. The soloists are described as expressive, making "brief but strong contributions". The work was recorded in 2006, with soloists

Sandrine Piau Sandrine Piau (born 5 June 1965) is a French soprano. She is particularly renowned in Baroque music although also excels in Romantic and modernist art songs. She has the versatility to perform works from Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart to Schumann, Debus ...

, , Hildegard Wiedemann, Ulrike Bartsch,

Steve Davislim Steve Davislim (born 1967) is a Malaysian-born Australian operatic tenor. He is of Chinese and Irish ancestry and is based in Vienna, Austria. Biography He was born Steven Lim in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, in 1967. His father David Lim is of ...

, Jonathan E. de la Páz Zaens and

Roland Hermann Roland Hermann (born 17 September 1936; died 17 November 2020) was a German operatic baritone and former professor at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. A member of the Opernhaus Zürich, he performed leading roles internationally, not only i ...

, the

RIAS Kammerchor The RIAS Kammerchor (RIAS Chamber Choir) is a German choir based in Berlin, Germany. It receives support from the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH Berlin ("Berlin Radio Orchestra and Choirs"), a limited-liability company owned by the public bro ...

and the Scharoun Ensemble conducted by

Daniel Reuss Daniel Reuss (born 2 July 1961, in Leiden)Biography
at allmusic.com. is a It was recorded at the . Reviewer Mark Sealay called it "a fresh and utterly convincing account of this unfashionable-at-the-time yet now timeless work", saying what the composer wanted to express "in a totally convincing, beautiful and contemporary way". A video was recorded in 2017 live of an English version produced by the

, with soloists Caitlin Hulcup, Rosie Hay, Sian Meinir, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Tom Randle, Gareth Dafydd Morris, Howard Kirk, and Stephen Wells.

History

Composition

Roles

Music

Recordings

References

Further reading