''Mother'', op. 35 ( cs, Matka) is a

quarter-tone A quarter tone is a pitch halfway between the usual notes of a chromatic scale or an interval about half as wide (aurally, or logarithmically) as a semitone, which itself is half a whole tone. Quarter tones divide the octave by 50 cents each, a ...

opera in ten scenes by the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

composer

Alois Hába Alois Hába (21 June 1893 – 18 November 1973) was a Czech composer, music theorist and teacher. He belongs to the important discoverers in modern classical music, and major composers of microtonal music, especially using the quarter-tone scal ...

. It was completed in 1929 to the composer's own libretto; its plot is drawn from author's native Valašsko. The opera is written in prose.

Background

After Hába successfully resolved instrumental and theoretical problems with the quarter-tone system in the 1920s, he started to compose fully in that style. His work is bi-chromatic and in some folklore-inspired scenes and

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

parts of the score Hába approached to the intonational diction of the folk dialect. In spite of the folklore atmosphere of the work, its music is very independent and entirely original. The opera is strongly connected to Moravian ethnic traditions and takes advantage of local dialect and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

Daniel Albright Daniel Albright (October 29, 1945 – January 3, 2015) was the Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature at Harvard and the editor of ''Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources''. He was born and grew up in Chicago, Illinois and completed his un ...

describes it as, "a remarkable work: slightly in awe of its own daring, in that Hába seemed more fascinated by the quarter-tone scale themselves than by any

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

that might be construed from them, and yet resolute in refusing to employ the small intervals in the expected way, as a resource for denoting pain and disorientation

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

]," instead Hába intended the opera as a peasant comedy in the tradition of Bedřich Smetana, Smetana's ''The Bartered Bride, Bartered Bride'' (1866).Albright, Daniel. 2004. ''Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources'', p.243. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. .

Performance history

The work was premiered at the Gärtnerplatztheater in

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in May 1931.

Roles

*Křen, the farmer (tenor) *Maruša, his wife (soprano) *Francka, ''one of Křen's children by his first marriage'' (soprano) *Nanka, ''one of Křen's children by his first marriage'' (mezzo-soprano) *Maruša, ''one of Křen's children by his first marriage'' (soprano) *Francek, ''one of Křen's children by his first marriage'' (tenor) *Vincek (baritone) *Maruša's father (bass) *Sister-in-law (soprano) *Brother-in-law (bass) *Priest (tenor) *First lachrymose old woman (soprano) *Second lachrymose old woman (soprano) *Third lachrymose old woman (contralto) *Fourth lachrymose old woman (contralto) *First neighbor (tenor) *Second neighbor (bass) *Best man (tenor) *Bridesmaid (soprano) *Chorus of Village People

Synopsis

In a poor part of Moravia there lives a small farmer Křen with his large family. Hard working Křen toiled his first wife to death and married again. His second wife, Maruša, isn't satisfied with the passion of her husband. With her maternal love, she eventually succeeds in breaking the defiant nature of her husband, accustomed to physical work and satisfaction. She gives birth to children and brings them up according to her idea of "God's will". She becomes the fellow-observer of life, forever regenerating itself, in the similar way as the course of life is conceived by the Christian view of the world.

Recordings

*Alois Hába: ''Matka (Mother)'' (Sung in Czech). Prague National Theatre Chorus and Orchestra, cond. Jiří Jirouš, quarter-tone piano Jiří Pokorný, recorded 1964, published 1965, two

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

s, Supraphon 10 8258-2 612

References

External links

"Alois Haba – Czech Contemporary Composer"
''Czech music information centre''

''TonalSoft: Encyclopaedia of Tuning'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mother (Opera) 1929 operas Czech-language operas Operas Microtonality Operas by Alois Hába