' (''The Life of Mary'') is a

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

by German composer

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

. The cycle, written for

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 ...

and

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, sets to music a collection of 15 poems by Rainer Maria Rilke that tells the story of the life of

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

. Thirteen years after its 1923 premiere in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Hindemith began extensively revising and reworking the piece, eventually producing a second version which premiered in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

in 1948. Hindemith also orchestrated six of the songs: four in 1938 and two more in 1948.

Structure

The work consists of fifteen movements: # ''Geburt Mariä'' (

Birth of Mary The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, the Marymas or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus. The modern canon of scripture does not record Mary's bir ...

) # ''Die Darstellung'' ( The Presentation) # ''Mariä Verkündigung'' (

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

to Mary) # ''Mariä Heimsuchung'' ( Visitation of Mary) # ''Argwohn Josephs'' (

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

's Suspicion) # ''Verkündigung über den Hirten'' (

Annunciation to the shepherds The annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It is a common subject of Christian art and of Christmas carols. B ...

) # ''Geburt Christi'' (

Birth of Christ The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man n ...

) # ''Rast auf der Flucht in Ägypten'' (Rest on the

Flight into Egypt The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 2:13– 23) and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the i ...

) # ''Von der Hochzeit'' (Of the

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

) # ''Vor der Passion'' (Before the Passion) # ''Pietà'' ( Pieta) # ''Stillung Mariä mit dem Auferstandenen'' (Consolation of Mary with

the resurrected ''The Resurrected'' (also known as ''The Ancestor'' and ''Shatterbrain'') is a 1991 American horror film directed by Dan O'Bannon, and starring John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon and Robert Romanus. It is an adaptation of the H. P. Lo ...

) # ''Vom Tode Mariä I'' (Of the Death of Mary I) # ''Vom Tode Mariä II'' (Of the Death of Mary II) # ''Vom Tode Mariä III'' (Of the Death of Mary III) A typical performance lasts around an hour and a half.

References

Literature

* Wilhelm Sinkovicz: Thesis. Vienna 1993.

External links

* (Vocal: Roxolana Roslak; Piano:

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marienleben, Das 1923 compositions 1948 compositions Song cycles by Paul Hindemith Classical song cycles in German Musical settings of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke