''Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen'' (''Murderer, Hope of Women'') is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in one act by

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 ...

, written in 1919 on a German

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense Expressionism, expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the ...

which he based on his play of 1907. The opera was the first in a

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

expressionist 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 ...

one-act operas, the others being ''

Das Nusch-Nuschi ''Das Nusch-Nuschi'' (''The Nusch-Nuschi''), Op. 20, is an opera in one act by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Franz Blei. Subtitled ''A Play for Burmese Marionettes in One Act'' (Ein Spiel für burmanische Marionetten in einem Akt), i ...

'', and ''

Sancta Susanna ''Sancta Susanna'' is an early opera by Paul Hindemith in one act, with a German libretto by August Stramm. Composed over a two-week period in January/February 1921, its premiere was on 26 March 1922, at the Oper Frankfurt. The work is his third ...

''. They were the first operas written by Hindemith. The first two were premiered together in Stuttgart on 4 June 1921, all three were performed at the

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 1922.

History

''Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen'' was the first piece in a triptych of one-act operas by Hindemith influenced by

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 ...

. The artist and writer

wrote the play of the same name in 1907 and modified it several times. Hindemith experienced

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as a soldier in Belgium and Northern France. In a second wave of expressionism after the war, he became interested in the movement and composed the work in 1919. He based it on the last version of the play, which he set with only few cuts. The musicologist Joel Haney notes that he "attempts to give mythic expression to a violent struggle between the sexes". The opera was first performed, together with ''

'', on 4 June 1921 at the Landestheater Stuttgart, conducted by

Fritz Busch Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor. Busch was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to a musical family, and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior p ...

and staged by Otto Erhardt. The artist

Oskar Schlemmer Oskar Schlemmer (4 September 1888 – 13 April 1943) was a German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus school. In 1923, he was hired as Master of Form at the Bauhaus theatre workshop, after working at the wo ...

designed the stage set, costumes and

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

. The duration is given as 24 minutes.

Roles

Music and reception

The conductor

Leon Botstein Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-American conducting, conductor, educator, and scholar serving as the President of Bard College. Biography 1946–1975: Early life, education, and career Botstein was ...

describes the work as "more symphonic than operatic", structured in four distinct sections, equivalent to the

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

of a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

. Hindemith draws on models from

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

regarding instrumentation, from

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...

's "opulence", and Richard Wagner's lyricism, at times in irony, for example when the second theme alludes to ''

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 ...

''. The musicologist

Giselher Schubert Giselher Schubert (born in 1944) is a German musicologist Life and career Born in Königsberg, Schubert studied musicology, sociology and philosophy at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn with Günther Massenkeil, at the Freie Un ...

summarizes: "Direct expression and deliberate formal design are not at odds in this expressionism, but rather rely on each other." The premiere resulted in a ''

succès de scandale ''Succès de scandale'' ( French for "success from scandal") is a term for any artistic work whose success is attributed, in whole or in part, to public controversy surrounding the work. In some cases the controversy causes audiences to seek o ...

'': while some critics appreciated "a composer of enormous talent and promise", negative responses established Hindemith’s "reputation as a young upstart".

Performances and recordings

The opera was recorded in 1987 by the

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has also ...

and 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 ...

, conducted by

Gerd Albrecht Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German conductor. Biography Albrecht was born in Essen, the son of the musicologist Hans Albrecht (1902–1961). He studied music in Kiel and in Hamburg, where his teachers included Wilhel ...

, with

Franz Grundheber Franz Grundheber (born 27 September 1937) is a German operatic baritone. At the Hamburg State Opera, he performed over 150 roles from 1966. His voice is flexible enough to sing Italian opera as well as Wagner roles and contemporary opera; he is a ...

as the Man and Gabriele Schnaut as the Woman.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

*
Roles, synopsis
(in German) musirony.de * , 1987 recording {{DEFAULTSORT:Morder Hoffnung Der Frauen Operas by Paul Hindemith German-language operas Operas 1921 operas One-act operas Operas based on plays