' (''The Raft of the Medusa'') is a 1967 secular
oratorio
An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble.
Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
by the German composer
Hans Werner Henze
Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...
. It is regarded as a seminal work in the composer's alignment with
left-wing politics
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
.
Background
Henze wrote it in 1967 to a text by
Ernst Schnabel as a
Requiem
A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...
for
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
. It tells the story of the French
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
''
Méduse'' which ran aground off the west coast of Africa in 1816, an ignominious episode in French political and maritime history, immortalised by the 1818-19
painting of the same name by
Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is '' The Raft of the Medusa''. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romanti ...
. The oratorio employs a large orchestra, a speaker, a soprano, a baritone, and choruses. In the course of a performance, the chorus members move from left side of the stage, "the Side of the Living", to the right side, "the Side of the Dead". The text is principally in German, with the addition of passages in Italian drawn from Dante's ''
Divina Comedia'' sung by some of the dead.
Aside from the dedication, and one possible musical reference to a popular leftist slogan chant of the 1960s, "there's very little else in the text or music arouse political emotions", wrote one critic. He thought the work "expertly put together, scintillating in its scoring and at
tsbest moments ... a superheated, expressionist narrative."
Performance history
The first performance was scheduled for 9 December 1968 at the
Planten un Blomen Hall in Hamburg. Just before it was due to begin, a student hung a large poster of
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
on the rostrum rail, which was torn down by an official from
NDR radio. Some students then hoisted the
Red Flag and another Che portrait; some
anarchists
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...
raised the
Black Flag. At this point, although Henze and soloists had arrived onstage, the
RIAS choir started chanting "Under the Red Flag we sing not" and left the stage. After some scuffles, the police arrived and began removing the students, taking Schnabel with them. Henze reappeared, stating that the police intervention had made a performance impossible, and led part of the audience in a chant of "
Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh!" before they dispersed, the premiere cancelled.
[ Ernst Schnabel, "Zum Untergang einer Uraufführung" and "Postscriptum nach dreiunddreissig Tagen", in Hans Werner Henze and Ernst Schnabel, ''Das Floss der Medusa: Text zum Oratorium'', pp. 47–61, 65–79 (Munich: Piper-Verlag, 1969);]
Andrew Porter, "Henze: The Raft of the Frigate 'Medusa' – Oratorio" ecord review of DGG 139428-9 '' Gramophone'' 47, no. 563 (April 1970): 1625;
Anon
"Affären/Henze: Sie bleibt"
''Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' 22, no. 51 (16 December 1968): 152.
However, prior to the aborted performance a recording of the
dress rehearsal was made, with soloists
Edda Moser,
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (; 28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music. One of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, he is best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's ...
,
Charles Régnier, several choirs and the
Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, conducted by the composer.
It was finally premiered at a concert performance at the
Musikverein
The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.
The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...
in Vienna on 29 January 1971, and its first stage production was given at the
Staatstheater Nürnberg on 15 April 1972. Henze revised the work in 1990, and it has been performed on several occasions since, notably in 2006 by the
Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...
conducted by Sir
Simon Rattle at the
Berliner Philharmonie concert hall.
Roles
*La Mort (
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
)
*Jean Charles (
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
)
*Charon (narrator)
*Chorus of the Living
*Chorus of the Dead (mixed choir)
*Children's choir
Structure
Part 1
Die Einschiffung zum Untergang
mbarkation for disaster
Part 2
Die neunte Nacht und der Morgen
inth night and the morning
References
Further reading
*Hamel, Peter Michael. 2000. "Politisches Komponieren damals und heute: Persönliche Rückblicke und Einsichten". In ''Kultur, Bildung, Politik:
Festschrift
In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
für
Hermann Rauhe zum 70. Geburtstag'', edited by Wolfgang Hochstein and Hanns-Werner Heiser, 735–751. Hamburg: Bockel.
*Traber, Habakuk. 2000. "Musik ergreift die Fahnen: Die Skandale um Henzes ''Floß der Medusa'' und Nonos ''Intolleranza 1960''". ''
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik
The New Journal of Music (, and abbreviated to NZM) is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, Julius Knorr and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appe ...
'' 161, no. 3 (May–June): 34–41.
External links
Work details Schott Music
Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second-oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were foun ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Floss der Medusa, Das
German-language oratorios
1968 oratorios
Art works that caused riots
Music controversies
Compositions by Hans Werner Henze
Cultural depictions of Che Guevara
Music dedicated to causes or groups