El Cimarrón (Henze)
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(''The Runaway Slave'') is a scenic vocal composition by the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
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 ...
, written when the composer lived in Cuba in 1969–1970. It is subtitled ''Biographie des geflohenen Sklaven Esteban Montejo'' (Biography of the runaway slave Esteban Montejo), and the
libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...
by
Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...
is based on the oral autobiography related in 1963 to Miguel Barnet by Montejo, who was also a veteran of the
Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Litt ...
(1895–98).


History

In Cuba in the 19th century, Cimarrón was a term for a runaway slave. The former slave on which Henze's is based was Esteban Montejo, born in 1860; he told his story in an interview, at age 104, with the Cuban ethnologist Miguel Barnet, who made it a documentary for ethnobiographical, social and psychological studies.
Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...
, who at the time lived in Cuba, took care of inviting Henze to Cuba; the first visit was from 21 March 1969 to 16 April. Henze met Barnet, who arranged meetings with Cuban artists and introduced him to the
Yoruba religion The Yorùbá religion (Yoruba language, Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), West African Orisa (Òrìṣà), or Isese (Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in pres ...
. Henze also met Montejo, and noted afterwards: "I had never seen a man that old. He was as tall as a tree, walked slowly and very erect; his eyes were alive; he radiated dignity; he seemed to be sure he was a historical personality." On his second visit, Barnet gave him the German edition of his documentary . Enzensberger prepared a
libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) 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 th ...
for Henze, based on the documentary. Henze sketched its first movement on 18 December that year. He completed the work in February 1970 at his home in Marino, Italy. He began rehearsing with
Leo Brouwer Juan Leovigildo Brouwer Mezquida (born March 1, 1939) is a Cubans, Cuban composer, conducting, conductor, and classical guitarist. He is a Member of Honour of the International Music Council. Early years Brouwer was born in Havana, Cuba. When he ...
, a Cuban guitarist, flutist Karlheinz Zöller, Japanese percussionist
Stomu Yamashta Stomu Yamashta (or Yamash'ta), born , is a Japanese percussionist, keyboardist and composer. He is best known for pioneering and popularising a fusion of traditional Japanese percussive music with Western progressive rock music in the 1960s and 1 ...
and American singer William Pearson. The work received its premiere at the
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
Berlin Festival, with the composer conducting. The UK premiere was in June 1970 at the
Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...
with the same forces, followed by a tour to festivals in Spoleto, Munich, Edinburgh, Berlin and Avignon. The Australian premiere was performed at the
Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...
on 14 March 1976, conducted by the composer, with
Lyndon Terracini Lyndon William Terracini (born 1950), is an Australian operatic baritone and from 2009 to October 2022 artistic director of Opera Australia. Early life Terracini was born in 1949, the oldest of four children born to Shirley and Vita Terracini, ...
as El Cimarrón, Geoffrey Collins (flute), Roger Glanville-Hicks (guitar), and Colin Piper (percussion).


Tableaux

The work is divided into fifteen ''tableaux'' which are essentially songs. Some scenes reflect on historical events, others on personal views of the former slave: # ''Die Welt'' (The World) # ''Der Cimarrón'' # ''Die Sklaverei'' (Slavery) # ''Die Flucht'' (Flight) # ''Der Wald'' (Forest) # ''Die Geister'' (Spirits) # ''Die falsche Freiheit'' (False Freedom) # ''Die Frauen'' (Women) # ''Die Maschinen'' (Machines) # ''Die Pfarrer'' (Clergy) # ''Der Aufstand'' (Uprising) # ''Die Schlacht von Mal Tiempo'' ( Battle of Mal Tiempo) # ''Der schlechte Sieg'' (Evil Victory) # ''Die Freundlichkeit'' (Friendliness) # ''Das Messer'' (Knife) Henze described the score as a "recital for four musicians". They consist of a
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 ...
who portrays El Cimarrón, a
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
ist, a
flautist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
and a
percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
, although all four musicians play percussion instruments during the work. The flautist also plays the Japanese '' ryūteki'' and the Italian ''scacciapensieri'' (
Jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...
), as well as the four conventional orchestral flutes. He made extensive vocal demands on the singer, including laughter,
whistling Whistling, without the use of an artificial whistle, is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. Th ...
, shouting, screaming and
falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...
. Henze's score features aleatoric elements, "fields" in which pitches and sounds are specified, but leaving tempo and dynamics to be determined by the performers, passages for improvisation, as well as sections in the classical manner. The traditional instruments are supplemented by Caribbean and African instruments, such as Trinidad steel drum, marimbula, log drums, octobans, temple bells, congas and bongos. Some instruments highlight the drama, such as an iron chain in No. 3.


References


Further reading

* Walsh, Stephen (1996) ''El Cimarrón'', CD liner notes,
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cimarrón, El 1970 compositions Compositions by Hans Werner Henze Works by Hans Magnus Enzensberger