Voice and piano (Soli:
SBar(T) -
1(picc.A-fl).1(cor
ang).1(Ebclar.Bclar).0. -
1.1.2.0. - perc - hp -
pno - str: 1.1.1.1.1.)
SKU: BR.DV-6140
Scenes for 2 Singers
and 15
Instrumentalists.
Composed by Udo
Zimmermann. Voice;
Softbound. Deutscher
Verlag. World premiere:
Hamburg, February 27,
1986DV 1140 awarded the
German Music Edition
Prize. Opera; Music
theatre; Music post-1945;
New music (post-2000).
Piano/Vocal Score.
Composed 1984/85. 140
pages. Duration 75'.
Deutscher Verlag fur
Musik #DV 6140. Published
by Deutscher Verlag fur
Musik (BR.DV-6140).
ISBN 9790200460230.
13.5 x 10.5
inches.
Translation
: Engl. (S. Wadsworth)
(1988) / (Norbert
Rubesaat) (1993); French
(Jean-Pierre Wurtz)
(1997) Place and time:
Jail Munchen-Stadelheim,
in the hour before the
execution on 22nd
February 1943 Characters:
Sophie Scholl (soprano) /
Hans Scholl (baritone or
tenor) >>Weisse Rose<<
(White Rose) was the name
of the resistance group
to which Hans and Sophie
Scholl belonged. Udo
Zimmermann's composition
is characterized by the
varying structure of its
scenes: dramatic,
visionary scenes, e.g.
the remembered wartime
experiences on the front,
Sophie's anxiety about
the removal of the
children and the wish to
see her parents one last
time, contrast with
contemplative monologues
that are intended to
provide insights into the
individual's particular
situation. The composer
interweaves into the
structure of the piece
dream sequences with
sudden bursts of anxiety
that are not triggered by
the execution that is
about to take place but
by the consequences of
one's own actions. The
result is a deliberate
fusion of the various
parts into one another.
More than 100 different
productions prove that
the topic is as important
as ever and that the work
is both artistically
rewarding and
practicable. Udo
Zimmermann About the
piece Two young people,
the siblings Sophie and
Hans Scholl, are in a
prison cell, one hour
before they are to be put
to death by their fascist
executioners. Their
christian convictions and
sense of responsibility
gave them the courage to
put up resistance,
resistance against the
lies, the contempt for
humanity and all human
values. Sophie and Hans
Scholl took their stand
in the full knowledge
that they were taking a
deadly risk. They would
simply not have been able
to live with their
feelings of shame had
they not grasped the
chance of fighting for
what they believed in,
even though it was a
dangerous thing to do.
Memories of past events,
doubts, hopes and fears,
justification of deeds
and an acceptance of
death, all these things
happen and move in, and
between, these two people
during this
representation of the
hour before death. The
orchestra provides a
psycho-physical shorthand
of their inner mental
state. Musical effects
and gestures search for
their identity in human
behaviour. The moments of
stillness and silence
provide moments of
musical tension, which
are just as powerful as
the eruptions of fear and
desperation. CDs:
Gabriele Fontana
(soprano), Lutz-Michael
Harder (tenor),
Instrumentalensemble,
cond. Udo Zimmermann CD
Orfeo C 162 871 Grazyna
Szklarecka (soprano),
Frank Schiller (tenor),
musica viva-ensemble
dresden, cond. Udo
Zimmermann CD Berlin
Classics Eterna BC 0120
060-2 CD (excerpts):
Gabriele Fontana
(soprano), Lutz-Michael
Harder (tenor), Ein
Instrumentalensemble,
cond. Udo Zimmermann CD
BMG 74321 73628 2
Bibliography : Kornel ,
Attila: ,,Tief unter uns
nur Schweigen - Die
Asthetik der Stille in
Udo Zimmermanns
Kammeroper ,,Weisse Rose,
in: Die Tonkunst 11
(2017), pp. 368-377.
Rheinlander , Matthias:
Im Osten nichts Neues?
Ostalgie ohne Kitsch am
Beispiel von Udo
Zimmermanns Oper Die
weisse Rose, in: Musik
und Unterricht, Heft 73
(2003), pp.
34-40.
World
premiere: Hamburg,
February 27, 1986DV 1140
Awarded the German Music
Edition Prize.
