Expressionism and the search for modern opera in Weimar Germany

Boucher, Daniel Thomas ORCID: 0009-0003-2289-8317 (2024). Expressionism and the search for modern opera in Weimar Germany. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

In the first half of Germany’s Weimar Republic (1918–1933), composers Paul Hindemith, Alban Berg, Kurt Weill and Ernst Krenek each used expressionist theatre pieces as libretti for their early operas. This thesis explores how contemporary critics welcomed these works amidst a perceived opera crisis in post-war Germany. I use expressionism primarily as a heuristic tool, a discursive device to build an impression of Weimar Germany’s modern opera culture from the ground up. Direct discussions of expressionism as an aesthetic, therefore, take on greater importance in some chapters more than others. Chapter One reconsiders the backlash to Hindemith’s triptych—'Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen', 'Das Nusch-Nuschi' and 'Sancta Susanna'—in Stuttgart (1921) and Frankfurt (1922). As art critics proclaimed expressionism’s ‘death’, I show how oppositions to the triptych were fuelled largely by the operas’ provocative subject matters and that these denouncements were quite separate from contemporary discourse surrounding expressionism. Chapter Two revises the genesis of Berg’s 'Wozzeck'. I explore how the premiere of 'Drei Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck' at the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein’s Tonkünstlerfest in 1924 whetted the appetites of critics for the complete opera––something the 'Bruchstücke' continued to do so at later performances. Chapter Three reframes Weill’s 'Der Protagonist' (1926) as the latest instantiation of a broader pantomime renaissance within European modernism. This chapter argues that 'Der Protagonist' fulfilled Weill’s earlier desire to incorporate pantomime into a modern stage work and shows how critics at the opera’s premiere saw the inclusion of pantomime as hinting towards a new form of opera. The final chapter uses the reception of Krenek’s 'Orpheus und Eurydike' (1926) to suggest how critics saw Kassel to be situated at the periphery of Weimar Germany’s modern opera culture. I highlight the assumptions towards the landscape of Germany’s opera culture at the time of the premiere and how these came to light when the whole system was seemingly turned on its head.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):