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The Emperor of Atlantis

or Death's Refusal
One-act play by Peter Kien
Product number: ED 8197
Edition: Piano reduction
As low as €29.99
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Product Type
Print edition
E-score PDF

Product Details

Description

In September 1942 Viktor Ullmann was interned in the concentration camp of Theresienstadt where he composed the opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis [The Emperor of Atlantis] on a libretto of Peter Kien, a fellow prisoner, in 1943. This opera was rehearsed by a chamber ensemble founded with the permission of the SS, but its first performance was prohibited after the final rehearsal. The autograph of the score only survived because shortly before his deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, Ullmann handed it, together with the libretto, to a friend who was able to save both manuscripts at the end of the war.

The opera is a parable of a cruel emperor, whose senseless war is claiming many lives. Death puts an end to the chaos by refusing his duty - now, everyone lives for eternity. The king becomes disempowered, but the people long for a release from the pain of life. Only the voluntary death of the emperor can restore death's original purpose.

The libretto is a vigorous take on the Third Reich and more particularly the concentration camp of Theresienstadt through the means of a mystery play. The music, with its numerous references to jazz and then current light music, sometimes by direct quotation, puts the composer in the role of political commentator, following the tradition of topical opera in the 1920's.

Orchestral Cast

1 (auch Picc.) · 1 · 1 · Alt-Sax. · 0 - 0 · 1 · 0 · 0 - S. (Trgl. · hg. Beck. · gr. Tamt. · kl. Tr.) (2 Spieler) - Tenor-Banjo (auch Git.) · Cemb. (auch Klav.) · Harm. - Str. (1 · 1 · 1 · 1 · 1)

Cast

Kaiser Overall · Bariton - Der Lautsprecher · Bass - Ein Soldat · Tenor - Bubikopf, ein Soldat · Sopran - Harlekin · Tenor - Der Tod · Bass - Der Trommler · Alt / Mezzosopran

More Information

Title:
The Emperor of Atlantis
or Death's Refusal
One-act play by Peter Kien
Edition:
Piano reduction
Level of difficulty:
advanced
Publisher/Label:
Schott Music
Year of composition:
1943
Opus:
op. 49b
Series:
Title:
The Emperor of Atlantis
or Death's Refusal
One-act play by Peter Kien
Language:
German, English
Edition:
Piano reduction
Level of difficulty:
advanced
Publisher/Label:
Schott Music
Year of composition:
1943
Opus:
op. 49b
Series:
Title:
The Emperor of Atlantis
or Death's Refusal
One-act play by Peter Kien
Language:
German, English
Edition:
Piano reduction
Level of difficulty:
advanced
Publisher/Label:
Schott Music
Year of composition:
1943
Opus:
op. 49b
Series:

Technical Details

Product number:
ED 8197
ISMN13:
979-0-001-08390-4
Product number:
ED 8197
ISMN13:
979-0-001-08390-4
Weight:
0,41 kg
Pages:
116
Format:
21cm x 29.7cm
Binding:
Paperback/Softcover
Product number:
ED 8197 Q24027
ISMN13:
979-0-001-08390-4
Pages:
112
File format:
(PDF / 5,26 MB)

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Der Kaiser von Atlantis

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