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Faust (1986) |
solo organ - 45'
Faust, for organ solo, is an adaption by Petr Eben of his stage music to Goethe's play, commissioned by the Burgtheater, Vienna, and composed in 1976. In the extended musical score of the stage version, Eben particularly sought to give the organ a dominant role and to express, through his handling of the instrument, the poles of Good and Evil which are at the core of Goethe's drama and the struggle of these conflicting elements within Faust's own character.
For this dual role he widened the organ's spectrum, adding to its traditional gravity the trivial vulgarity of the barrel-organ. He retains this idea in the present work and the result is a new and challenging use of the instrument, probably unique in the repertoire.
The succession of the movements closely follows Goethe's narrative:
Prologue:
"The glory of the earth rolls round,
And scenes of heavenly radiance shift
To fearfullness of night profound."
(Archangel Gabriel: Prologue in Heaven)
The Prologue sets the scene for the whole work. From heaven the archangels look down on the earth where light and darkness, day and night, calm and tempest alternate in swift succession. The use of the extremes of the organ's compass translates these contrasts into sound.
Mysterium:
"If haply, spirits aiding me
By act and utterance, I may see
The heart of many a mystery."
(Faust's monologue: at night)
Alone in his study, Faust, tired and disillusioned by the sterility of his scientific pursuits, searches in a book of spells to conjure up the Spirit of the Earth. Strange, deep sounds evoke his experiments in magic at the beginning of the movement, which is gradually animated by the mysterious life of spirits. The Spirit of the Earth appears, but reveals to Faust that he can never, as a human being, attain the spirits as their equal. Prostrate, Faust returns to his books, contemplating suicide as the only escape from the aimlessness of his existence.
Song of the beggar with the hurdy-gurdy:
"Let me not sing in vain and play!
Who gives, has joy within his keeping."
(Beggar: before the city gate)
This charming little genre painting eases the tension of the foregoing movements. The townsfolk, dressed in their Sunday best, walk towards the gates of the city after the first Mass of Easter. The beggar compliments them, solicits their attention... and their offering. The turning of the hurdy-gurdy falters, the song wavers, then stops abruptly as he moves away.
Easter Choirs:
"Are you, ye choirs, the song of comfort singing,
That through the burial night from angel-lips was ringing."
(Faust: in the night)
In Goethe's play, Faust is drawn back from suicide by the sound of the choirs singing the first Mass of Easter, symbolised here by the opening trumpet fanfare which saves him on the brink of death. In the last section, the fanfare returns as a jubilant improvisation on the trumpet over a massive Easter chorale sung by a whole congregation.
Student Songs:
"So listen, 'tis the latest song,
And make the chorus loud and strong!"
(Brander: in the Auerbach tavern)
At the outset of their adventures, Faust and Mephistopheles visit the Auerbach tavern in Leipzig. The contrast between the sacred hymns of Easter and the students' crude drinking songs is intentional and emphasised by the frivolous accompaniment of the barrel-organ. The "scholastic" element is short Bach-like phrases, thrown into the songs by the students who, the drunker they get, sing more and more out of tune.
Gretchen:
"My peace is gone,
My heart is sore."
(Gretchen: in her room)
Sitting alone in her room, Gretchen's thoughts dwell on Faust who has suddenly disrupted her life and with whom, in spite of her misgivings, she has fallen in love. The undulating dynamics in the repeated notes spread over three manuals give a faltering, sobbing effect, followed by the monotonous whirring of the spinning wheel. In her second song, Gretchen imagines herself flying away, transformed into a bird. The piece, the only really lyrical one of the suite, is a pathetic image of Gretchen's solitude and vulnerability.
Requiem:
"Upon thy threshold, whose the blood?"
(Wicked Spirit: in the cathedral)
Gretchen, during the funeral of her mother and brother, for whose deaths she was unwittingly responsible, is tormented by the reproaches of the Wicked Spirit. The Requiem, with its tolling bell and falling chromatic dies irae, is not only lamentation and mourning, but also, in the relentless build-up of its bare and crashing octaves, the burning remorse of a conscience burdened by crime, full of bitterness and without hope or consolation.
Walpurgis Night:
"They chatter, dance, brew, drink, have love's caress;
I know the nation's day of doom is nigh."
(Mephistopheles: in the Harz mountains)
The witches' sabbath... a total and shocking contrast between Gretchen's bitter remorse and Faust's heedless insouciance, between the dies irae and the polkas and waltzes of the dancing mob on Brocken Hill. Eben sets the stage vividly, with the barrel-organ in full blast and the witches' infernal round... to a travestied version of the Lutheran chorale Aus tiefer Not. Faust and Mephistopheles enter, guided by the Will o' the wisp, and soon join in the dancing. The fortissimo entry in the pedal of the Aus tiefer Not announcing the Last Judgment which the revellers are far from imagining to be so imminent, goes at first unheeded, then shatters the waltzing as it delivers its terrible message.
Epilogue:
"Who upwards still has striv'n and craved,
To him we bring salvation."
(Angels: on the mountainside)
After the reckless turbulence of Walpurgis Night, the Epilogue is calm and still as though suspended between heaven and earth. The contrasts of height and depth recall the Prologue, but are now bathed in an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation. The chorale Aus tiefer Not, no longer grave and threatening in the pedal but pianissimo on the flute high above the deep left hand chords, depicts the liberated soul, like a dove flying above the abyss, still trembling from the experience of death and unsure of its acceptance in heaven; acceptance which the quietude of the final C major chord seems to ensure.
Programme note: Susan Landale
© United Music Publishers Ltd