In the Danish opera, he introduced the styles and works of Beethoven because he admired the musicianship of Beethoven. Many of his unpublished manuscripts are lost because of a house fire; however, he still was able to publish two-hundred manuscripts in a variety of genres.
One of the well-known operas Kuhlau helped with was Elves' Hill. Elves' Hill, or Erlenhügel, premiered in 1828 at the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen, Germany. The text was written by Johan Ludvig Heiberg and is written in Danish. This was the first work of Danish National Romanticism and is considered the national play. It is a Romantic opera with simplified music.
Elves' Hill is considered a comedy genre. It was commissioned by Frederik VI for his daughter's wedding. Since then, in the Royal Danish Theater, Elves' Hill has been performed more than one thousand times. Both text and melody of traditional ballads were used.
Jeg gik mig i lunden is a piece from Erlenhügel. The following video is a recording of the piece. The text at the beginning talks about how the girl needs to be aware that the elf king is watching. It then begins to tell a story of how the girl becomes the elf king's bride, and she has to be his now. The music is simple and the same for each verse. There are multiple verses to this song.
This is a contrasting video to the same piece. The woman singing does a some dynamic contrast and makes the piece more musical. The guitar part is closer to the original music that was written.
This is the overture to Elves' Hill. The orchestra for the overture includes: trumpets, a variety of percussion (i.e. triangle, timpani, etc.), bass trombone, flutes, oboes, clarinets, etc. There is also a need for a chorus and individual voices.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Kuhlau
http://imslp.org/wiki/Elverh%C3%B8j,_Op.100_(Kuhlau,_Friedrich)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elves%27_Hill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jeg_gik_mig_i_lunden.ogg
https://da.wikisource.org/wiki/Jeg_gik_mig_i_lunden
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0ahUKEwjHh8yKzN7SAhULllQKHYBMAqYQFghMMAk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.kb.dk%2Fma%2Fdmb%2FI-136a.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEPnGidREUXh1aORTNwJruQSBIPSA&sig2=GSmocnVDmW8MSBDbn9JIOw&bvm=bv.149760088,d.cGw
I enjoy the video with the guitar accompaniment. What seems to throw me for a loop is the fascination with the "elf King" at this time in history especially with composers?
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that the overture is so loud and crashy, since composers like Berlioz were criticized for being "too noisy." Maybe it could have something to do with the comedic aspect of the opera? Even then, it still seems like almost too much for the people of this era, with the consistent hammer strokes and crashes throughout the last half of the piece.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how people can make the same piece sound so different.
ReplyDeleteThe dynamic and textual contrasts are very effective in the overture.
It cracks me up how everyone is writing about elves at this time. I also agree with Erin about the overture, that was intense.
ReplyDeleteOk, usually pieces give me chills because they are so great, but i literally got chills from being creeped out from the first video example. The example is so high, eery, and ominous. However, it fits the text really well, and makes me wonder if this work was ahead of the curve and looked back on to spur the program music game.
ReplyDeleteElf King comparisons aside, this piece is genuinely enjoyable to listen to. I particularly enjoy the guitar version. Also, this is terrifying! That first video was chilling.
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