Bruchstücke

aus der Oper Das Frauenorchester von Auschwitz

für vier Singstimmen (SSSMez) und Orchester

4 voices (SSSMez) and orchestra

Music as a form of compulsory labour – music as a life-saver: in the years 1943/44, the extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau had a women’s orchestra consisting of professional and amateur musicians from all over Europe. The conductor was the then world-famous violinist Alma Rosé, niece of the composer Gustav Mahler. In his opera Das Frauenorchester von Auschwitz the composer Stefan Heucke engages with the feelings, emotions and behaviour of people who were forced to make music while facing death. The libretto, by Clemens Heucke, is based on themes from the autobiographical novel by Fania Fénelon.

Edition: Performance material

Product Details

Description

In the summer of 2013, Marc Niemann asked me to write a work commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War for the Philharmonische Orchester Bremerhaven. This was the opportunity to finally realise my plan of condensing my 2006 opera Das Frauenorchester von Auschwitz. I wanted to form a concert version that conveyed the essence of the work without resorting to plot and action on stage. To do this I extracted significant sections of the opera and compiled them into a block-like series of fragments. The audience can experience the resultant concentrated form of the work lasting around 30 minutes. Stefan Heucke

Orchestral Cast

3 (3. auch Picc.) · 2 Blfl. · 3 (3. auch Engl. Hr.) · 3 (2. auch Es-Klar., 3. auch Bassklar.) · 3 (3. auch Kfg.) - 4 · 3 (1. auch hohe Trp.) · 3 · 1 · Schofar - P. (2 Spieler) S. (Xyl. · Beck. · kl. Tr. · Tomt. · gr. Tr. · Woodbl. · Peitsche · 3 Tamt.) (mind. 3 Spieler) - Akk. · Klav. · mind. 2 Mand. · mind. 2 Git. - Str. (mind. 10 · 8 · 6 · 5 · 4)

More Information

Title:

Bruchstücke

aus der Oper Das Frauenorchester von Auschwitz

für vier Singstimmen (SSSMez) und Orchester

Textzusammenstellung von Clemens Heucke

Language:

German, Hebrew

Edition:

Performance material

Publisher/Label:

Vertrieb durch Schott Music, Mainz / distributed by Schott Music, Mainz

Year of composition:

2014

Opus:

op. 75

Duration:

42 ′

World Premiere:

May 11, 2015 · Bremerhaven (D)
Theater
Regine Sturm, Sopran; Katja Bördner, Sopran; Svetlana Smolentseva, Alt; Jeanette Wernecke, Sopran · Conductor: Marc Niemann · Philharmonisches Orchester Bremerhaven

Commissioned work :

Auftragswerk des Philharmonischen Orchesters Bremerhaven