Die ersten Menschen

The most significant musical works of Rudi Stephan are without doubt his concert works with ascetic titles such as Music for Orchestra and Music for Violin and Orchestra. This stands in contrast to Stephan’s own claim that Die ersten Menschen was his true work and all other compositions mere attempts.

The composer became fascinated by the ‘erotic mystery play’ of the same name by Otto Borngraeber immediately after its publication in 1909, but a transformation of this material into operatic form was hindered by a number of obstacles. The drama with an anthroposophical slant ascribed the Genesis verses to the conflict between primeval human forces and paired them with drastic Expressionism and Freudian psychoanalysis: a combination which was destined to collide with Bavarian censorship. Stephan did however succeed in completing his work before being called up for military service in 1914. Tragically, he was unable to experience his work in performance: he fell in battle near Tarnopol in 1915.