Hindemith: Das Marienleben (Revised Version, 1948)

Featuring

Maya Boog
Michael Lakner
Paul Hindemith

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Performer Biography

Soprano Maya Boog, after training at the International Opera Studio Zurich, was engaged at the Staatstheater Darmstadt and has performed in major opera houses and festivals across Europe.

Composition History

Paul Hindemith composed the first version of 'Das Marienleben' (The Life of Mary) as a 27-year-old in 1922/23, setting poems by Rainer Maria Rilke that were then less than a decade old.

Composition History

Unlike his other early works, composing 'Das Marienleben' was a difficult challenge for Hindemith, leading him to a deeper awareness of music's ethical necessities.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In the 1948 version, Hindemith applied his thesis of a graduated harmonic plan, making the entire composition adhere to a rigid tonal structure where individual keys and tones fulfill specific functions.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Hindemith assigned the tonality E as the central harmony in 'Das Marienleben', representing the essence of Christ, which appears as the ruling harmony when Christ becomes the main character.

Compositional Technique

The 1948 new version of 'Das Marienleben' is described as a 'compendium of adaptation artistry' by biographer Andres Briner, with only one song untouched and another completely rewritten.

Composer Biography

During his 'enfant terrible' phase, Paul Hindemith created sensation and scandal with provocative opera libretti and innovative techniques, such as using a siren in his 'Kammermusik Nr. 1'.