Study Guide: Student Edition

Tacoma Opera presents Hansel and Gretel Study Materials - Student’s Edition June, 2021 Contents From Folk Tale to Opera The origins of Hansel and Gretel From folktale to opera - The origins of Hansel and Gretel Folktales Folktales Grimm’s Fairy Tales Hansel and Gretel, the opera Folktales are stories that are passed from person to person. Because they are generally not written down, the same story might exist in many different versions. These stories were especially popular before most people were educated in how to read and write. But we still have different kinds of About the creators folktales today, such as “urban legends.” The Brothers Grimm In time, many folktales were written down. Some of the earliest collections were made in France and Adelheid Wette gave these stories the familiar name of fairy tales, because of the frequent presence of magical Engelbert Humperdinck beings in the stories. These stories were not originally told or written down for children. They contained violence and descriptions of horrible people and their actions. But many of the authors changed some of the traditional elements to make them more suitable for children. Synopsis of the Opera Folktales were often built around individual story elements or events that could be pieced together to make a new story. The original story of Hansel and Gretel probably started in the Medieval Ages Additional Resources during a great famine, and various traditional elements were used to create the story. For example, in the familiar Grimm version, Hansel and Gretel were able to find their way home by leaving a trail of stones. When they meet the Witch, who wants to eat them, they trick her into falling into her own Discussion Questions oven. Finally, they are able to find their way home again with the help of a magic bird. Many stories have some of these same elements. Stories of heroes leaving a trail so that they can find their way out of a maze or a forest go back to ancient times. There are also stories that have an evil witch or ogre who wishes to cook and eat the hero, only to be fooled into falling in the oven themselves. And magic animals, who help the hero, are found in many fairy tales. Grimm’s Fairy Tales Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm were two brothers who had a great interest in German literature. They began to collect German folk tales, which they eventually published in a book called, in German, Children’s and Household Tales (1812). We know these stories as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Although called children’s tales, the stories were criticized for not being suitable for children. And so the Grimms changed some of the elements in later editions. The brothers continued to add stories to their collection and revise what they had written. The story of Hansel and Gretel was originally called Little Brother and Little Sister. The children were only given names in later editions. The Grimms may have first heard the story from a family friend, but it is clear that they pieced the story together from various versions. Contents From Folk Tale to Opera The origins of Hansel and Gretel From folktale to opera - The origins of Hansel and Gretel Folktales Folktales Grimm’s Fairy Tales Hansel and Gretel, the opera Folktales are stories that are passed from person to person. Because they are generally not written down, the same story might exist in many different versions. These stories were especially popular before most people were educated in how to read and write. But we still have different kinds of About the creators folktales today, such as “urban legends.” The Brothers Grimm In time, many folktales were written down. Some of the earliest collections were made in France and Adelheid Wette gave these stories the familiar name of fairy tales, because of the frequent presence of magical Engelbert Humperdinck beings in the stories. These stories were not originally told or written down for children. They contained violence and descriptions of horrible people and their actions. But many of the authors changed some of the traditional elements to make them more suitable for children. Synopsis of the Opera Folktales were often built around individual story elements or events that could be pieced together to make a new story. The original story of Hansel and Gretel probably started in the Medieval Ages Additional Resources during a great famine, and various traditional elements were used to create the story. For example, in the familiar Grimm version, Hansel and Gretel were able to find their way home by leaving a trail of stones. When they meet the Witch, who wants to eat them, they trick her into falling into her own Discussion Questions oven. Finally, they are able to find their way home again with the help of a magic bird. Many stories have some of these same elements. Stories of heroes leaving a trail so that they can find their way out of a maze or a forest go back to ancient times. There are also stories that have an evil witch or ogre who wishes to cook and eat the hero, only to be fooled into falling in the oven themselves. And magic animals, who help the hero, are found in many fairy tales. Grimm’s Fairy Tales Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm were two brothers who had a great interest in German literature. They began to collect German folk tales, which they eventually published in a book called, in German, Children’s and Household Tales (1812). We know these stories as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Although called children’s tales, the stories were criticized for not being suitable for children. And so the Grimms changed some of the elements in later editions. The brothers continued to add stories to their collection and revise what they had written. The story of Hansel and Gretel was originally called Little Brother and Little Sister. The children were only given names in later editions. The Grimms may have first heard the story from a family friend, but it is clear that they pieced the story together from various versions. Hansel and Gretel, the opera were known as Children’s and Household Tales, though we know them as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Over the years, the collection went through numerous editions, with stories being added (and occasionally removed). The original stories were also criticized for elements that were definitely not for children, Perhaps because it combined so many traditional story elements, the story of Hansel and Gretel was particularly popular and was adapted by many other storytellers. A woman named Adelheid Wette wrote elements that were considerably softened in later editions. Among the stories collected are such familiar a play based on the story, which she intended for her children to perform for family and friends. She favorites as Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow asked her brother, the composer Engelbert Humperdinck to compose four or five songs to go into the White, Sleeping Beauty, and, of course, Hansel and Gretel. play. The play was so successful, that Wette and Humperdinck decided to add even more songs. This created a type of opera called a Singspiel, or sing play. The Singspiel contained 16 songs, including, in Although they were not the first collectors of German folktales, the Brothers Grimm were first to make a accordance with the folk origin of the story, four actual folk songs. Eventually, the Singspiel was turned systematic collection. They tried to collect the stories as they heard them, using the words and even the into a full-blown opera. This became the Hansel and Gretel (1893) opera that we know today. dialects of the storytellers, though some scholars believe that they may have altered some stories to make them seem more German than they were. Certainly, many stories have parallels in other cultures Humperdinck was a protégé of the composer Richard Wagner. When composing his own massive and even appear in collections of stories in other languages. Part of the Grimms’ motivation for making operas, Wagner used a system of what is called leitmotifs, literally “leading motifs”. A leitmotif is short their collection was to help unite German-speaking people. At the time, what we call Germany was musical phrase used to represent a person, object, or idea. A leitmotif may appear when the person, composed of some 200 separate regions, many ruled by France. object, or idea is referenced in some way, frequently recombined with other leitmotifs or transformed in various ways to create the musical tapestry. For example, in Act I of Hansel and Gretel, the Father tells But as well-known as their study of German folktales was, the Brothers Grimm were also very important the Mother about a witch that lives in the woods. When we finally see the witch in Act III, the witch in the study of German language. At the time of their deaths, they were working on a German dictionary, motif first heard in Act I reappears. This kind of musical referencing is still used today, especially in film which also traced the historical usage of German words. Jacob Grimm is also credited for the discovery scores. Film composers often create short themes for important characters and use those themes in of “Grimm’s Law”, which describes how the sounds of language change over time. various ways throughout the film soundtrack. Adelheid Wette (1858-1916) Hansel and Gretel, the full opera, was first performed on December 23, 1893. It has often been associated with Christmas ever since. Adelheid Wette was a German author and composer, best known for writing the libretto for the opera, Hansel and Gretel, composed by her brother, Engelbert Humperdinck.

Load more