BROOI\. I YN A< ADI MY OJ M l Sl< 'J"'ll ( ~ I.Ji l tl e () rcll e 'l.ra s()C ieLy THOMAS SCHERMAN, Mmic f)irector VLADO I lAB N l K, Stage I>ircct01 I ANNUAl SUBS< IUI'IION !->I lUI.!'> S I ASON l<)(l<) 197() Flr'>t ('once It Sund.ty, October I 2 at ?. · W p.m. III· Rili·H I II AIUU I I , A1onagl'l (ARt ORI F PROI\.11 1111 l S (Amclit::lll Pl elllll're) From the origin.tl (,IL'L' J.. t1aged) of Ac ... ..:: hvlu'> Prnmet hell '> .................. .. ...... ..... ('ados Ak.-..::tlllkt In ......................................... Coktll: I o tand llephaestus ............. ........................ I eo ( .oeke Bi.t . Phil ip Rice 1\.ratO'i . Scan ILu kcr Oceanu-. .......... ..................... .. Ravmnnd M un.:ell llermcs . ................. Wtlltam I cwis Oceanitl'i : CIH istina A-.hn, Hetty B;mch, JenncJ..e B.u ton, Icc lkllaver. ll.trba t.t < 1011..:h, < lamn1ah D.tle, S.tr.th FranJ..IJJl, D1.111 C ll1gginbotham, D1.1n.t llo.Jgl.tnd. I ou Ann I ee, I in Maxwell, Jacqueltnc Pierce. In\ Bl. tLJ..ctt SchoL·plltn, Ruth Ra), DP..Jt: Stew.ut ltme · Ancient (,recce Place: A mountain t: 1.1g in the ( .tlH.:as us Scene I Krato-., Promet heus, llephae'itll '>, Ili a Scene 2 Prometheus Scene 1 - Prnmetheu-., Oce.tnids Scene ~ ­ J>rom et he us, Oceanus, Ocean ids Scene ) Oce:t nids, PJOlllL'thcus Scene 6 P • nmct he us, Io, ('hot us Scene 7 Chon!'>, Pt OlllL't he us Scene H Promctheu-.. llcrmcs, ('horus Scene 9 PJlHll L't hew.. , < h01 u-. 'I hNt' will ht• no 111/t'lllll.\\ion 'I he al tem .t tt:'> fot Mr. Alnandcr and M1ss l orand arc· '1 homas Pallll L' l and Ann.1 ( ,,thtleli The chon"' of Oceanitl'i wa-. prepared by Dlllo Anagnost Setting and costume'> by: Dian,1 and /l.1to Bomd. ( 'o-.tumes execull'd by: Bett y Wdli:tm'> llcaddresse'> by: R.tl ph Lee J>rnmethew.. puppet cte.tted by: I a11y lkrthelson Operated by: l at ry Berthclson and Mat y Allen Mus1c by at rangL' lllc nt with A-.-.oci.tted Mti'>I C J>ubli -. hcl'>, In c., New Yot J.., agent lot B. Schott\ Sohne, Main;r American debut Bal dwin Pt .t nm NOTES ON THE PROGRAM by THOMAS MATTHEWS The Wor/d-1 heater of Carl Orf] ( 1895- Prometheus is the concluding work in Carl OrfT's epic-trilogy for the theater. The first, Antigonae, made its appearance in 1949 and the second, Oedipus, The Tyrant, was pre­ miered in 1959. For those experiencing Orff for the first time, let them be aware immedi­ ately that he is not an operatic composer in the accepted sense. In fact, the word opera never appears in connection with the titles of his stage pieces. All of his World-theater works-which they have been named-are direct and elemental protests against the established conceptions of so-called nineteenth century opera. The texts of Orff's theater pieces are the departure point for his music. He is a composer, who illustrates and decorates the spoken or sung word in a collaboration with dance or stylized movement and stage design. K. H. Ruppel reminds us that ''one cannot do justice to Orff's creative work by considering only its musical aspects. Alongside his musical primitivism, one must place the stimulating force of his ideas on the art of dramatic presentation; an art, which, in a vibrant, resonant room, makes the singing and playing of vibrant people an allegory of life." Dr. Orff rarely comments on his magical and, to some, incomprehensible creations, but. it is well known that he believes the salvation of musi~ can be realized only through the spoken-sung word and a complete!\ rejuvenated, "yet technically simplified .. theater. He has stated: "I am often asked why I nearly alwa)s select old material, legends and fairy tales for my tage works. I do not look upon them as old, but only valid. The time clement disappears and only the spiritual power remains. I write for the theater, in order to convey a spiritual attitude." Orff's musico-dramatic quest has driven him beyond the confines of opera into a realm of mystery and ritual. Toward a total theatrical experience. His works are strange, hypnotic incantations, suggestive of almost forgotten times in which drama, music and staging shared and moved together in the truest sense of equality. However, despite his empathy for antiquity, Orff is a twentieth century composer, a twentieth centuryman and his works arc expressions of twentieth century ideals and happenings. Carl Orfi was born in Munich and studied there at the Akademie der Tonkunst, until 1914. After serving in the army during the first World War he held positions at the opera houses of Mannheim and Darmstadt. Dissatisfied, he returned to Munich and was put in charge of a department in the Gunther school of Physical Training called Tanserisch Musikerziehung (Musical training by means of percussion orchestra). This limited accounting of his roots, his education and his theater training explains somewhat his preoccupation with movement and his characteristic style. Following the sensational suc­ cess of Cannina Burana at its premiere in Frankfurt in J 937, Orff literally disowned all his previous compositions. He withdrew or destroyed all of his works, including many sonatas and fugues. Since that year, he has refused to discuss any of these earlier works or any part of his earlier life. Once, when an enterprising editor of a book on modern opera, begged Orff for information about himself, Orff wrote back: "Carl Orff, born in Munich in 1895, still living there." Consequently, his international and quite justified reputation is based entirely on his stage works, all of which have been created since 1935. Der Monel ( 1939) and Die Kluge (1943) arc the first results of Or.ff's experiments that utilize the legend as a dynamic medium of German expression. Although the fantasy world of Grimm supplies the concept and the background for both these theatre pieces, the situation Orff offers us is new. He views the world and its occupants as they arc involved in their eternal relationship to the universe. His scenic cantatas Catulli Carmina and Carmina Burana, revealed another aspect of his audacious aesthetic principles. So do Die Bern- auerin and Astutuli. In Holdcrlin's version of Antir::onae (American premiere, The Little Orchestra Society, 1968), OrfT four.d another outlet for his strict Munich logic and his adventurous musical mind, which was and is concerned particularly with rhythm and words. It is obvious in both A ntigonae and Oedipu~ (I 959), as well as Prometheus, that there arc lines, which are sung, but the ultimate power of the vocal music lies in a com­ bination of song-speech, actual spoken dialogue and driving, hypnotic declamation. In each of OrfT's world-theater works, his writing is amazingly direct. Neither the use of effects that shock-if they are pertinent to the words-nor extremely simple harmonies have ever deterred their creator. His music is intentionally primitive and elemental for a reason. With his return to a musical k.ind of innocence, OrfT cast ao:;ide all the efTccts of 18th and 19th century Romanticism, Post-romanticism and Nco-classicism. He consistently avoids the sweetness of strings. Wind instrument<; predominate and above all, the percussion batter~ becomes his important instrumental spokesman. Orff has developed the percussion department \\ith an almost unparalleled genius. In Prometheus, the chained Titan became for OrfT another lcgendar~ route back to the cs'\cntial and the authentic; the series of dialogues and mirror images, the sympathetic daughters of Oceanus and the stricken, half-crazed ro arc symbols of the very beginnings of the theater. Theater, where the individu,d character is onl~ relevant when he typifies all of humanity. Wolfgang Sehadewaldt, the eminent OrfT authority, tells us that in Prometheus, "OrfT's many-layered world of sound and rhythm is an interpretation, not of antiquity, but of the very beginning. The elementary first sound ( Urlaut), the crash, the scream and on to the ultim,tte fulfillment of the soul. It is an interpretation of a happening formed into a word." Everett Helm has explained P10metheus by \\riting: "Through his conscious reduction of music to its most elemental terms, Orff achieves what no complicated, erudite score could achieve-n tmcly, the spiritual pcnctr<1tion and renewal of the classical myth, which is revealed as timeless, hence contemporary."' There arc no soothing, flattering, romantic musical sounds to be found in Prometheu\. We hear music that accompanies a drama of vision. Its creator illuminates musical, spiritual and theatrical visions that lead the open and perceptive participant back to the original source of self-awareness. To an awareness of suffering and charity. Back to the basic origins of sound and the birthplace of music. VrRrwzd Mu\·ik, as Dr. OrfT describes it. Prometheus, Professor Schadewaldt further explains, "reaches far back to the titanic first beginning; the living realization of a begin­ ning of humanity, in which the sound-worlds of the races arc united in one tremendous global concert." Two parts of the Promethem· drama have been lost in the hurricanes of time and consequently, the section in which the Katharsis explains the hero's release and his reconciliation with Zeus is not available to modern audiences. This loss wac; of little concern to Orff; it was never his intention to shed any light on the denouement of the legend. OrfT"s decision to usc Aeschylus' original Greek for Prometheus further enables him to renounce any distr<1cting re-interpretations of Prometheu\ bound by modern audiences and historians.