Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 The Origin and Performance History of Carl Maria Von Weber's Das Waldmädchen (1800) Bama Lutes Deal Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MUSIC THE ORIGIN AND PERFORMANCE HISTORY OF CARL MARIA VON WEBER’S DAS WALDMÄDCHEN (1800) By BAMA LUTES DEAL A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2005 Copyright © 2005 Bama Lutes Deal All Rights Reserved The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Bama Lutes Deal defended on 1 April 2005. ___________________________________ Douglass Seaton Professor Directing Dissertation ___________________________________ Douglas Fisher Outside Committee Member ___________________________________ Charles Brewer Committee Member ___________________________________ Jeffery Kite-Powell Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii To my parents iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the education and encouragement I received from the faculty and administration of The Florida State University College of Music, and for the love, patience, and support of my dear family, colleagues, and friends. Collectively, their words and deeds contributed greatly to this document and helped me grow as a scholar and a musician. I thank my dissertation advisor, Douglass Seaton, for his uncompromising principles and many examples of scholarly work. I have benefited from his insistence on carefully organized writing and clear logic. The members of my committee also provided thorough editorial guidance as I prepared this document. They include Charles Brewer and Douglas Fisher, who served on my committee from its inception, and Jeffery Kite-Powell, who replaced Denise Von Glahn when a scheduling conflict prevented her from reading the final versions of my work. I could not have hoped for a finer group of teachers. I am also grateful to my alma mater for supporting my work with a Dissertation Research Grant in 2003-04. Frank Heidlberger informed me during the early stages of my work that a score to Weber’s Das Waldmädchen had been found in St. Petersburg. I have benefited from his continued interest in this investigation of Weber’s early experiences with Steinsberg and his colleagues from Prague. Many other exceptional scholars helped me while I was in Prague and Vienna. For his gracious hospitality and friendship, I thank David Beveridge. Through him I met Adolf Scherl, Alena Jakubcová, and Jitka Ludvova at Prague’s Divadelní ústav. This state-run institute, dedicated to preserving and sharing Czech theater history, became my home away from home. Drs. Jakubcová and Ludvova iv shared with me the well-organized historical and bibliographic resources of the institute, providing me with a comfortable work space and expert guidance, all of which contributed immeasurably to the success of my research. Dr. Scherl also directed certain aspects of this investigation, generously sharing his personal notes and detailed knowledge of Czech archival sources. I thank the administration and staff of the National Library of the Czech Republic, the Archives of the Capital City of Prague, the National Theater Archive, the State Regional Archive at Prague, and the National Museum of the Czech Republic. My appreciation is also extended to Markéta Kabelková and Vlasta Koubská for their assistance with the collections of the Czech Museum of Music and the Department of Theater Studies of the National Museum of the Czech Republic, respectively. I am similarly indebted to the staff of the library at the Österreichiches Theatermuseum and the Musiksammlung of the Österreichiches Nationalbibliothek for their efficient, professional, and courteous assistance. David Buch provided helpful directions, contacts, and scheduling information during a too-brief visit to Vienna. For the comfort of family, I also thank Marylin and Roger Stone—what a happy coincidence that our paths crossed so far from home! Stuart Burnham gave me generous practical advice about traveling and conducting musicological research in the Czech Republic. He also put me in touch with Luboš and Helena Weiser, the couple who allowed me to live in their beautiful home for many weeks. Their countless acts of kindness remain my fondest memories of Prague. Ivan Sury was equally friendly and helpful during my stay, for which I am most grateful. I thank the many fine scholars in North Carolina who assisted and encouraged my research, especially Sarah Dorsey, Ted Hunter, and Doryl Jensen. Sweet Sarah, thank you for everything—you are the finest kind of music librarian! My gratitude also extends to Eleanor McCrickard, Carol Marsh, David Levy, Elizabeth Keathley, David Nelson, Aubrey Garlington, Jane Perry-Camp, and Susan Andreatta, each of whom took v an interest in my work, offering ideas, advice, and generous encouragement along the way. To Helga and Jeff, I extend my heartfelt appreciation for their friendship and balanced approach to life. It has been invigorating to share good times with them and then get right back to work. I am most grateful for the daily contributions of my family, whose love provided my most important source of strength and determination. For the quiet sacrifices they withstood, and for their ongoing faithfulness, I thank my children Ashleigh and Justin. I also thank my mother and father, to whom this work is dedicated. Their gift of music lessons set me on this path long ago. Dad’s soaring spirit gave me courage to finish my work—and I know he was watching me while I was in Europe. Mom became my most important pen-pal during an otherwise solitary time, reminding me that family matters most in life. I am also grateful to the members of my extended family, including in- laws, sisters, brothers, aunts, and uncles, each of whom helped me in many different ways as I pursued this goal. My life has been graced by the comfort and love of a very special man, m y husband John, who listened attentively to my ideas, read through and edited early drafts, accommodated m e with the time and space necessary to think and write, funded my travels, prepared meals, patiently took up hobbies, and was always near to lift my spirit whenever I felt down. I will always be grateful for his love, patience, encouragement, and understanding. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ix List of Figures xi List of Examples xii Abstract xiv INTRODUCTION 1 1. CARL MARIA VON WEBER’S MUSICAL INFLUENCES, 1786–1800 9 2. FERAL CHILDREN AND WRANITZKY’S PANTOMIME-BALLET DAS WALDMÄDCHEN (1796) 24 3. STEINSBERG AND HIS COMPANY 46 Steinsberg 46 Prague’s vaterländische Gesellschaft 53 Steinsberg and the vaterländische Gesellschaft Leave Prague 58 The Freiberg (Saxony) Residency, August–November, 1800 67 4. WEBER’S DAS WALDMÄDCHEN (1800) 73 Performances of Weber’s Early Opera 73 Weber’s Continued Interest in Das Waldmädchen 82 5. HYPOTHETICAL SYNOPSIS OF WEBER’S DAS WALDMÄDCHEN (1800) 86 Act 1 90 Act 2 92 vii 6. PRIMARY SOURCES FOR WEBER’S DAS WALDMÄDCHEN (1800) 94 Score Fragments, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Weberiana I:1 97 The St. Petersburg Score and Orchestra Parts, Gosudarstvenny akademichesky Mariinsky teatr Central'naya muzykalnaya biblioteka, RF-Sprob, Sign. I.1.W.373 101 Wranitzky’s Ballet and Weber’s Opera: Comparing Scores 120 7. THE CHEMNITZ CAST AND THE PERFORMANCE AT PRAGUE 131 The Chemnitz Cast 131 A Performance at Prague in Czech 137 SUMMARY 141 APPENDIX A 153 APPENDIX B 163 BIBLIOGRAPHY 173 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 196 viii LIST OF TABLES 1.1 Partial Repertoire of the Weber Theater Company, 1787–96 13 1.2 Weber’s Compositions Prior to August 1800 18 2.1 Selected Eighteenth- and Early Nineteenth-Century Published Accounts of Feral Children 26 2.2 Music from Wranitzky’s Das Waldmädchen in the Catalogue of the Czech Museum of Music 43 3.1 Partial List of Karl Ritter von Steinsberg’s Works 51 3.2 Personnel of the vaterländische Gesellschaft, 1791 57 3.3 Personnel of the United vaterländische Gesellschaft and the Karlsbad Company Following Stentzsch’s Tour, 1797 60 3.4 Personnel of Steinsberg’s Touring Company at Prague and Carlsbad, Summer 1798 62 3.5 Repertoire Presented by Steinsberg’s Company at Freiberg (Saxony), 24 August to 25 November 1800 68 4.1 Reported Performances of Weber’s Das Waldmädchen (J. Anh. 1) 81 4.2 Weber’s Music for the Stage 84 5.1 Dramatis personae in Das Waldmädchen (1800) 87 6.1 Arrangement, Pagination, and Paper Types in Volume 1 of the St. Petersburg score to Das Waldmädchen (RF-Sprob, Sign. I.1.W.373) 104 6.2 Arrangement, Pagination and Paper Types in Volume 2 of the St. Petersburg score to Das Waldmädchen (RF-Sprob, Sign. I.1.W.373) 106 ix 6.3 Organization of Musical Numbers in Wranitzky’s Ballet Das Waldmädchen (1796) 121 6.4 Organization of Musical Numbers in the St. Petersburg Score to Weber’s Opera Das Waldmädchen (1800) 125 x LIST OF FIGURES 4.1. Wenzel Müller’s diary entry for December 1804, Stadts- und Landsbibliothek, Vienna, Tagebuch über das Theater in Der Leopoldstadt (1781-1830), Sign. 51926 JB 77 4.2. Wenzel Müller’s diary entry for June 1805, Stadts- und Landsbibliothek, Vienna, Tagebuch über das Theater in Der Leopoldstadt (1781-1830), Sign. 51926 JB 78 xi LIST OF EXAMPLES 6.1 Earlier and Revised Readings of the St. Petersburg Score to Weber’s Das Waldmädchen, Act 2, No. 14 (Aria, Printz), Measure 99 109 6.2 Earlier and Revised Readings of the St. Petersburg Score to Weber’s Das Waldmädchen, Act 2, No.