Antigonae
| Antigonae | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Carl Orff | |
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| Language | German |
| Based on | Friedrich Hölderlin's translation of Antigone by Sophocles |
| Premiere | 9 August 1949 Salzburg Festival |
Antigonae (Antigone), written by Carl Orff, was first presented on 9 August 1949 under the direction of Ferenc Fricsay in the Felsenreitschule, Salzburg, Austria, as part of the Salzburg Festival. Antigonae is in Orff's words a "musical setting" for the Greek tragedy of the same name by Sophocles. However, it functions as an opera.
Orff used the German translation of Sophocles' play by Friedrich Hölderlin. The original play was written in 442 BC, and the German translation copies faithfully the mood and movement of Greek tragedy.
With this work Orff drew a line in his musical output, setting up a demarcation between pre-Antigonae and post-Antigonae style. Hölderlin's translation into lines of ecstatic German inspired the declamatory technique Orff uses for the first time in much of Antigonae. It pre-dates a similar style of the minimalist school by about 50 years. In this way Orff creates unusual sound effects that captures both the dramatic and psychological setting of the original Greek tragedy with emotional color ranging from the ecstatic to the orgiastic. Much of the singing is performed a cappella.
Frequently an ostinato in the orchestra builds up an almost unbearable tension which is resolved only in the final bars of the piece. Orff frequently uses the technique called Singstimmen, which is halfway between singing and speaking, somewhat like Schönberg's Sprechgesang, but still within the tonal language of work.
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