Der Ferne Klang

Der ferne Klang (The Distant Sound) is an opera by Franz Schreker, libretto by the composer.

Drafted in 1901, Schreker completed the three-act libretto in 1903. However, composing the music would take about ten years. Criticism from his composition teacher Robert Fuchs caused Schreker to abandon the project for the first time in 1903. He did not return to it until 1905, after having attended the first performances of Richard Strauss' opera Salome. The orchestral interlude of Act 3 (entitled Nachtstück) was given its first concert performance by the Wiener Tonkünstlerorchester on 25 November 1909 under the direction of Oskar Nedbal. Although the performance was a stormy one, propelling Schreker to the forefront of progressive Viennese composers, Schreker felt encouraged enough to finally complete the opera in 1910.

Alban Berg prepared the vocal score of the opera in 1911.

The opera was first performed on 18 August 1912 at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt conducted by Ludwig Rottenberg and continued to be performed regularly over the next two decades when it held a special place in the German-speaking world as one of the pioneering works of modern opera. Important productions included the Czech premiere in May 1920 at the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague under Alexander Zemlinsky and the highly successful Berlin State Opera production of May 1925 under Erich Kleiber with the composers wife Maria Schreker and Richard Tauber in the leading roles. The opera was also staged in Leningrad (1925) and (1927). The last productions during Schreker's lifetime were at the Stadttheater Aachen and in Teplitz-Schönau during the 1930-31 season, whereafter the Nazi ban on Entartete Musik caused it to disappear from the repertory.

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