Le Pays (The Land) is a three-act opera by Guy Ropartz with a libretto by Charles Le Goffic. It was composed between 1908 and 1910 and was premiered in 1912 at Nancy. It is an important example of the Breton cultural renaissance of the early 20th century.
Ropartz stated that he was looking for an opera subject that involved "interiorised action; few events; feelings; few characters; no spectacle." He was given a copy of Le Goffic's short story collection Passions Celtes (1908), and was immediately attracted to the story L'islandaise (The Icelandic Girl), which describes a doomed love affair between the girl and a stranded Breton fisherman. It was based on the lives of the Breton "Icelanders", who fished in Icelandic waters and sometimes stayed there for periods. Ropartz had already created a score for Louis Tiercelin's stage adaptation of Pierre Loti's novel Pêcheur d'Islande (An Iceland Fisherman) on the same basic theme. Ropartz asked Le Goffic to adapt his story for the stage.
Ropartz's style is influenced by the form of Wagner's music dramas and the structural innovations of César Franck. Ropartz makes frequent use of leitmotives and also incorporates elements of Breton folk melodies to represent the hero's nostagia for his homeland. The critic Michel Fleury argues that the music is built around four main themes, one of which represents Iceland, and in particular the bog which plays a role in the narrative; one represents the main female character and the emotion of love associated with her; another represents the male character and his nostalgia for Brittany. The fourth theme represents stability, associated with the heroine's father.
Act I.
Autumn: A cottage in Iceland: Tual, a Breton fisherman who has survived a shipwreck, has been recuperating in the home of Jörgen, an old trapper. He is tended by Kaethe, Jörgen's daughter. She suggests that Tual must be nostalgic for his Breton home. Tual reminds her that after he had dragged himself ashore from the shipwreck, he nearly died in the Hrafuaga, a dangerous Icelandic swamp; only Jörgen's timely arrival saved him. All the other fishermen on the ship were drowned, so everyone in Brittany will think him dead and he has no ties there anymore. Tual declares his love for Kaethe. Kaethe is worried that Tual's feelings may be temporary, but says she loves him too. In the absence of a preacher Jörgen "marries" the couple by insisting that Tual dedicate himself to Kaethe by swearing on the "mud of Hrafuaga" that if he ever abandons her it will swallow him up.