Scan 4
Musical Courier 1905-08-23: Vol 51 Iss 1326, 1905
37 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 5. See the scan on archive.org.
1The Oberammergau Passion Play.
3By M. ETIENNE.
5OBERAMMERGAU, July 30, 1905.
7WITH the performance of "Tannhäuser" on June 29, the opera in Munich closed for the season; and with it ended the last vestige of musical activity, except the popular open air band concerts, which occur twice a week in the Hofgarten, and every Saturday in the English Garden, throughout the summer. With the opening of the present month came the annual summer rush of tourist hordes, to which the city promptly surrendered; its rightful denizens fleeing for refuge to breezy mountain resorts by the far famed lakes and fells of the Fatherland, and leaving to the invaders, the torrid heat and dust and the contradictory summer din and deadness of the town. Following this good example, I also made my escape a few weeks since to the cool green hills and vales, the stillness and peace of Oberammergau. This charming village of about 1,300 inhabitants, situated in one of the most picturesque valleys of the Bavarian Highlands, is proving this season a lode-stone of attraction to visitors from far and near, on account of the great play, the "Kreuzesschule" or "School of the Cross," which is being produced this summer for the first time in thirty years, and will possibly never be produced again. one of two readings
8WITH the performance of "Tannhäuser" on June 29, the opera in Munich closed for the season; and with it ended the last vestige of musical activity, except the popular open air band concerts, which occur twice a week in the Hofgarten, and every Saturday in the English Garden, throughout the summer. With the opening of the present month came the annual summer rush of tourist hordes, to which the city promptly surrendered; its rightful denizens fleeing for refuge to breezy mountain resorts by the far famed lakes and fells of the Fatherland, and leaving to the invaders, the torrid heat and dust and the contradictory summer din and deadness of the town. Following this good example, I also made my escape a few weeks since to the cool green hills and vales, the stillness and peace of Oberammergau. This charming village of about 1,300 inhabitants, situated in one of the most picturesque valleys of the Bavarian Highlands, is proving this season a lodestone of attraction to visitors from far and near, on account of the great play, the "Kreuzesschule" or "School of the Cross," which is being produced this summer for the first time in thirty years, and will possibly never be produced again. one of two readings
10Perhaps in a later letter I may attempt some description of this impressive and remarkable drama, which is full of deepest interest from beginning to end, and inspires admiration and wonder at the artistic and dramatic results achieved by these simple Bavarian villagers. Today must be limited to a brief account of the musical qualifications and attainments of the Oberammergauers themselves.
12While these are, of course, not of an order to admit of comparison with those of any cultivated musical centre, yet they are sufficiently remarkable to challenge attention in an obscure little hamlet shut away among the mountains, where one might reasonably expect beforehand to find no traces of the divine art whatsoever, beyond such as exist in the "sylvan flute" and the "rural song" of the mountaineer.
14And when we consider their dearth of opportunities and general lack of any but the crudest kind of training, what these people can and do accomplish in the musical line becomes doubly deserving of the highest possible credit.
16Nearly all of the Oberammergauers have good natural voices, with a few of exceptional quality; and from childhood up they are taught to take part in the great choruses in the decennial representations of the Passion Play; by which they acquire a certain instinct for sympathy of expression and dramatic effects in their singing. The village church has a choir of singers numbering seven sopranos, seven altos, six tenors and four basses. Conspicuous among them by his beautiful tenor voice is Theodor Lang, the "young David," as he is now universally known in the village, for it is he who appears in that rôle in the present play.
18Among the sopranos of the choir is his mother, Luzie Lang, wife of Andreas Lang, the "Old David" of the play, and she is also an important factor in the grand choruses of the latter. Her daughter, Luzie, sings among the altos. To the bass force belong Hans Mayr, known as "Goliath" upon the stage, and Jakob Rutz, formerly the "Chorführer," or leader of the chorus in the "Passion Play." Besides its twenty-four voices, the choir boasts of a regular orchestral force consisting of three first violins, three second violins, two violas, one 'cello, one contrabass, one flute, two clarinets, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones and two drums.
20One of these last is manipulated by Andreas Braun, who appears as "Jesse" in the play; the other by Sebastian Zwink, one of the finest wood carvers in the village.
22The choir is directed by Jakob Heckl, a very young man, but one who knows his business to a surprising degree, and who gets from both orchestra and singers effects that often would do credit to a trained city choir.
24Their own naturally artistic instincts, moreover, teach them much in the way of feeling and expression, and they put into their work a love, a simplicity and sympathy which must often reach the heart of the listener.
26Of course, there is much that is faulty—it could not be otherwise! More than once a singer may go flat or a violin sharp, the climax of a crescendo will be too abrupt, and sometimes one could wish the fortes to be a little less fortissimo; these and other defects undeniably exist. But, after all, how often do we meet with faults of a similar description in the performances of those who are ranked as finished artists upon the standard concert stage?
28And so, if we find them—and naturally often in graver degree—in the work of these self-taught peasants, it surely need not lessen our need of admiration and praise for the much that is admirable and praiseworthy in that work.
30The church boasts of a very fine organ, manufactured by the firm of Steinmeyer & Co., in Oettingen. This organ, the pride of the village, was presented to the Church of Oberammergau by a number of the English visitors to the "Passion Play" of 1890 as a token of their admiration and esteem. The organ is of modern pneumatic construction, with nine pedal registers, and with two manuals, the upper furnished with ten registers and the lower with thirteen. It has a full, rich tone, and is in every way a superb instrument. Heckl, the choirmaster, has to combine the difficult and complex duties of musical director and organist.
32When one sees this quiet, unobtrusive, diffident young man passing through the village streets, in the picturesque costume of the Bavarian Highlander, he is about the last object that would occur to one's mind as the leader of any organization, musical or otherwise. But once at his beloved organ, or with the baton in his hand, he is a changed man—all ardor and earnestness—and leads his choir along with a precision and verve that are wonderful.
34Many of the villagers appear to play some instrument or other—the zither, the "fiddle," &c., and several families are the proud possessors of pianos.
36About the most musical family of all seems to be that of Andreas Lang, or "König David," as we have learned to know him. He himself has a very fine voice, though he now sings but little. His wife and daughter are members of the church choir and of the chorus in the play. His oldest son, Theodor, whose glorious tenor voice has already been mentioned, and whose solos are a distinctive feature of the play, also plays the violin, and so does his younger brother, "Faust," who is one of the second violins of the choir's orchestra. It seems a pity that "Young David" should not have his voice cultivated, as its exceptionally beautiful timbre and rare sym-
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