DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (October 15, 2020)
Before we examine "The Ruins of Athens", let us first look at the even lesser known play, "King Stephen: or Hungary's First Benefactor."
And, before we examine that, let us discuss first its playwright, August von Kotzebue.
Kotzebue was assassinated in 1819, by a deranged radical student, Karl Sand. Prince Metternich, who led the Congress of Vienna, used the opportunity to impose the dictatorial "Carlsbad Decrees", which censored the press and policed the universities. Perhaps, because he was murdered by a supposed radical, Kotzebue is often referred to as a conservative playwright. Not so! People of Beethoven's ilk could see through supposed left-right divisions, as we have to see through them today.
Historian Renee Sigerson, gave us a more profound view of the playwright. The following statements, are all derived from an article of hers:
“After serving as Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton saw the wisdom of employing theater to uplift and educate the population. He collaborated with a fellow patriot, William Dunlap, to create the first major theater in NYC - the Park Theater. That theater presented eighteen of Kotzebue's plays. He became the most popular playwright in New York, maybe even the USA.
“One play "The Stranger", presented a penitent woman, grieving over her sin of adultery. She was sincere enough, that her husband forgave her, and the family was reunited. The portrayal was so powerful, that audiences everywhere found themselves on the side of redemption, and cheered at the outcome. Kotzebue had made Jesus' "Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone", very real to his audience.
“Another play of his presented the daily life of a slave family in the British colony of Jamaica, for all-white audiences.”
Kotzebue also served as director of the St Petersburg Theater in Russia, under the reign of Catherine the Great, who defended the young American republic by founding the "League of Armed Neutrality." He was associated with many leaders in Russia who saw the U.S. as a model.
KING STEPHEN
Stephen was crowned as King of Hungary on Christmas Day, 1,000 A.D. The play locates him as having civilized Hungary, by introducing it to Christianity. In recent years, the scandals of the Catholic Church and other influences have cast Christianity as an often villain. Despite the bad rap it gets, and sometimes not undeservedly, Christianity overall, served not just as a religion, but as a civilizing philosophical and political influence, which we can see in this short play!
Beethoven begins with an overture and chorus that set the stage for the King's opening soliloquy. Here is just the overture.
King Stephen then speaks:
“Welcome to the steps of this throne, which the loyalty of my Hungarians has exalted. This place to which I have summoned you is still inhabited by the spirits of your fathers; Here a sword oft flashed victorious in the face of the foe, and wise men’s counsel often aided their Prince.
“But they were ensnared in harmful nets which the fallen spirit had set up round them. Dripping with blood, they sacrificed to idols, and their prayers sank down into the Underworld. The altars they approached only with trembling, to the louring evil spirit who hates mankind.
“To lift their hearts to the God who embraces a world in love, they were unable. But finally my father’s pious bosom was opened to an initial gentle ray; Then, for the first time, you became Conscious of your high calling; Then your highly polished sabres were no longer profaned as sacrificial knives;
“Then, by degrees, the pestilent mists vanished, and a better, more compassionate era dawned.”
King Stephen then employs the Christian idea of: "Love Thine Enemy." After a Victory March, he addresses his enemy, Gyula, the defeated King of Transylvania. First, we provide the Victory March (The links will all begin at the right place, but the reader will have to close them when the piece is over, or the entire play will continue.)
https://youtu.be/hwe7Nqwo-E8?t=758
“Stephen: Bold warriors, Hungary’s pride and glory, I entrusted you with a noble aim. You set out full of a noble desire for glory, you have returned home with glory crowned. From your noble fathers you inherited the warrior spirit known of old; In Hungary there are none who are traitors. To the glory of past ages praised.
“Greetings, Gyula!
“Gyula: You would greet your enemy?
“Stephen: A Hungarian knows no enemy in chains. Into armed ranks he’ll storm with the courage of a lion, but he knows how to forgive a man he has vanquished.
“Gyula: Only now have you vanquished me. With horror and dismay my unwilling lips declare: Your God is mightier than my idols. Therefore, admit me to your league of Christians.
“Stephen: Do not imagine a faith confessed only with your lips can shield you.
“Gyula: I am impelled by my own heart… your clemency… My pride has never been dissimulation’s slave.
“Stephen: Very well. Then may God’s blessing rest upon you; who’ll never cast away one who has gone astray. In brotherly love I come to meet you, Let your bonds be loosed by my own hand.
“Gyula: What is this, my lord?
“Stephen: You are free.
“Gyula: I am free again? You’ll lay no yoke upon me? You are my enemy no more?
“Stephen: A Christian has no enemies, only brothers; Endure the yoke of faith, it is not hard to bear.
“Gyula: Now I am yours forever, without trembling! A free servant your magnanimity has made rich.
“Stephen: Of all the victories that convulse the world, none is equal to victory through love.”
On the subject of love, we next meet King Stephen's betrothed, Gisela.
“The Bavarian Envoy: Indeed. A propitious star led me ahead of my Princess, that I might become the admiring witness of your royal turn of mind. The world was acquainted with Stephen’s deeds, but the greatest of all it did not know – The hero’s victory over himself. Hail to the noble Bavarian princess, who is your chaste betrothed!
“Stephen: She brings good fortune to me and to my people! A valiant man can easily find a bloody path to a throne by winning laurels, but wherever a throne rests on justice, it has always been adorned by love.
“Gisela: A close and tender bond did indeed bind me to my princely dynasty and native land. Allow me to share my heart with your people, and you will soon heal the wounds of parting.”
A women's chorus then sings the praises of the Princess.
“Where innocence has strewn flowers,
Where love has built itself a temple,
Thither we, a faithful escort, lead
To the godly hero his godly bride.”
https://youtu.be/hwe7Nqwo-E8?t=1126
King Stephen then addresses a very important question: The difference between courage in war, and barbarism. The country had been settled by nomadic tribes, with a reputation for brutality and fierceness. King Stephen presents them (according to the play), for the first time, with written laws.
“Stephen: Take a look at the past. You were a tribe of herdsmen, but many a people retreated in bloody battle before your raw fury. You have often reduced the forests of German lances to matchwood, Your courage often struck terror into the kingdom of the Franks. Constantinople trembled before you, You drenched the Danube’s banks in blood. Europe became a witness to your exploits, each conflict added to the fame of your weapons, and nothing but the eternal Carpathian mountains would you accept by way of victory wreath. But, heroes who sully renown with cruelty seem nothing but a judgement sent by God. And so you became a source of terror to other nations, but you failed to gain their trust. Brothers, only when the blessed consecration of the Christian faith had been pronounced over you, did you take your place among the nations, now an imposing link in the chain of peoples. You sally forth no longer to bring devastation; for justice alone you are always prepared to fight; with the pious noble-mindedness of Christians you combine your forefathers’ bravery.
“Only one thing is still wanting: that one great thing from which everything enduring flows: The torch of laws which, burning brightly, sheds light, protects and warns. A nation for whom, from generation to generation, only custom offered loose guidelines, lacked written laws – of inner happiness, the inalterable defence.
“Receive them from your Prince’s hands; Through obedience, maintain them in force, and may the wisdom of coming generations perfect what my honest intent today creates. Victory’s renown I do not begrudge the hero; Lasting happiness is not gained by bloody strife; Only he who gives them law and order should be called the people’s benefactor.”
A beautiful slow march follows:
https://youtu.be/hwe7Nqwo-E8?t=1598
Altough this short play may strike us as a bit propagandistic, King Stephen did change Hungary for the better. Over 200 years later, the Mongol invasion plunged the nation back into darkness, killing as much as 70% of the population. From 1541 to 1699, central Hungary was under occupation by the Ottoman Empire. Emperor Franz II's point in sponsoring the two plays was to locate Austria as the second great liberator of Hungary, in the tradition of King Stephen, with their victory in the Great Turkish War of 1683-1699.
The play ends with a rousing chorus.
“Hail! Hail to our descendants! They will see what the spirit of prophecy has discerned. Their childlike trust will be the fairest diamond in the crown, daily affording fresh blessings The King will repay, in a far-off time, the unswerving loyalty his people gratefully dedicate to him.”