DAILY DOSE of BEETHOVEN (May 25, 2020)
In a good play, or opera, the author often lets the audience in on what is going on. For example, in Shakespeare's Richard III, Richard starts out by saying, I am determined to prove a villain. Who talks like that?
Shakespeare wants his audience to have an overview, in a way that none of the characters do: to be able to watch from above, as if from an eagle's nest. Instead of being fooled by Richard's seduction of Clarence, and Anne, we are free to contemplate why they fall for his tricks. He has already told us who he is.
The audience is given a different eagle's eye perspective in the vocal quartet, Mir ist so Wunderbar, from Beethoven's opera Fidelio.
Leonore, a married woman, disguises herself as a boy Fidelio. She takes a job in a prison as an assistant to the jailer Rocco, in order to free her wrongfully imprisoned husband Florestan. Jaquino, another jailer's assistant, is in love with Rocco's daughter Marzelline. She however, decides to dump Jaquino and falls for Fidelio, thinking he is a boy. Rocco thinks Fidelio may be a better "catch" for his daughter. Jaquino becomes enraged.
In the quartet, each of them sings exactly the same music, but at different times. Thus, it is a canon. They do not have the same words though. Each of them has a different perspective, and each is sure they are correct. Thus the words "Es ist klar (it is clear), are applied to completely different perspectives. The only ones for whom it really is clear, are you, the audience, smiling and watching from above.
We include a video that has a scrolling score, and identifies the canon.
Marzelline starts it out, singing the main melody, marked A in the video.
MARZELLINE
Mir ist so wunderbar,
Es engt das Herz mir ein;
Er liebt mich, es ist klar,
Ich werde glücklich sein.
I feel so wonderful,
my heart constricts ;
He loves me, it is clear,
How happy I will be.
Once this verse is completed, she repeats the words, with new music, identified as B in the video, and Leonore sings the opening melody A, but with these words ( Notice the rhymes in the original German):
LEONORE
Wie gross ist die Gefahr,
Wie schwach der Hoffnung Schein!
Sie liebt mich, es ist klar,
O namenlose Pein!
How great is the danger,
How weak is the hope!
She loves me, it is clear,
O nameless pain!
After this verse is complete, Leonore continues to sing in canon, i.e., she sings B, following Marzelline. Marzelline moves on to C, again repeating the same words for the third time. Rocco now sings his first verse, again on the same opening melody A.
ROCCO
Sie liebt ihn, es ist klar;
Ja, Mädchen, er wird dein.
Ein gutes, junges Paar,
Sie werden glücklich sein.
She loves him, it is clear;
Yes, girl, he will be yours.
A good, young couple,
How happy they will be.
Finally, Jaquino enters the fray, as always, on A, while Rocco moves to B, Lenore to C, and Marzelline to D.
JAQUINO
Mir sträubt sich schon das Haar,
Der Vater willigt ein;
Mir wird so wunderbar,
Mir fällt kein Mittel ein.
My hair, is standing on end,
Her father will consent;
I feel overwhelmed,
I can't find a solution.
The music, which started out clearly, and calmly, seems to grow more and more confused, and does not know where to go, even though Beethoven is sticking to a fairly strict canon. Why? He designed it that way!