• The Music Dedication of Franz Lehár to the Austrian War Prisoners in Russia. 1915–1917

УДК: [784:78.071.1](436)"1914/1918"

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2024-3-187-205

EDN: VQBISD

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Alexander G. Kolesnikov

Dr. Sc. in Art Studies, Leading Researcher of the Scientific Department
Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS)
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: edvin8@list.ru

The Music Dedication of Franz Lehár to the Austrian War Prisoners in Russia. 1915–1917

Abstract

The article reveals the history of Franz Lehár’s vocal composition Siberian Night (1915), adjacent to the Lider cycle and dedicated to the the First World War. The author supposes that the song written on request was a music message to the Austrian war prisoners in Siberia. The article analyzes the style, figurative content of Siberian Night, as well as a composer’s return to this material after some time, which is quite rare in music history. The song was edited and supplied with a new text Take me with you, autumn. The reasons and the socio-historical context of this act are analyzed. The hypothesis is put forward that both songs, separated by two years, formed an imaginary dialogue between the hero and the heroine, connected by spiritual kinship, but separated within the circumstances of an epochal catastrophe. That is why both songs are considered as a reflection of the actual phonosphere of the European and Russian culture of the ХХth century. The article also details the theme of music art in the Siberian war prisoner’s camps, the appearance of music groups and theatre performances there, which included the repertoire of Strauss, Lehár, Kalman, etc. New works and facts about Lehár are introduced into the scientific use, as well as the documentary evidence of the events of 1915–1920th, when the composer changed his opinion about the timeless myth of the “merry Vienna”.

Keywords

Franz Lehár, World War the First, prisoners of war, Siberia, genre Lied, drama, compositions, war camp theatre.

For citation

Kolesnikov A.G. The Music Dedication of Franz Lehár to the Austrian War Prisoners of in Russia. 1915–1917. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2024, no. 3, pp. 187–205.

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2024-3-187-205

EDN VQBISD

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Received: 05.06.2024

Revised: 07.07.2024

Accepted: 19.07.2024