Альфред Шнитке - Смерть Фауста - текст песни, слова, перевод, видео

Kantata "History of Dr. Johann Faust" (1983) is one of the key works of Alfred Schnita. Initially, the composer conceived the opera on the second part of the Faust Goethe, but soon turned to the “People’s Book” by I. Shpis (1587).

On this plot, 11 years later, four years before the death of Schnita created an opera in which the music of the cantata (death of Faust) became the third act.

As a libretto for his cantata, Schnitka took the last chapters of the “People’s Book”, telling about the end of Faust's life. This text is so naturally laid down on the music that he had converted to him that he did not change a word in him; The original German text was used, and for the performance of the composer’s brother, the famous poet and translator Viktor Schnita, made an equitimic translation.

The cantata genre itself already indicates the Baroque era, but it is rather an oratorio - or even more precisely, passion, a kind of “antistracy” - by definition of the composer, “negative passion”. Even the distribution of parties as a whole corresponds to the “passions”: the narrator (evangelist) - tenor, Faust (antagonist of Christ) - bass, a choir performing a double function - a participant in the action and commentator of events. The figure of Mephistopheles is apart. The composer’s decision in this case is very original: Mephistopheles acts in two persons - as a “sweet -haired seducer” (counterattacentor) and “cruel punisher” (counterattacle).

There are 10 episodes in the cantat:

1. Prologue. “Here is a story about the heavy terrible death of Dr. Faust” (choir). 2. The hour is near. “When 24 years passed ...” (narrator, Mephistopheles, choir). 3. Farewell to Faust with his students and friends. “Everyone goes to the tavern, sit down at the table ...” (choir, narrator). 4. Confession of Faust. “Value beloved gentlemen, my friends ...” (Faust, choir, narrator). 5. Sorrow of friends. “Since there can be no other ...” (choir, narrator). 6. “False comfort” (Faust Mephistopheles). “Oh, Faust, what kind of cowardice? .. (Mephistopheles - both parties, two -headed). 7. The death of Faust. “And after twelve, by one in the morning ...” (Mephistopheles, choir). 8. After the death of Faust. “The same masters, bachelors, students ...” (narrator, choir). 9. Epilogue (choir). 10. The final choral (the result of the cantata, edification to the descendants). “So wakeful, watch! All your enemy is fierce, the devil crawls victims! " (Four soloists, choir).

The culmination of the cantata is a scene of the reprisal of Mephistopheles over Faust. How to imagine her in music? This was a problem for the composer. At first, the composer decided to recreate this episode with expressive dissonant music, which is quite in the spirit of aesthetics of the twentieth century. But he soon realized that he would not achieve the effect he needed. Here is how he himself says about this: “In order to convey the atmosphere of hellish abyss, a certain stylistic humiliation is required, shocking style contrast. And for this I took advantage of the rhythm of tango. ” “The hlyer is a good mask of all kinds of devilry, a way to get into the soul, so I do not see another way to express evil in music than shitting.”

This episode makes a strong impression. It beats 12 hours. And with the last blow appears a mephistophel-killer, a punisher. The pop singer (originally assumed that it would be Alla Pugacheva) with a microphone goes through the entire hall, rises to the stage and at the same time sings a hlying melody. The contrast between the elementary top and terrible naturalistic text, which describes the terrifying details of the death of Faust, is striking. This is what the composer once called "humiliation with banality."

The concert life of this work was not easy. After the first rehearsal (with Alla Pugacheva), the concert was prohibited. It so happened that the premiere of Faust took place in Vienna and only four months later, on October 23, 1983 (after many petitions and despite the ongoing obstacles) - in Moscow, and then, in 1984 - in Leningrad (now with the already with Raiso Kotova as a Mephistopheles Karatel).