Der Diktator
Music by Ernst Krenek · libretto by Ernst Krenek · premiered 1928 · at Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
Der Diktator (The Dictator) is a tragic opera in one act with words and music by Ernst Krenek, his Op. 49 and the first of three one-acters (with Das geheime Königreich and Schwergewicht, oder Die Ehre der Nation) which premiered on 6 May 1928 at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden as part of the Festspiele Wiesbaden. The score is inscribed with the date of completion, 28 August 1926. The title character is loosely based on Benito Mussolini, although the story is not deliberately political; Krenek later described it as "an anecdote from the private life of the 'strong man'. "Only from the irrational does he retreat, not so much out of fear but because he can do nothing with it, he cannot dominate it." The music is Puccinian in idiom, particularly in its use of the voice, and makes extensive use of leitmotives such as the alternating minor third triplet first heard in the bass as the war telegram is mentioned, which becomes the sole accompaniment to the officer's narrative.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Der Diktator", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Ernst Heinrich Krenek (23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now (1939), a study of Johannes Ockeghem (1953), and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music (1974). Krenek wrote two pieces using the pseudonym Thornton Winsloe.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Ernst Krenek", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Ernst Krenek
- Jonny spielt auf
- Der Sprung über den Schatten (1924)
- Das geheime Königreich (1928)
- Cefalo e Procri (1933)