Krenek, Ernst

a working manuscript of the complete opera in three acts, the Stichvorlage for the first edition, the words and music mainly in the hand of Krenek's wife Anna Mahler, with extensive passages in the hand of the composer, including the end of Act 2 Scene 1, and the final added epilogue ('Nachspiel'), the whole score bearing his autograph articulation, dynamic and instrumental markings throughout, with stage directions added by Anna Mahler (including on those pages otherwise in the composer's hand), the score notated in black ink on systems of between two and six staves, marked up extensively by and for the printer in pencil, blue and pink crayon, with many erasures and corrections and a number of deletions 

96 pages, plus one blank, folio (34.5 x 27cm), all detached single leaves, 16-stave machine-ruled paper ("Edition Ruth, Berlin 16 L."), publisher's stamps to fol.1r ("Aufführungsrecht vorbehalten...Copyright 19[in pencil: 25] by Universal-Edition"), plate number in pencil at the foot of the recto of each leaf ("Universal-Edition N.^o 8153";  "U. E. 8153"), no place, 1924, inky marks and horizontal creasing consistent with use by the printer, a few small stains, tears to first and last leaves, some spotting

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Krenek's opera Orpheus und Eurydike is one of his most notable early works, performed at Kassel in 1926.  It is based on Oskar Kokoschka's expressionist reworking of the Orpheus myth, itself reflecting this artist-poet's experiences of World War I and his doomed love-affair with Alma Mahler.  Krenek's atonal musical language, with extremes of dynamics and orchestral colour (meticulously marked by the composer in this manuscript), extends and heightens Kokoschka's expressionist re-imagination of the Orpheus myth. 

The present manuscript for the printer was written out during Krenek's brief marriage to Anna Mahler from January to November 1924.  Anna, known as "Gucki" (1904-1988), was the daughter of Gustav and Alma Mahler.  In the autumn of 1924, she listed the vocal score of Orpheus und Eurydike among several other major works copied for Krenek in a letter to the publisher Emil Hertzka.  However, Krenek's hand is found extensively on every page, since he wrote nearly all the dynamic markings, phrasing and articulation marks, and hundreds of tiny indications throughout of the orchestration.  Indeed the presence of his hand throughout Anna's copy of the music, and Anna's addition of all the stage directions on Krenek's pages, suggests that the two worked together, perhaps side-by-side.  The vocal score was published by Universal-Edition in 1925.

We are most grateful for the advice and assistance of Professor Claudia Maurer Zenck in our cataloguing of this manuscript.