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« L'AMOUR EST UNE DUPERIE – L'AMOUR N'EST PAS UNE SYMBIOSIS » Homage to Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir The ensemble versions (soprano, baritone, flute, clarinet, cello and piano)
In the spring of 2014 I studied the correspondence between Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in detail and compiled selected passages into a libretto. Most of the passages come from the letters of February 1940, when Sartre was drafted into military service. This exceptional situation affected both Sartre's attitude to life and his relationship with Simone de Beauvoir. Scenes with texts by Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir from their letters were planned in contrast to excerpts from the philosophical work L'être et le néant by Jean-Paul Sartre, i.e. a comparison, so to speak, of philosophical theses on the one hand and their everyday realization by their author on the other. The copyright holders of Jean-Paul Sartre's texts have categorically and without justification forbidden the setting of Sartre's texts to music. To respond to this situation in a creative way, I first set the Sartre and de Beauvoir lyrics to music to preserve the original tone, but then removed the Sartre lyrics from the music and replaced them with my own sound poetry, by translating the linguistic-musical style of his texts into onomatopoeic texts. Thus, not a single word of Sartre is sung and the legal situation is fully respected, but the style of his language is still present in the music, so that it can be felt through the music and is virtually present, so to speak. The texts by Simone de Beauvoir were approved without further ado. Sartre's original French lyrics may not be sung for at least 70 years after Sartre's death. Then the copyright protection period ends. Only then can the actual premiere of the original version of this chamber opera take place. The play, which was conceived as a homage to Sartre and de Beauvoir, in its current version becomes a homage work in which only the original texts by de Beauvoir are allowed to appear. The ban on Sartre's texts leads to the bizarre situation that his own original texts are not allowed to appear in a work that pays homage to Sartre. The Sartre statements now resound, so to speak, in a coded, onomatopoeic secret language. Nevertheless, it is important that this work is now released on sound carrier in its current version in order to document the current situation musically. In this situation, sound poetry becomes a symbol of artistic (and thus also political) freedom, since nobody can forbid sound poetry and its subtextual freedom of interpretation. Rene Wohlhauser program: « L'amour est une duperie – l'amour n'est pas une symbiosis » Homage to Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir From the Ensemble Polysono performed in concert during his European tours in 2015 and 2016, a studio recording is now available on this CD. [01] Prologue: « A nuit toute passionnée » 10:54 [02] 1st Part: "L'amour et la liberté" 09:18 [03] 2nd Part: « Je passe un temps aussi fort que possible » 38:24 [04] 3rd Part: « Je me sens un salaud » 15:16 Total playing time: 73:54 World premiere recording Press:
December 2019 (...) He deals with the correspondence between Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir and focuses on the time when Sarte was drafted into military service in the early 1940s. The plan was to compile the selected passages into a libretto, contrasted with excerpts from the philosophical work of the existentialist. But the rights holders forbade the setting of Sartre's texts to music. So Wohlhauser decided to translate these passages into spoken language. That has a lot of charm, because Sarte now moves like a shadow through the chamber opera. (...) Tilman Urbach |
