1.
Jedermann (play)
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Jedermann is a play by the Austrian playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is based on several medieval mystery plays, including the late 15th-century English morality play Everyman and it was first performed on 1 December 1911 in Berlin under the direction of Max Reinhardt at the Circus Schumann. Jedermann has been performed annually at the Salzburg Festival since 1920, since then, the play has been performed there every year. Amongst the most famous actors performing the role were Curd Jürgens, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Maximilian Schell. The play has made into a film at least eight times, including in 1958,1961,1970,1983,2000,2004,2010. Media related to Jedermann at Wikimedia Commons
2.
Salzburg
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Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburgs Old Town is internationally renowned for its architecture and is one of the best-preserved city centers north of the Alps. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, the city has three universities and a large population of students. Tourists also visit Salzburg to tour the historic center and the scenic Alpine surroundings, Salzburg was the birthplace of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the mid‑20th century, the city was the setting for the musical play, traces of human settlements have been found in the area, dating to the Neolithic Age. The first settlements in Salzburg continuous with the present were apparently by the Celts around the 5th century BC, around 15 BC the Roman Empire merged the settlements into one city. At this time, the city was called Juvavum and was awarded the status of a Roman municipium in 45 AD, Juvavum developed into an important town of the Roman province of Noricum. After the Norican frontiers collapse, Juvavum declined so sharply that by the late 7th century it became a ruin. The Life of Saint Rupert credits the 8th-century saint with the citys rebirth, when Theodo of Bavaria asked Rupert to become bishop c. 700, Rupert reconnoitered the river for the site of his basilica, Rupert chose Juvavum, ordained priests, and annexed the manor Piding. He traveled to evangelise among pagans, the name Salzburg means Salt Castle. The name derives from the barges carrying salt on the Salzach River, the Festung Hohensalzburg, the citys fortress, was built in 1077 by Archbishop Gebhard, who made it his residence. It was greatly expanded during the following centuries, independence from Bavaria was secured in the late 14th century. Salzburg was the seat of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, as the reformation movement gained steam, riots broke out among peasants in the areas in and around Salzburg. The city was occupied during the German Peasants War, and the archbishop had to flee to the safety of the fortress It was besieged for three months in 1525. It was in the 17th century that Italian architects rebuilt the city center as it is today along with many palaces,21,475 citizens refused to recant their beliefs and were expelled from Salzburg. Most of them accepted an offer by King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, the rest settled in other Protestant states in Europe and the British colonies in America. In 1772–1803, under archbishop Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo, Salzburg was a centre of late Illuminism, in 1803, the archbishopric was secularised by Emperor Napoleon, he transferred the territory to Ferdinando III of Tuscany, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, as the Electorate of Salzburg
3.
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
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Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal was an Austrian prodigy, a novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. His great-grandfather, Isaak Löw Hofmann, Edler von Hofmannsthal, from whom his family inherited the noble title Edler von Hofmannsthal, was a Jewish merchant ennobled by the Austrian emperor and he began to write poems and plays from an early age. Some of his works were written under pseudonyms, such as Loris Melikow and Theophil Morren. He met the German poet Stefan George at the age of seventeen and had poems published in Georges journal. He studied law and later philology in Vienna but decided to devote himself to writing upon graduating in 1901, along with Peter Altenberg and Arthur Schnitzler, he was a member of the avant garde group Young Vienna. In 1900 Hofmannsthal met the composer Richard Strauss for the first time and he later wrote libretti for several of his operas, including Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier with Harry von Kessler, Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Die ägyptische Helena, and Arabella. In 1911 he adapted the 15th century English morality play Everyman as Jedermann, the play later became a staple at the Salzburg Festival. During the First World War Hofmannsthal held a government post and he wrote speeches and articles supporting the war effort, and emphasizing the cultural tradition of Austria-Hungary. The end of the war spelled the end of the old monarchy in Austria, nevertheless, the years after the war were very productive ones for Hofmannsthal, he continued with his earlier literary projects, almost without a break. In 1920, Hofmannsthal, along with Max Reinhardt, founded the Salzburg Festival and his later plays revealed a growing interest in religious, particularly Roman Catholic, themes. Among his writings was a screenplay for a version of Der Rosenkavalier directed by Robert Wiene. In 1901 he married Gertrud Gerty Schlesinger, the daughter of a Viennese banker, Gerty, who was Jewish, converted to Christianity before their marriage. They settled in Rodaun, not far from Vienna, and had three children, Christiane, Franz, and Raimund, on 13 July 1929 his son Franz committed suicide. Two days later, shortly after attending Franzs funeral, Hugo himself died of a stroke at Rodaun and he was buried wearing the habit of a Franciscan tertiary, as he had requested. In early 1929 his daughter Christiane married German indologist, Heinrich Zimmer, who taught at University of Greifswald, Heidelberg University, after they moved to New Rochelle, New York, her husband became a Visiting Lecturer in Philosophy at Columbia University. On 21 January 1933 his son Raimund married Ava Alice Muriel Astor, daughter of John Jacob Astor IV, after divorcing Ava in 1939, Raimund later married Lady Elizabeth Paget. On 18 October 1902 Hofmannsthal published a letter in the Berlin Daily. It was purportedly written in 1603 by Philip, Lord Chandos to Francis Bacon and this letter reflects the growing distrust of and dissatisfaction with language that so characterizes the Modern era, and Chandoss dissolving personality is not only individual but societal
4.
Richard Strauss
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Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. Strauss was born on 11 June 1864 in Munich, the son of Josephine and Franz Strauss, in his youth, he received a thorough musical education from his father. He wrote his first composition at the age of six and continued to write music almost until his death, during his boyhood Strauss attended orchestra rehearsals of the Munich Court Orchestra, where he received private instruction in music theory and orchestration from an assistant conductor. In 1872 he started receiving violin instruction at the Royal School of Music from Benno Walter, in 1874 Strauss heard his first Wagner operas, Lohengrin and Tannhäuser. The influence of Wagners music on Strausss style was to be profound, but at first his musically conservative father forbade him to study it. Indeed, in the Strauss household, the music of Richard Wagner was viewed with deep suspicion, in later life, Strauss said that he deeply regretted the conservative hostility to Wagners progressive works. Nevertheless, Strausss father undoubtedly had a influence on his sons developing taste. In early 1882 in Vienna he gave the first performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor, playing a piano reduction of the part himself. The same year he entered Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he studied philosophy and art history, Strauss learned the art of conducting by observing Bülow in rehearsal. Bülow was very fond of the man and decided that Strauss should be his successor as conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra when Bülow resigned in 1885. Strausss compositions at time were indebted to the style of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn. 1, Op.11, is representative of this period and is a staple of modern horn repertoire, Strauss married soprano Pauline de Ahna on 10 September 1894. She was famous for being irascible, garrulous, eccentric and outspoken, throughout his life, from his earliest songs to the final Four Last Songs of 1948, he preferred the soprano voice to all others, and all his operas contain important soprano roles. The Strausses had one son, Franz, in 1897, Franz married Alice von Grab-Hermannswörth, daughter of a Jewish industrialist, in a Roman Catholic ceremony in 1924. Franz and Alice had two sons, Richard and Christian, some of Strausss first compositions were solo instrumental and chamber works. After 1890 Strauss composed very infrequently for chamber groups, his energies being almost completely absorbed with large-scale orchestral works and operas. Four of his pieces are actually arrangements of portions of his operas, including the Daphne-Etude for solo violin and the String Sextet
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Alfred Roller
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Alfred Roller was an Austrian painter, graphic designer, and set designer. Roller was born in Brünn, Moravia, in 1897 he co-founded the Viennese Secession with Koloman Moser, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Josef Hoffmann, Gustav Klimt, and other artists who rejected the prevalent academic style of art. He became a professor of drawing at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in 1899, in his early career Roller was very active as a graphic designer and draughtsman. He designed numerous covers and vignettes for the pages the Secessionist periodical Ver Sacrum, as well as the posters for the fourth, fourteenth and he also designed the layout of the exhibitions themselves. In 1902 Roller was introduced to the composer Gustav Mahler by Carl Moll, Roller expressed an interest in stage design and showed Mahler several sketches he had made for Wagners Tristan und Isolde. Mahler was impressed and decided to employ Roller to design the sets for a new production of the piece, the production, which premiered in February 1903, was a great critical success. Roller continued to design sets for Mahlers productions, eventually Roller left the Secession and his teaching post at the Kunstgewerbeschule to be appointed chief stage designer to the Vienna State Opera, a position he held until 1909. He died in Vienna in 1935, W. Greisenegger - E. Lebensaft, Roller Alfred. Vol.9, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-7001-1483-4, Alfred Roller, Neubedeutung des szenischen Raumes. Ulrike Krone-Balcke, Roller, Alfred, Neue Deutsche Biographie,22, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, pp. 13–15, Thursby, Stephen Carlton. “Gustav Mahler, Alfred Roller, and the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk, Tristan and Affinities between the Arts at the Vienna Court Opera. ”Art in Vienna 1898-1918, Klimt, Kokoschka, Schiele, and their Contemporaries. Media related to Alfred Roller at Wikimedia Commons Entry for Alfred Roller on the Union List of Artist Names Literature by and about Alfred Roller in the German National Library catalogue
6.
Franz Schalk
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Franz Schalk was an Austrian conductor. From 1918 to 1929 he was director of the Vienna State Opera and he was later involved in the establishment of the Salzburg Festival. Born in Vienna, he studied under composer Anton Bruckner, from 1900, he was first kapellmeister of the Vienna Court Opera. Between 1904 and 1921, he was head of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, in 1918 he became director of the Vienna State Opera, but from 1919 shared the directorship with Richard Strauss, with the well-known composer considered blatantly the greater equal of the pair. Tensions resulting from unclear division of responsibility between the two men led to Strausss resignation. Schalks most famous quote is Every theatre is an insane asylum, today, he is best known for his association with Anton Bruckner. He gave the premiere of Bruckners Symphony No.5 in 1894, Schalks version of the Fifth Symphony was the one chosen for first publication, and was the only version heard by audiences for almost forty years. Present-day conductor Leon Botstein is a prominent advocate of Schalks versions of Bruckners music, Schalk was also involved in the early publication of Mahlers Symphony No.10. Schalk gave the premiere of Richard Strausss opera Die Frau ohne Schatten in 1919 and he died in 1931, aged 68. Some of his work as a conductor has been preserved and is available on CD, Schalks elder brother Joseph was also a prominent conductor and musician. Franz Schalk at the aeiou Encyclopedia An article about Bruckner, written from a pro-Schalk viewpoint Available recordings
7.
Max Reinhardt
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Max Reinhardt was an Austrian-born American theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most prominent directors of German-language theatre in the early 20th century, in 1920, he established the Salzburg Festival with the performance of Hofmannsthals Jedermann. Reinhardt was born Maximilian Goldmann in the spa town of Baden near Vienna, the son of Wilhelm Goldmann, a Jewish merchant from Stomfa, Hungary, having finished school, he began an apprenticeship at a bank, but already took acting lessons. In 1890, he gave his debut on a stage in Vienna with the artists name Max Reinhardt. In 1893 he performed at the re-opened Salzburg City Theatre and one later joined the Deutsches Theater ensemble under director Otto Brahm in Berlin. In 1901, Reinhardt together with Friedrich Kayßler and several other colleagues founded the Schall und Rauch Kabarett stage in Berlin. Re-opened as Kleines Theater it was the first of numerous stages, from 1903 to 1905, he managed the Neues Theater and in 1906 acquired the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. In 1911, he premiered with Karl Vollmöllers The Miracle at Olympia, by employing powerful staging techniques, and harmonising stage design, language, music and choreography, Reinhardt introduced new dimensions into German theatre. The Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, which is arguably the most important German-language acting school, was installed implementing his ideas, in 1910, Siegfried Jacobsen wrote his book entitled Max Reinhardt. In 1914, he was persuaded to sign the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three and he was signatory 66, he later expressed regret at signing. By 1930, he ran 11 stages in Berlin and, in addition, in the United States, he successfully directed The Miracle in 1924, and a popular stage version of Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream in 1927. Reinhardt followed that success by directing a film version in 1935 using a different cast. Mickey Rooney and Olivia de Havilland had also appeared in Reinhardts 1934 stage production, the Nazis banned the film because of the Jewish ancestry of both Reinhardt and Felix Mendelssohn, whose music was used throughout the film. After the Anschluss of Austria to Nazi-governed Germany in 1938, he emigrated first to Britain, Reinhardt opened the Reinhardt School of the Theatre in Hollywood, on Sunset Boulevard. Several notable stars of the day received classical training, among them actress Nanette Fabray. In 1940, he became a citizen of the United States. At that time, he was married to his wife, actress Helene Thimig. Compared with most of his contemporaries, Reinhardt was more interested in film than in theater and he made films as a director and from time to time also as a producer
8.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
9.
Festival
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A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect of that community and its religion or traditions. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, next to religion and folklore, a significant origin is agricultural. Food is such a resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in autumn, such as Halloween in the northern hemisphere, Festivals often serve to fulfill specific communal purposes, especially in regard to commemoration or thanksgiving. The celebrations offer a sense of belonging for religious, social, or geographical groups and they may also provide entertainment, which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced entertainment. In Ancient Greece and Rome, festivals such as the Saturnalia were closely associated with social organisation, in modern times, festivals may be attended by strangers such as tourists, who are attracted to some of the more eccentric or historical ones. The word festival was used as an adjective from the late fourteenth century. In Middle English, a festival dai was a religious holiday and its first recorded used as a noun was in 1589. Feast first came into usage as a noun circa 1200, the term feast is also used in common secular parlance as a synonym for any large or elaborate meal. When used as in the meaning of a festival, most often refers to a religious rather than a film or art festival. In the Philippines and many other former Spanish colonies, the Spanish word fiesta is used to denote a religious feast to honor a patron saint. Many festivals have religious origins and entwine cultural and religious significance in traditional activities, the most important religious festivals such as Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, and Eid al-Adha serve to mark out the year. Others, such as harvest festivals, celebrate seasonal change, events of historical significance, such as important military victories or other nation-building events also provide the impetus for a festival. An early example is the established by Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses III celebrating his victory over the Libyans. In many countries, royal holidays commemorate dynastic events just as agricultural holidays are about harvests, there are numerous types of festivals in the world and most countries celebrate important events or traditions with traditional cultural events and activities. Most culminate in the consumption of specially prepared food and they bring people together, Festivals are also strongly associated with national holidays. Lists of national festivals are published to make participation easier, among many religions, a feast is a set of celebrations in honour of Gods or God. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable, the Sed festival, for example, celebrated the thirtieth year of an Egyptian pharaohs rule and then every three years after that
10.
Music
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Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. The word derives from Greek μουσική, Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as the harmony of the spheres and it is music to my ears point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, There is no noise, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. There are many types of music, including music, traditional music, art music, music written for religious ceremonies. For example, it can be hard to draw the line between some early 1980s hard rock and heavy metal, within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art or as an auditory art. People may make music as a hobby, like a teen playing cello in a youth orchestra, the word derives from Greek μουσική. According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, the music is derived from mid-13c. Musike, from Old French musique and directly from Latin musica the art of music and this is derived from the. Greek mousike of the Muses, from fem. of mousikos pertaining to the Muses, from Mousa Muse. In classical Greece, any art in which the Muses presided, Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. With the advent of recording, records of popular songs. Some music lovers create mix tapes of their songs, which serve as a self-portrait. An environment consisting solely of what is most ardently loved, amateur musicians can compose or perform music for their own pleasure, and derive their income elsewhere. Professional musicians sometimes work as freelancers or session musicians, seeking contracts and engagements in a variety of settings, There are often many links between amateur and professional musicians. Beginning amateur musicians take lessons with professional musicians, in community settings, advanced amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles such as community concert bands and community orchestras. However, there are many cases where a live performance in front of an audience is also recorded and distributed. Live concert recordings are popular in classical music and in popular music forms such as rock, where illegally taped live concerts are prized by music lovers
