Der Kaiser von Atlantis (The Emperor of Atlantis, or 'The Abdication of Death')
The characters: Kaiser Overall, Der Lautsprecher (The Loudspeaker), Der Tod (Death), Harlekin, Ein Soldat (A Soldier), Bubikopf, ein Soldat (The Girl with Bobbed Hair, a Soldier), Der Trommler (The Drummer)
Flute (doubling Piccolo), oboe, Clarinet in B-flat, Alto-saxophone, Trumpet in C, Tenor-Banjo, Cembalo, Harmonium, Percussion (small drum, cymbals, triangle, tom-tom), Strings
Librettist: Peter Kien | Duration: 1 hour
Image from the production at the Oldenburg State Theatre
Flute (doubling Piccolo), oboe, Clarinet in B-flat, Alto-saxophone, Trumpet in C, Tenor-Banjo, Cembalo, Harmonium, Percussion (small drum, cymbals, triangle, tom-tom), Strings
Librettist: Peter Kien | Duration: 1 hour
Image from the production at the Oldenburg State Theatre
The Emperor of Atlantis, or alternatively titled The Abdication of Death, is an opera in one act, full of symbolism and satire. The plot is simple but powerful, and the scale is modest, requiring only five singers and a thirteen-piece orchestra, given the limitations of what was available at the time. The libretto is a transparent allegory on the nature of fascism and the low value it places on human life. Completed in January 1944, it never went into performance but was apparently rehearsed. The Nazis banned it upon realising that the close satirical likeness between the Kaiser in the opera and Hitler. It seems strange that the Nazis were bothered since the audience would have been exclusively made up of inmates. Perhaps they were uncomfortable with the possibility of unrest from the inmates or dissent from the guards, but whatever the case, it demonstrates the paranoia of the Nazis and the power of art.
Synopsis:
Prologue – the Loudspeaker announces each of the characters.
Scene 1 – Death (dressed in an Austrian military uniform) and the Harlequin (Life) sit together. Death draws on the sand with his sword. They lament on how life and death have ceased to bear any meaning in this world. The Drummer girl appears, declares war and attempts to conscript Death, who refuses to cooperate.
Scene 2 – The Emperor sits in his empty palace, communicating orders by telephone. It emerges that a mysterious phenomenon has occurred – no one is able to die. The Emperor is furious.
Scene 3 – The Soldier and The Girl from the enemy camp meet and fail to kill each other, falling in love instead. The Drummer girl attempts to seduce the soldier back into the fight.
Scene 4 – The Emperor, still alone in the palace and increasing unnerved by reports of chaos in the outside world, sees Death in the mirror. Death offers to resume his work, only if the Emperor agrees to be the first victim. Recognising this as the only remaining hope for humanity, the Emperor relents.
Synopsis:
Prologue – the Loudspeaker announces each of the characters.
Scene 1 – Death (dressed in an Austrian military uniform) and the Harlequin (Life) sit together. Death draws on the sand with his sword. They lament on how life and death have ceased to bear any meaning in this world. The Drummer girl appears, declares war and attempts to conscript Death, who refuses to cooperate.
Scene 2 – The Emperor sits in his empty palace, communicating orders by telephone. It emerges that a mysterious phenomenon has occurred – no one is able to die. The Emperor is furious.
Scene 3 – The Soldier and The Girl from the enemy camp meet and fail to kill each other, falling in love instead. The Drummer girl attempts to seduce the soldier back into the fight.
Scene 4 – The Emperor, still alone in the palace and increasing unnerved by reports of chaos in the outside world, sees Death in the mirror. Death offers to resume his work, only if the Emperor agrees to be the first victim. Recognising this as the only remaining hope for humanity, the Emperor relents.
Plot and Characterisation
Even without analysing the music, there are already many political connotations in the plot and choice of characters. As his title implies, Kaiser Overall does not represent a specific person, but rather a connection to past and present rulers in Europe. Although the parallels to Hitler are the closest, there are broader associations. Kaiser Overall has locked himself away from the population, communicating only through the loudspeaker. The loudspeaker is like the radio, but the distance in which Kaiser Overall places between himself and the real world is more typical of rulers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Another consideration is his title as the Kaiser of ‘Atlantis’, a mythical or historical place that was swallowed by the sea. In mythology, the Atlantean race was regarded as being highly enlightened and technically advanced, yet were a warlike and colonising people – an obvious reference to the Aryan race.
Death appears on stage wearing the attire of soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire up to the conclusion of World War One. There are various possible symbolic connotations for Ullmann’s choice of clothing for Tod. Theresienstadt itself was created and designed to be a military defence for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many Jews who had served Germany with distinction and honour during World War One had been sent to Theresienstadt, including Ullmann. The choice of attire can also be seen as part of the commentary on World War II. Death, by not adopting the current attire of the Nazi soldiers, can be seen as suggesting that Hitler’s war, like Kaiser Overall’s, is far from honourable.
For an opera written under such desperate circumstances, the tone of the work is surprisingly unsentimental. The presence of Harlequin, a figure drawn from the Italian commedia dell’arte genre, lends wry humour and honesty in his commentary as an observer. There is the absence of anger which places it beyond expectations of listeners. The ultimate ethical message, that the only thing that needs to be feared is the absence of death, is all the more poignant as the Emperor agrees to be the first to die, thereby redeeming the apparently irredeemable.
Death appears on stage wearing the attire of soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire up to the conclusion of World War One. There are various possible symbolic connotations for Ullmann’s choice of clothing for Tod. Theresienstadt itself was created and designed to be a military defence for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Many Jews who had served Germany with distinction and honour during World War One had been sent to Theresienstadt, including Ullmann. The choice of attire can also be seen as part of the commentary on World War II. Death, by not adopting the current attire of the Nazi soldiers, can be seen as suggesting that Hitler’s war, like Kaiser Overall’s, is far from honourable.
For an opera written under such desperate circumstances, the tone of the work is surprisingly unsentimental. The presence of Harlequin, a figure drawn from the Italian commedia dell’arte genre, lends wry humour and honesty in his commentary as an observer. There is the absence of anger which places it beyond expectations of listeners. The ultimate ethical message, that the only thing that needs to be feared is the absence of death, is all the more poignant as the Emperor agrees to be the first to die, thereby redeeming the apparently irredeemable.
Musical Quotations
Ullmann further enhances the political connotations and symbolism mentioned earlier through several musical quotations throughout the work. These quotations or allusions were derived from well-known works or folk tunes, and the audience at Terezín would no doubt have recognised their significance. They also represent his reconciliation of his identity, as he had always considered himself part of the German musical tradition, had gained a deeper appreciation of Czech culture in the 1930s and began to acknowledge his Jewish identity in his works at Theresienstadt.
The most prominent quotation that Ullmann employs as a leitmotif throughout the opera is one of the most evocative themes from Czech music: the death motif from Josef Suk’s Asrael Symphony [e.g. 1]. Suk named it after the angel who carries away the souls of the dead, written after the deaths of his wife and father-in-law, Dvorak. Thereafter, it became widely recognised and was played on occasions of national mourning. This death motif, made up of two tritones – one ascending, the next descending – is used in the opening and serves as a unifying device for the work. The sharp, military rhythm brings out the jagged nature of the tritones, creating a sense of unease in each appearance.
The next quotation, perhaps the most recognisable and explicitly provocative one, is the Gotterhalte Franz den Kaiser (or the so-called “Kaiserhymne”) composed by Joseph Haydn in 1797. This hymn was used as a national anthem throughout the Austro- Hungarian Empire until its dissolution at the end of World War One. It was then used as the national anthem Deutschland über alles for Germany in 1922-1945. In Ullmann’s opera, this theme forms the basis for Drummer Girl’s aria. With this quotation, Ullmann created a juxtaposition of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire with the Nazi Regime. There is little rhythmic difference between the original and the quotation and the melodic contour remains the same. Yet, the nobility and triumphant nature of the original is distorted here, simply by transposing the theme to the Phrygian mode. This change of modality creates an eerie and distorted feeling. Haydn’s piece was written to honour Kaiser Franz, whereas Ullmann has created a sense of illegitimacy to Kaiser Overall’s reign. The minor interval inflections that are produced because of the change into the Phrygian mode create darker tones. Within the opera, the hymn has been changed to begin on the downbeat of the measure rather than the upbeat, as in the original [e.g. 2]. This places greater emphasis on the titles given to Kaiser Overall by the Drummer, as many now fall on the strongest beat of each bar. This change also places the large intervallic leaps on the downbeats, the shift of the stress highlighting the disjunct nature of the melody.
There are further hidden allusions that are too short or obscure to be considered quotations, but would have been recognised by the Theresienstadt audience.
The lullaby and folk tune “Morgenlied von den Schäfchen” (Morning Song of the Sheep), also known as Schlaf, Kindlein, Schlaf (Sleep, Baby, Sleep) makes an appearance in the opening of Scene Four. It is sung by Harlequin, who is confronting the Drummer. Harlequin’s version of Schlaf, Kindlein, Schlaf follows the melodic line of the original folk tune. However, the text is darker in nature – representing a living nightmare. This darkness is a distortion of the third stanza, which references the sacrifice of Christ for the sake of humanity. The original lullaby is soothing, representing the innocence, safety and release that come with sleep. Harlequin’s version is a grotesque distortion, the quicker tempo and chromatic embellishments evoking morbidity [e.g. 3], voicing the horrors of daily life for the people of Theresienstadt. In Ullmann’s allusion, there is no safety or escape to be found in sleep.
Another quotation meant to be recognised by listeners in the music of Der Kaiser von Atlantis is the Polish Christmas Carol Anioł pasterzom mówił (Shepherds Heard the Angels Say). It is first sung by the Soldier at the end of the opening Scene Three recitative and trio. It is reprised in the closing duet “Schau die Wolken” of Scene Three between The Girl and the Soldier [e.g. 4], after their hearts have turned away from war and towards new-found love for each other. The bittersweet innocence in this scene is only the surface, what is more significant, is the religious connotation behind the quotation. It illustrates Ullmann’s faith, that the darkness that covers the world can only be released by allowing the light (God) into their hearts.
The most poignant quotation appears in the finale “Komm Tod, du unser werter Gast” (Come Death and be our Honoured Guest) – the full statement of the Lutheran hymn Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott. Based on part of Psalm 46, the text and music for the chorale were created by Martin Luther in the early sixteenth century and is closely linked to the reformations that were taking place then. In the context of this finale, the hymn tune conveys resistance, hope and resignation simultaneously. It is styled as a baroque four-part chorale sung by The Girl, The Drummer, The Soldier and The Loudspeaker. Like the quotation of Deutschland über alles, Ullmann made some minor alterations to the hymn [e.g. 5]. The harmonisation is more complex, juxtaposing a tonic F pedal in the orchestral accompaniment against the unsettled F major tonality of the voices. This creates a sense of conflict between the haunting qualities of the voices and the stability of the bass pedal, possibly representing emotions of resistance and resignation that are apparent within the libretto and the choice of quotations mentioned earlier. This sense of struggle is further reinforced by interjections of motifs unrelated to the hymn. The Harlequin’s motif sneaks through the solemnity in the violin and banjo [e.g. 5]. The playful character of the melodic fragment associated with Harlequin is unmistakable. As the character Harlequin represents life in the work, these interjections perhaps suggest that although Death is a welcomed guest offering release from suffering, the characters still want to cling on to life. The postlude finally settles on a clear F major tonality is established, but this again does not last. The resolution is disrupted in the last bar with the return of the drum roll, which is associated with war in this work. It is tentative and quiet, but it is possible that Ullmann did not intend for the ending to be so straightforward [e.g. 6]. The war has ended and there is finally some peace, but for how long will it last?
The most prominent quotation that Ullmann employs as a leitmotif throughout the opera is one of the most evocative themes from Czech music: the death motif from Josef Suk’s Asrael Symphony [e.g. 1]. Suk named it after the angel who carries away the souls of the dead, written after the deaths of his wife and father-in-law, Dvorak. Thereafter, it became widely recognised and was played on occasions of national mourning. This death motif, made up of two tritones – one ascending, the next descending – is used in the opening and serves as a unifying device for the work. The sharp, military rhythm brings out the jagged nature of the tritones, creating a sense of unease in each appearance.
The next quotation, perhaps the most recognisable and explicitly provocative one, is the Gotterhalte Franz den Kaiser (or the so-called “Kaiserhymne”) composed by Joseph Haydn in 1797. This hymn was used as a national anthem throughout the Austro- Hungarian Empire until its dissolution at the end of World War One. It was then used as the national anthem Deutschland über alles for Germany in 1922-1945. In Ullmann’s opera, this theme forms the basis for Drummer Girl’s aria. With this quotation, Ullmann created a juxtaposition of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire with the Nazi Regime. There is little rhythmic difference between the original and the quotation and the melodic contour remains the same. Yet, the nobility and triumphant nature of the original is distorted here, simply by transposing the theme to the Phrygian mode. This change of modality creates an eerie and distorted feeling. Haydn’s piece was written to honour Kaiser Franz, whereas Ullmann has created a sense of illegitimacy to Kaiser Overall’s reign. The minor interval inflections that are produced because of the change into the Phrygian mode create darker tones. Within the opera, the hymn has been changed to begin on the downbeat of the measure rather than the upbeat, as in the original [e.g. 2]. This places greater emphasis on the titles given to Kaiser Overall by the Drummer, as many now fall on the strongest beat of each bar. This change also places the large intervallic leaps on the downbeats, the shift of the stress highlighting the disjunct nature of the melody.
There are further hidden allusions that are too short or obscure to be considered quotations, but would have been recognised by the Theresienstadt audience.
The lullaby and folk tune “Morgenlied von den Schäfchen” (Morning Song of the Sheep), also known as Schlaf, Kindlein, Schlaf (Sleep, Baby, Sleep) makes an appearance in the opening of Scene Four. It is sung by Harlequin, who is confronting the Drummer. Harlequin’s version of Schlaf, Kindlein, Schlaf follows the melodic line of the original folk tune. However, the text is darker in nature – representing a living nightmare. This darkness is a distortion of the third stanza, which references the sacrifice of Christ for the sake of humanity. The original lullaby is soothing, representing the innocence, safety and release that come with sleep. Harlequin’s version is a grotesque distortion, the quicker tempo and chromatic embellishments evoking morbidity [e.g. 3], voicing the horrors of daily life for the people of Theresienstadt. In Ullmann’s allusion, there is no safety or escape to be found in sleep.
Another quotation meant to be recognised by listeners in the music of Der Kaiser von Atlantis is the Polish Christmas Carol Anioł pasterzom mówił (Shepherds Heard the Angels Say). It is first sung by the Soldier at the end of the opening Scene Three recitative and trio. It is reprised in the closing duet “Schau die Wolken” of Scene Three between The Girl and the Soldier [e.g. 4], after their hearts have turned away from war and towards new-found love for each other. The bittersweet innocence in this scene is only the surface, what is more significant, is the religious connotation behind the quotation. It illustrates Ullmann’s faith, that the darkness that covers the world can only be released by allowing the light (God) into their hearts.
The most poignant quotation appears in the finale “Komm Tod, du unser werter Gast” (Come Death and be our Honoured Guest) – the full statement of the Lutheran hymn Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott. Based on part of Psalm 46, the text and music for the chorale were created by Martin Luther in the early sixteenth century and is closely linked to the reformations that were taking place then. In the context of this finale, the hymn tune conveys resistance, hope and resignation simultaneously. It is styled as a baroque four-part chorale sung by The Girl, The Drummer, The Soldier and The Loudspeaker. Like the quotation of Deutschland über alles, Ullmann made some minor alterations to the hymn [e.g. 5]. The harmonisation is more complex, juxtaposing a tonic F pedal in the orchestral accompaniment against the unsettled F major tonality of the voices. This creates a sense of conflict between the haunting qualities of the voices and the stability of the bass pedal, possibly representing emotions of resistance and resignation that are apparent within the libretto and the choice of quotations mentioned earlier. This sense of struggle is further reinforced by interjections of motifs unrelated to the hymn. The Harlequin’s motif sneaks through the solemnity in the violin and banjo [e.g. 5]. The playful character of the melodic fragment associated with Harlequin is unmistakable. As the character Harlequin represents life in the work, these interjections perhaps suggest that although Death is a welcomed guest offering release from suffering, the characters still want to cling on to life. The postlude finally settles on a clear F major tonality is established, but this again does not last. The resolution is disrupted in the last bar with the return of the drum roll, which is associated with war in this work. It is tentative and quiet, but it is possible that Ullmann did not intend for the ending to be so straightforward [e.g. 6]. The war has ended and there is finally some peace, but for how long will it last?
Style
While the quotations demonstrate the political significance of this opera, the musical styles place the work beyond the narrow confines of the ghetto. The work draws upon a diverse range of influences to form a cohesive, individual compositional language, embracing the expressionistic characteristics of the Schoenberg circle, jazz and cabaret, and neoclassical tendencies. The instrument choices are reminiscent of Kurt Weill, while the expressionistic qualities are almost Bergian.
The three intermezzos of the opera that separate each scene are written with heavy influence of the jazz style, but contained in a baroque medium – the totentanz (dance of death), a spiritual and macabre dance strongly associated with medieval visual arts. Within the opera, it is a symbol for the living dead who continue to fight in Kaiser Overall’s war. The harmonic movements are fairly static, and many passages lack a clear sense of tonal centre – perhaps to convey a sense of lost time. In the finale, the chorale features canonic writing. The passacaglia, a baroque dance with repeated bass patterns, makes an appearance in the Drummer’s aria that announces a ‘holy struggle’.
The three intermezzos of the opera that separate each scene are written with heavy influence of the jazz style, but contained in a baroque medium – the totentanz (dance of death), a spiritual and macabre dance strongly associated with medieval visual arts. Within the opera, it is a symbol for the living dead who continue to fight in Kaiser Overall’s war. The harmonic movements are fairly static, and many passages lack a clear sense of tonal centre – perhaps to convey a sense of lost time. In the finale, the chorale features canonic writing. The passacaglia, a baroque dance with repeated bass patterns, makes an appearance in the Drummer’s aria that announces a ‘holy struggle’.
Although Der Kaiser von Atlantis never went into performance at the camp, rehearsals were held, during which Kien and Ullmann disagreed over the ultimate version of the text. Kien was more cynical, even angry, while Ullmann was verging on calm acceptance in his view of death.[33] The valedictory quality of the finale is similar to that of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), as is the work’s psychological progression from the initial bitterness to the eventual serenity.
On 16 October 1944, Ullmann was sent to Auschwitz, where he died. Although Ullmann and many others did not survive the war, their legacies live on, a testimony of their incredible strength and endurance.
On 16 October 1944, Ullmann was sent to Auschwitz, where he died. Although Ullmann and many others did not survive the war, their legacies live on, a testimony of their incredible strength and endurance.
[33] Michael Haas, Forbidden Music – the Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis (New Haven and London: Yale University Press 2013), 271.