Walter Braunfels
Don Gil von den grünen Hosen
Short instrumentation: 2 3 2 2 - 4 2 1 0 - timp, perc, hp, hpsd ad lib, mand, guit, bagpipe, str; stage music: fl(2), cl, bagpipe, cast, hp, hpsd, mand, guit, vln(2), vla(2), vc
Duration: 180'
Text bearbeitet von: Walter Braunfels
Dichter der Textvorlage: Tirso de Molina
Choir: SATB
Roles:
Don Pedro
bass
Dona Ines
soprano
Don Manuel de Guzman (Don Gil)
tenor
Dona Juana
soprano
Dona Clara
alto
Don Rodriguez
baritone
Don Curzio
tenor
Caramanchell
baritone
Quintana
baritone
Knaben
Sänger
Volk
Instrumentation details:
flute(2)
cor anglais
clarinet(2)
bassoon(2)
horn(4)
trumpet(2)
trombone
timpani
percussion
harp
harpsichoird
mandolin
guitar
bagpipe
on the stage: flute(2)
clarinet
bagpipe
castanets
harp
harpsichoird
mandolin
guitar
violin(2)
viola(2)
violoncello
Braunfels - Don Gil von den grünen Hosen
Sample pages
Work introduction
The success of The Birds and of the Te Deum inspired Braunfels
to embark upon another large-scale composition, the opera Don Gil of the Green Trousers. The libretto is based on a comedy by Tirso de Molina
in the German translation by August L. Mayer and Johannes von Guenther which
was published in Munich
in 1918.
Several of de Molina’s plays focus on intelligent and
clever women who put their fickle men to shame, induce them to repent and
return home. In Don Gil
it is Dona Juana who exposes her unfaithful fiancé in a rather turbulent plot
which culminates in four figures dressed in green trousers confronting one
another, not knowing who is hidden behind their masks.
The first (concert) performance after 1945 took place
in Munich in
2007, with David Stahl conducting the ensemble of the Gärtnerplatztheater.