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{{Infobox opera
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'''''Der Jasager''''' (literally ''The Yes Sayer'' also translated as ''The Affirmer'' or ''He Said Yes'') is an [[opera]] (specifically a ''Schuloper'' or 'school-opera') by [[Kurt Weill]] to a [[German language|German]] [[libretto]] by [[Bertolt Brecht]] (after [[Elisabeth Hauptmann]]'s translation from [[Arthur Waley]]'s [[English language|English]] version of the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] [[noh|Nō]] drama ''Taniko'').
| name = {{lang|de|Der Jasager}}
| composer = [[Kurt Weill]]
| image = Fotothek df pk 0000071 009 Szenenbilder.jpg
| caption = Scene from a 1946 performance in Berlin
| image_upright = 1.1
| translated_name = ''The Affirmer''
| type = ''[[Schuloper]]''
| librettist = [[Bertolt Brecht]]
| language = German
| based_on = [[noh|Nō]] drama ''Taniko''
| premiere_date = {{Start date|1930|06|23|df=y}}
| premiere_location = Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht, Berlin
}}

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'''''{{Lang|de|Der Jasager}}''''' (literally ''The Yes Sayer''; also translated as ''The Affirmer'' or ''He Said Yes'') is an [[opera]] (specifically a ''[[Schuloper]]'' or "school-opera") by [[Kurt Weill]] to a German [[libretto]] by [[Bertolt Brecht]] (after [[Elisabeth Hauptmann]]'s translation from [[Arthur Waley]]'s English version of the Japanese [[noh|Nō]] drama ''Taniko'').


Its companion piece is ''[[Der Neinsager]]'' (''He Said No'') although Brecht's other text was never set by Weill.
Its companion piece is ''[[Der Neinsager]]'' (''He Said No'') although Brecht's other text was never set by Weill.


Weill also identifies the piece, following Brecht's development of the experimental form, as a ''[[Lehrstücke|Lehrstück]]'', or 'teaching-piece'.<ref name="primary">Weill says: "In ''[[The Flight across the Ocean (play)|Lindbergh's Flight]]'' Bert Brecht and I had the schools in mind for the first time. I am hoping to develop this direction further in my latest play, the '[[Lehrstücke|Lehrstück]]' ''He Said Yes''. [...] I no longer want to offer 'songs' so much as self-contained musical forms. In the process I want to take over whatever I hitherto found right, like what I once termed the [[Gestus|gestic]] approach to music. The melody must give clear expression to the gest. It is clarity, not lack of clarity that has to prevail in all that the composer wishes to express. And [...] this 'Lehrstück' has to be a fully authentic work of art, not a secondary piece." (Weill 1930, 334).</ref>
Weill also identifies the piece, following Brecht's development of the experimental form, as a ''[[Lehrstücke|Lehrstück]]'', or "teaching-piece".<ref name="primary">Weill says: "In ''[[The Flight Across the Ocean|Lindbergh's Flight]]'' Bert Brecht and I had the schools in mind for the first time. I am hoping to develop this direction further in my latest play, the ''[[Lehrstücke|Lehrstück]]'' ''He Said Yes''. [...] I no longer want to offer 'songs' so much as self-contained musical forms. In the process I want to take over whatever I hitherto found right, like what I once termed the [[Gestus|gestic]] approach to music. The melody must give clear expression to the gest. It is clarity, not lack of clarity that has to prevail in all that the composer wishes to express. And [...] this ''Lehrstück'' has to be a fully authentic work of art, not a secondary piece." (Weill 1930, p. 334)</ref>


==Performance history==
==Performance history==
It was first performed in [[Berlin]] by students of the ''Akademie für Kirchen und Schulmusik'' at the ''Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht'' on 23 June 1930 and broadcast simultaneously on the radio. It was successful and there were over 300 performances during the following three years.
It was first performed in Berlin by students of the Akademie für Kirchen- und Schulmusik at the Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht on 23 June 1930 and broadcast simultaneously on radio. It was successful and there were over 300 performances during the following three years.


Brecht subsequently revised the text twice, the final version, including ''Der Neinsager'', being without music.
Brecht subsequently revised the text twice, the final version, including ''Der Neinsager'', being without music.


==Roles==
== Plot ==
A teacher leads a hike in the mountains, among the hikers being a young boy whose mother is quite ill. One variant of the story holds that the expedition is a quest for medicine, while another holds that it is in fact a religious pilgrimage. During the expedition the boy falls ill as well. He is asked whether he should be abandoned by his fellow hikers, for which the customary and expected response is yes. In ''Der Neinsager'', the boy answers no and suggests instead that a different custom should be introduced, "'the custom that one must think afresh in every new situation"'.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht|last=Willett|first=John|publisher=New Directions Books|year=1968|pages=37–38}}</ref>

== Roles ==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!Role
!Role
!Voice type
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere Cast,<br>23 June 1930<br>(Conductor: Kurt Drabeck)
!Premiere cast,<br />23 June 1930<br />(Conductor: Kurt Drabeck)
|-
|-
|The boy
|The boy
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|-
|-
|First student
|First student
|treble or tenor
|treble or [[tenor]]
|
|
|-
|-
Line 39: Line 57:
|treble or baritone
|treble or baritone
|
|
|-
|}
|}

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==Sources==
*[http://www.amadeusonline.net/almanacco.php?Start=0&Giorno=23&Mese=06&Anno=1930&Giornata=&Testo=&Parola=Stringa Amadeus Almanac, accessed 31 October 2008]
⚫
* Hinton, Stephen. 1992. "''Jasager, Der''". In ''The [[New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]''. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London:. ISBN 0-333-73432-7.
⚫
* [[Kurt Weill|Weill, Kurt]]. 1930. Interview. In ''Collected Plays: Three'' by [[Bertolt Brecht]]. Ed. and trans. John Willett. Brecht Collected Plays Ser. London: Methuen, 1997. ISBN 9780413704603. p.334-335.


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

⚫
==Sources==
*{{Almanacco|dmy=23-06-1930|match=Der Jasager}}
⚫
* [[Stephen Hinton|Hinton, Stephen]]. 1992. "''Jasager, Der''". In ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]''. Ed. [[Stanley Sadie]]. London:. {{ISBN|0-333-73432-7}}.
⚫
* Weill, Kurt. 1930. Interview. In ''Collected Plays: Three'' by Bertolt Brecht. Ed. and trans. [[John Willett]]. Brecht Collected Plays Ser. London: Methuen, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-413-70460-3}}. pp.&nbsp;334–335

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Der Jasager|''Der Jasager''}}

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{{Brecht plays}}
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{{Kurt Weill}}
{{Portal bar|Opera}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Jasager, Der}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jasager, Der}}

[[Category:Operas by Kurt Weill]]
[[Category:Operas by Kurt Weill]]
[[Category:Plays by Bertold Brecht]]
[[Category:Plays by Bertolt Brecht]]
[[Category:Lehrstücke by Bertolt Brecht]]
[[Category:Lehrstücke by Bertolt Brecht]]
[[Category:German-language operas]]
[[Category:German-language operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:1930 operas]]
[[Category:1930 operas]]
[[Category:Operas based on plays]]


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{{Brecht plays}}
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{{Weill operas}}
[[he:האומר כן / האומר לא]]
[[ja:イエスマン、ノーマン]]

Latest revision as of 14:57, 21 October 2023

Der Jasager
Schuloper by Kurt Weill
Scene from a 1946 performance in Berlin
TranslationThe Affirmer
LibrettistBertolt Brecht
LanguageGerman
Based onNō drama Taniko
Premiere
23 June 1930 (1930-06-23)
Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht, Berlin

Der Jasager (literally The Yes Sayer; also translated as The Affirmer or He Said Yes) is an opera (specifically a Schuloper or "school-opera") by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht (after Elisabeth Hauptmann's translation from Arthur Waley's English version of the Japanese Nō drama Taniko).

Its companion piece is Der Neinsager (He Said No) although Brecht's other text was never set by Weill.

Weill also identifies the piece, following Brecht's development of the experimental form, as a Lehrstück, or "teaching-piece".[1]

Performance history

[edit]

It was first performed in Berlin by students of the Akademie für Kirchen- und Schulmusik at the Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht on 23 June 1930 and broadcast simultaneously on radio. It was successful and there were over 300 performances during the following three years.

Brecht subsequently revised the text twice, the final version, including Der Neinsager, being without music.

Plot

[edit]

A teacher leads a hike in the mountains, among the hikers being a young boy whose mother is quite ill. One variant of the story holds that the expedition is a quest for medicine, while another holds that it is in fact a religious pilgrimage. During the expedition the boy falls ill as well. He is asked whether he should be abandoned by his fellow hikers, for which the customary and expected response is yes. In Der Neinsager, the boy answers no and suggests instead that a different custom should be introduced, "'the custom that one must think afresh in every new situation"'.[2]

Roles

[edit]
Role Voice type Premiere cast,
23 June 1930
(Conductor: Kurt Drabeck)
The boy treble
The mother mezzo-soprano
The teacher baritone Otto Hopf
First student treble or tenor
Second student treble or tenor
Third student treble or baritone

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Weill says: "In Lindbergh's Flight Bert Brecht and I had the schools in mind for the first time. I am hoping to develop this direction further in my latest play, the Lehrstück He Said Yes. [...] I no longer want to offer 'songs' so much as self-contained musical forms. In the process I want to take over whatever I hitherto found right, like what I once termed the gestic approach to music. The melody must give clear expression to the gest. It is clarity, not lack of clarity that has to prevail in all that the composer wishes to express. And [...] this Lehrstück has to be a fully authentic work of art, not a secondary piece." (Weill 1930, p. 334)
  2. ^ Willett, John (1968). The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht. New Directions Books. pp. 37–38.

Sources

[edit]
[edit]
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