Pollicino: An Opera for Children

Author(s): Hans Werner Henze

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 121, No. 1654 (Dec., 1980), pp. 766-768
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/962515
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Pollicino:an operaforchildren
Hans WernerHenze
I foundthesubjectofmyoperaPollicinoin a collectionof
fairytalesmadeabouta hundredyearsago by Carlo Col-
lodi, theauthorof Pinocchio,the mostfamousand most
loved Italian children's story. In Pollicino (pollice:
'thumb'),elementsfromGermanand Frenchtalescan be
detected;but the generalatmosphere and all the actual
details are unmistakablyItalian - more precisely,
Tuscan. Much of theTuscan nationalcharacter is to be
foundin thesetales:thatsarcasmandcrudedryness under
whichpeople hide theiremotions,disenchantment, ir-
reverence,irony. The children of Montepulciano
(southernTuscany)forwhomPollicinowas writtenen-
joyedthelibrettoenormously (theyknewit by heart,just
as muchas the musicand everybody else's parton the
stage)becauseI thinktheysaw themselves in it,and that
providedan elementof familiarity.
I asked Giuseppe Di Leva, the playwright and poet
(from not
Trento, Tuscany), to helpme with an operafor
children.He had workedwithme in thefirstMontepul-
ciano CantiereInternazionaled'Arte(1976, in a retelling
of the Lorenzi-Paisiello Don Chisciottefor band and
smallchamberorchestra) and in thefourth(withthecrea-
tionofthehighlysuccessful ballet,withfireworks,on the
Piazza Grande,I mutidi Portici).He spentmuchtime
discussing thesubjectofPollicinowithchildren ofvarious
ages(especially with the daughters ofa Florentinefriend),
in Milan,in Florenceandin thecountry. One cansayfair-
ly thatthe librettois strongly influencedby theiropi-
nions, their fears, their sorrows and theirdreams.Bet-
telheimalso had a sayin thelibretto.
Butthemusic,too,is strongly influencedbychildren.It
was theywhohadcomeup withtheidea in thefirstplace.
One afternoon in late August1979,whileI was quietly
recovering lickingmywoundsfromthehardlabour
and
and thedefeatsof thefourthCantiere(workshop, as it is
rightlycalled), the Concentus Politianus (about 15
childrenfromMontepulciano)called on me. They had
come,on thecommunalscolabusand undertheguidance
oftheirfriendand musicteacher,Gast6nFournierFacio,
a CostaRicansociologist and graduateofSussexUniver-
sity,to visitthe historicmonuments ofthecapital.They
justwantedto sayHello and to havea quickswim.They
neversaw Romethatday,becausethedayturnedintoan
endlessfestivity, centredarounda big meal(witha lotof
wine)cookedbyourLuiginaas a surpriseforme,and my
workingplans wereall overthrown. Workon mycomic
opera TheEnglishCat had to be postponed,and withit
the firstnight,alreadyannouncedforMay 1981 by the
Schwetzingen Festivaland the Stuttgart Opera House.
The children, theireyes,theirfire,theirvoices,thethings
766
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Hans WernerHenze's children's opera 'Pollicino
or New Adventuresof Tom Thumb' firstheard
last summerat theMontepulcianoFestival, is to
be given at Covent Garden on 16-20 December,
at 2 and 5 p.m., conductedbyDavid Syrus and
producedby Richard Gregson.
theysaid and howtheysaid them,theirenergy, theirwit
and theirnoises,madea greatimpression on me,and they
had no difficultyin makingme sayYes whentheyasked
me to writea piece forthem.
The ConcentusPolitianusis an instrumental group.
The recorder is themostimportant component, butthere
are also stringinstrumentsand a set of OrffSchulwerk
percussion(whichhad been donated).It was foundedin
January1979,whenFournierFacio becamean employee
ofthecityofMontepulciano. He had attendedeveryCan-
tiereand had cometo love thepeopleofMontepulciano,
especiallythechildren,and his job as animatoremusicale.
His animazione embodies somethingof agitazione,and it
is thanksto him thatthereare now thebeginnings of a
musicallifethere.All thechildrenhad to be taughtthe
basic essentialsof music and music-making beforehe
couldevendreamofplayingeasypieceswiththem.He is
a marvellous teacher;I wouldhavelovedto havehadhim
in myschool.
A monthafterthe encounter,I began to compose
Pollicino.Di Leva had workedquicklyand efficiently. We
werestillplanningthe endingat the timeI had already
finishedtwoscenes.But whatI had thoughtwouldtake
me fourto sixweekstookfourmonthsofconcentrated but
pleasant work. I think in that time (last winter)I
rediscovered someof myown childhood,whenI triedto
recallmyfeelings- whathungerand coldwerelike,how
scared I was by the worldand whatwere my greatest
delights.So thememories appeared,andnotonlypleasant
ones,I am afraid;I broughtthemintothemusic(music
forotherchildren),to be used and sungand playedand
acted. I knewthesechildrenhad littlemusicaltraining;
theyhad onlyjust startedto play instruments, and had
neverreallysung,so I had to choosemeansofexpression
theycould understandand keep my technicaldemands
withintheselimitations. In that,I did notalwayssucceed,
and thechildrenhad to studyharder;buttheysucceeded
in theend,and indeedmadequickerprogress. Once these
limitationswereacceptedas theruleofthegame,itwasno
longerso difficult to inventthe tunesand the sounds
through which I hoped to establishcontactwith the
children;and it was easythento functionin the rather
narrowrangesof theirvoicesand instruments.
The scorewas finishedin February1980. In AprilJan
Latham-Koenig, whomI had askedto join in theadven-
tureand conducttherehearsalsand performances, Four-
nierFacio and I selectedthe cast of Pollicinoout of the
hundredsof interested Montepulciano kids,makingtests
and type-castingthem.It was lateMay (thepremiere was
fixedfor2 August)thatanotherEnglishman PeterLocke
- an excellentmusicianwho worksat the Fenice in
Venice,and,likeLatham-Koenig, a friendoftheCantiere
sincethefirstyear - came to teachthiscastof20 musical-
lycompletely innocent childrenhow to singin timeandin
tune,howtolookat theconductor, andhowtosingin har-
monywiththeothers.At thesame time,FournierFacio
was teachingthe musicto his pupils in the Concentus,
which had much improvedin qualityand in number
(therewere about 30 now). But the newcomersneeded
basic trainingfirst,of course,againand again. So it was
He taughteachchilditspart,notebynote.Both
difficult.
he and Locke workedfrommorningto night;they,and
Jan Latham-Koenig,have made possible what,in the
preparatoryphase, often seemed impossible, even
hopelessat times.On theopeningnightthethreeofthem
were endlesslycheeredby the verychildrentheyhad
taughthowto singand to play:thismusthavebeentheir
greatestreward.For myself, 2 August1980was oneofthe
happiestdaysin mylife.
The scoreis designedto containall sortsof basic and
moreadvancedmusicaltrainingmaterialforbeginners.
You could saythatPollicinois an intensivemusiccourse.
And whilethechildrenact and playand sing,theymake
and hearsoundsthattheywill encounteragainlater,in
concerthalls (and one hopes even in opera houses!):
soundsofourtime.Playingandsinging, theylearntotake
whatothersmightcallunusualsoundsas a naturally given
fact,as partof our reality(as indeedtheyare). Children
can actuallysingandplaythesenewsoundswithout much
difficulty:theyarenotawareofthedifficulties adultsseek
out and findin contemporary music.In fact,it was more
forthemusicaldirectors
difficult toteachthemusictothe
fouradultswho are neededin the play(theywerelocal
amateur actors and/orsingers). I put two Tuscan
folksongs intothescore:Raccogliamo frasche is one (in the
originalitis in themajormode;I putitintotheminorfor
dramaticreasons),andthefinalRoundis theother- itis
therethatthemoraloftheplayis stated.Someoftheother
tunesthatmightbe takenforfolkonesaremine,although
theyareall, ofcourse,influenced bytheTuscanlanguage
and landscapeand by thewaytheTuscanssing.
I wrotea pianopartanda soloviolinpartintothescore.
These are supposedto be played by professionals; in
school performances theywould be taken by teachers.
Theyhavea doublefunction: to helptheyoungplayersto
keepin tuneandin time,andto relaxtheear,fromtimeto
time,fromthesoundoftherecorders. Theyalso havethe
task of tellingthe story:the violinis the voice of the
Grandmother, who narratesof and moralizesabout
Pollicino and his brothers,about Clotilde,the Ogre,
winterand spring.The otherinstruments too belongto
the dramatispersonae:the recorders, theirtendervoices
full of anguish,representof course the souls of the
children,and theirweepingand trembling represent their
sorrows, sobs and The
sufferings. harmonium represents
adultbigotry. The guitarmusicis closelyconnectedwith

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Twofairytalesin musicforyoungpeople:
Pollicino or New Adventures of Tom Thumb

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(Hans WernerHenze)
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767

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thegoodthingsin thecountry- peace,warmth andwell-
being;it is closeto thesoil,to musicplayedin thefields.
Tuttiviolins(threeor moreareneeded),celloand double
bass (singleor morenumerous)haveto helptherecorder
musicto projectitself;whereasthepercussionrepresents
lightnessand shadow,lightand heavy,sinisterand evil
things,and also functions forthebrass.It is
as substitutes
possible,incidentally, to workout othercastingsof in-
struments,professionalpercussion,for example, or
modernwindinstruments, as thecharacterand themean-
ingof themusicwillnotsuffer too much.
Forthcoming productionsare mostlybeing organized
withthehelpofoperahouseswhooffertheirfacilities to
schoolsorto children's groups;butI think(andhope)that
Pollicinowill also workin collegesand artisticallyorien-
tatedprimary schools.The scoreis organizedlikea boxof
children'sbricks,so itis possibletoextract
variousgroups
of singlepieces fromit: it includesa violinand piano
sonatina,a setofguitarpieces,interludes forchildren's
or-
chestras,and somepianopiecesas well.
Purcell's'StairreCase Overture'
AlanBrowning
In an articlein 1964,NigelFortunedrewattention to the
existenceof a set of fourfoliovolumesof manuscript
music,chieflyby Purcell,in the libraryof TattonPark,
Knutsford,Cheshire.'The volumescontaintranscrip-
tionsby PhilipHayes(1738-97) and ThomasBarrow(d
1789)2 of worksfoundin late 17th-century manuscripts;
and collationwiththeoriginals,wheretheseare known,
revealsthatnotonlydid theytakeparticular painsto pro-
curereliablesources(occasionally autograph) fromwhich
to assembletheir'anthology' but thattheywereboth,in
addition,conscientious and largelyaccuratecopyists.
The third volume, a miscellaneouscompilationof
c1785,is undoubtedly themostinteresting.As wellas the
anonymous ode (orsectionofan ode) TheNoiseofForeign
Wars,whichis thesubjectofDr Fortune'sarticle,and an
importantconcordanceof Purcell's early Cecilian ode
Raise the Voice,it containsa shortpiece entitled'The
StarrCase Overture', whichis ascribedto 'Hen.YPurcel'.
This appearsin Hayes'shandon thefinaltwopagesofthe
volume (which are unpaginated),after 38 pages of
Purcell'sfantasiascopiedin by Barrow.
1 'A New PurcellSource',MR, xxv(1964), 109-13. Acknowledgement is due to
CheshireCountyCouncilforkindlygranting me accessto the libraryat Tatton
Parkand fortheirpermissionto reproducepartofthemanuscript.
2 forfurther on Barrow'sactivity
information as a copyist,see MargaretLaurie:
Musicand Bibliography:
'The Chapel RoyalPart-books', Essaysin HonourofAlec
HyattKing,ed. O.W. Neighbour(London,1980)
768
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The Montepulciano production was donewiththehelp
of the CologneOpera House who sentus the producer,
WillyDecker,thecostumedesigner, MarionGerretz, and
PeterNagel, a youngrealistpainterfromthenorthwho
madethe set in close collaborationwitha groupof local
youngsterswhosedesignswereused (andexhibited in the
foyeroftheTeatroPoliziano).The setand costumeshave
remainedin Montepulciano, buttheshowcan andwillbe
done again - it has alreadybeen presentedin Rome,at
theAccademiaFilarmonica, and in theTeatroOlimpico,
at the end of October 1980, conductedagain by Jan
Latham-Koenig to whosekindnessand energywe owethe
astonishing resultforwhichhe struggled
final duringlong
and troublesome weeksunderatrociousrehearsing condi-
tions.I shall neverforgetthededicationof all involved;
but thegreatest thingin thisoperationwas thecontribu-
tionofthechildrenthemselves. Theywereall marvellous,
and I was veryproudof them.They are all musicians
now: musichas come intotheirsweetand fragilelives,
theywon'tlet go ofheragain,theirmostfaithful ally.
The workfallsintothreesections:an openingprelude,a
triple-time movement, and a closingpassagewiththetime
signature barred C. It is scoredin fourparts,perhapstobe
playedby two treble violins, a bass viol and a continuo
bass ofharpsichord and theorbo.The bass viol partis an
elaboration ofthecontinuobass,andis closelyinvolvedin
imitation ofthetwotrebleparts.The pieceis notlong,53
barsin all (or 61 ifthefirststrainofthetriplais repeated),
but withinthese compactproportions there is ample
evidenceofan originalmindat work.
Fromitspositionin themanuscript it wouldseemthat
Hayes regarded the overture as something ofa curiosity,
whichhe therefore noteddown,almostas an afterthought,
at theendofthevolume.He did noteventroubletomen-
tionit in his index,and one is at firsttemptedto viewthe
ascription to Purcellwitha certainscepticism.
Thereis,however, on f.19ofMS515 oftheOsbornCol-
lectionat Yale University, a concordance ofthebass viol
part of theoverture, which is againascribed to Purcelland
is titled'The StairreCase Overturein B me'.3This ver-
sion is almostidenticalwiththatgivenby Hayes,thesole
difference lyingin the factthatHayes has adoptedthe
modern conventionin his treatmentof accidentals,
substituting naturalsignsforthe sharpsoftheYale MS.4
3 I am muchindebtedto CurtisPriceand PeterHolmanforinforming me ofthe
existenceofthisconcordance,and forhelpand encouragement in thepreparation
ofthisarticle.
4 Hayes's'StarrCase' mustsurelybe a misreading
ofthetitlegivenbyhissource.