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Der Fliegende Hollaender (The Flying Dutchman), WWV 63: Act III, Norwegian Sailors' Chorus: Steuermann, Lass' die Wacht [full scene]
By Richard Wagner/ Libretto by the composer. Text in German and English.
Item: 36-A393092
$7.50
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Richard Wagner (1813-1883) composed Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman), WWV 63 principally in 1840-41, drawing his story of the eternally wandering mariner from the Flying Dutchman legend as retold by Heinrich Heine and also recalling Wagner's own perilous 1839 sea voyage from Riga toward London. The Act III Norwegian Sailors' Chorus, "Steuermann, lass' die Wacht" ("Steersman, Leave Your Watch"), occurs after Daland's ship and the Dutchman's ghostly vessel have reached the Norwegian harbor. The Norwegian sailors and local women celebrate their safe homecoming with food, drink, and a vigorous song, repeatedly inviting the ominously silent Dutchman's crew to join them. When the ghost sailors finally answer amid supernatural wind and storm, the cheerful festivities turn abruptly to terror, making the chorus one of the opera's most effective contrasts between ordinary human life and the Dutchman's cursed world. The complete opera received its world premiere on January 2, 1843, at the Königlich Sächsisches Hoftheater in Dresden, conducted by Wagner, with Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient as Senta and Michael Wächter as the Dutchman. Today, "Steuermann, lass' die Wacht" remains an important ensemble scene within performances of Der fliegende Holländer and is also encountered independently in operatic and choral collections. Its robust sailor-song character, dramatic escalation, and prominent choral writing make it one of the opera's most immediately recognizable ensemble passages. Reprint edition of the choral score for the complete scene.
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