Engelbert Humperdinck, born September 1, 1854, in Siegburg, Prussia [Germany], is the composer known for his opera Hänsel und Gretel.
Humperdinck studied at Cologne and at Munich. In 1879 a Mendelssohn scholarship enabled him to go to Italy, where he met Richard Wagner, who invited him to assist in the production of Parsifal at Bayreuth. He taught at the Barcelona Conservatory (1885–87) and at Frankfurt am Main (1890–96), where he was also music critic of the Frankfurter Zeitung. Early works were the choral ballads Die Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar (1878; The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar), Das Glück von Edenhall (1884; “The Luck of Edenhall”), and the Humoreske (1879) for orchestra. Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by Richard Strauss, was produced at Weimar on December 23, 1893.
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The libretto, by the composer’s sister Adelheid Wette, was based on the folktale made familiar by the Brothers Grimm. In this work Humperdinck showed an understanding of a child’s mind and a sense of poetry, notably in the atmosphere of the woodland scene at twilight and in the realistic effects in the episode of the broken milk jug. The Wagnerian harmonies, the simple tunes, and the resourceful orchestration maintain the musical interest on a high level.
Between 1895 and 1919 Humperdinck produced six more operas, including Dornröschen (1902; “Sleeping Beauty”) and Königskinder (1910; “Royal Children”), but neither they nor the spectacle Das Mirakel (1911; “The Miracle”) enhanced his prestige. He also wrote incidental music for plays by Aristophanes, William Shakespeare, and Maurice Maeterlinck; Maurische Rhapsodie (1898; “Moorish Rhapsody”) for orchestra; a string quartet; works for piano; and songs.
Source: Britannica
Hänsel and Gretel, German Hänsel und Gretel, opera by the German composer Engelbert Humperdinck (with a German libretto by his sister, Adelheid Wette) premiered in Weimar, Germany, on December 23, 1893.
Background and context
Humperdinck, who began his career as an assistant to Richard Wagner, used Wagner’s harmonic techniques, although with a lighter touch suitable for the fairy-tale subject matter he adapted. The roles of Gretel and Hänsel are sung, respectively, by an adult soprano and an adult mezzo-soprano.
Humperdinck began work on Hänsel and Gretel in 1890 when his sister requested a set of four songs based on the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm for her children to perform. From that set of songs Humperdinck expanded the piece to a singspiel and then ultimately to a full opera. Humperdinck and Wette presented a softer and lighter version of the story: Hänsel and Gretel’s mother, rather than sending the children off to die as she does in the Grimms’ original, only orders them to go outside and pick strawberries to keep them from causing trouble in the house. Friendly new characters—including the Sandman, the Dew Fairy, and 14 angels who guard the children while they sleep—were added to the story, as were pious pronouncements concerning prayer.
A premiere was arranged for Munich late in 1893. However, a singer’s illness forced the cancellation of that production, so the first performance fell to Richard Strauss, who, as the composer’s friend, had already planned to conduct Hänsel and Gretel in a Christmas-season run in Weimar. The opera was an immediate success. In its first year alone, it was presented in dozens of German theatres.
(Betsy Schwarm)
Cast and vocal parts
Hänsel, a boy (mezzo-soprano)
Gretel, his sister (soprano)
Peter, their father, a broom maker (baritone)
Gertrude, their mother (mezzo-soprano)
The Witch (mezzo-soprano or tenor)
The Sandman (soprano)
The Dew Fairy (soprano)
Angels, gingerbread children, chorus of echoes.
Setting and story summary
Act I
A poor cottage at the edge of a forest.
Once upon a time, a brother and sister named Hänsel and Gretel lived with their father and mother, Peter and Gertrude, at the edge of a huge forest. When the story opens, they are alone in their poor cottage, hard at work at their chores, and quite hungry. Gretel teases Hänsel for being a grump and promises to tell him a secret if he will cheer up: there is milk in the jug and their mother will make them a nice pudding when she comes home. Hänsel sneaks a taste of the milk, but Gretel warns him that their mother will be angry if they do not get back to work. Hänsel refuses; he prefers to dance. Gretel is infected with her brother’s high spirits, and both begin to dance (“Brüderchen, komm tanz’ mit mir”).
In the middle of all the fun, Gertrude comes home in a very bad mood, angry at them for not having finished their work. She gets a stick to hit them, and, as they escape, she accidentally knocks over the jug, spilling all the milk. She furiously orders them out of the house to pick strawberries. Then she despairs and begs God for help in feeding her children. Exhausted, she falls asleep.
Peter is heard singing in the distance. He reels into the house and gives Gertrude a big kiss. She is not amused and accuses him of being drunk. He ignores her nagging and playfully asks for supper. She tells him that they have nothing to eat. To her surprise, he pulls out a sackful of food. He reports that he had gone to town to sell his brooms, and because he happened upon a festival, he managed to make a huge profit. Gertrude toasts his success, and, as they begin to dig into the food, he realizes that the children are absent. Gertrude reports that Hänsel and Gretel were misbehaving and that she broke the milk jug trying to punish them. Peter laughs heartily at this, and Gertrude cannot help joining in. He asks again where they are, and she replies, “For all I know, at the Ilsenstein.” Peter is struck with horror, for the Ilsenstein is the mountain abode of a horrible witch who rides on a broomstick, lures children to her gingerbread house, and bakes them into gingerbread. The two rush out of the house in search of the children.
Act II
The forest.
It is now sunset. Hänsel is roaming about in the forest picking strawberries, while Gretel makes a crown of flowers and sings a little song. They begin snacking on the berries as they listen to a cuckoo singing in the distance. Soon they begin fighting over the strawberries, but Hänsel grabs the basket away from Gretel and eats them all. Gretel is aghast; now they’ll have to start over. Meanwhile, darkness is falling, and they realize that they are lost in the woods. Hänsel tries to reassure Gretel, but they begin to see strange shapes and lights. When Hänsel asks who is there, only an echo replies. Gretel thinks she sees ghostly figures coming for them and cries out for her parents. Out of the mist, a little man appears with a sack on his back. It is the Sandman, who sprinkles his magic sand on them to help them sleep. The children say their evening prayer (“Abends will ich schlafen geh’n”) and fall into a deep sleep as angels watch over them.
Act III
The Witch’s house in the forest. Dawn.
The Dew Fairy sprinkles dew on the children to gently wake them. Gretel wakes up first and greets the morning with a song. Then she tickles Hänsel awake. She tells him that she dreamt of angels; Hänsel is surprised, for he had the same dream. Suddenly, a beautiful gingerbread house appears in the forest. They run up to it, inspecting the candy and cake trim on the house, eager to start eating, and hoping that whoever lives in the house will invite them in. Gretel stops Hänsel from opening the door, but he argues that the angels they saw in their dreams must live in the house and that it will be all right if they just start eating. As Hänsel breaks off a piece of cake, they hear a strange voice from inside the house (“Knusper, knusper, Knäuschen”)—someone wondering what little mouse is nibbling at her house.
The children freeze with fear but then, concluding that it must be the wind, go on to taste the treats, which they think are delicious. Hänsel and Gretel continue to eat the sweets they pull from the house but once again stop in their tracks when they hear the voice again asking what is nibbling at her house.
They answer that it is the wind. Laughing at their own cleverness, they continue to eat, but soon they see that they are not alone. A horrible Witch takes hold of them, eyeing them hungrily and telling them how much she loves children—to eat. While Hänsel and Gretel struggle to escape, the Witch laughs at them, describing all the goodies she will feed them to fatten them up and make them tender and tasty. When they manage to break away, she freezes them with a spell that she casts, with a magic stick.
The Witch puts Hänsel in a cage and goes into the house, leaving Gretel frozen in place. Hänsel tells Gretel that he has a plan and that she should do whatever the Witch tells her to do.
The Witch returns with a basket of sweets, ordering Hänsel to eat. She unfreezes Gretel with another spell and orders her to go into the house to set the table for supper. Hänsel, meanwhile, pretends to be asleep. The Witch gloats over her plan to eat Gretel first by having her look into the oven and then pushing her into it, baking her into gingerbread. She dances with her broomstick in gleeful anticipation of her feast.
Now the Witch wakes Hänsel to see if he is fat enough. She tells him to put out a finger so she can feel it, but Hänsel pokes out a twig instead, and the nearsighted old hag is sorely disappointed at how skinny he is. She calls for Gretel to bring more sweets for him. While the Witch is feeding him, Gretel, seeing the magic stick unattended, grabs it and recites the unfreeze spell. The Witch suddenly turns to her and asks what she said, but Gretel merely replies that Hänsel will never get fat. The Witch stops Gretel’s mouth with food. As the Witch goes to check the outdoor oven, Hänsel tells Gretel to be careful. The Witch calls Gretel over and asks her to look into the oven to see if the gingerbread is done yet. Gretel pretends not to understand and asks the Witch to show her how. Annoyed, the Witch sticks her head in. Hänsel, meanwhile, has crept out of the cage, and he and Gretel shove the Witch into the oven and bang the door shut. They dance with joy at having beaten the Witch at her own game.
Hänsel rushes into the house and comes out again with all sorts of delicious food. Then the oven explodes, and all the Witch’s gingerbread victims are suddenly transformed into real children, frozen in place with their eyes closed. The children ask Hänsel and Gretel to touch them to open their eyes. Then Hänsel grabs the magic stick, recites the unfreeze spell, and frees the children. Everyone celebrates.
Suddenly Peter is heard in the distance sadly calling for his children. When he and Gertrude arrive onstage, Hänsel and Gretel rush into their arms. The other children take the Witch, who has now herself turned into gingerbread, out of the oven. All thank God for their rescue and dance triumphantly.
By Linda Cantoni / Source: Britannica
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