Title: Peter Klatzow's <i>Hamlet:</i> A drama in music and movement
Abstract:Although the idea of translating Shakespeare's Hamlet into a ballet was met with scepticism at the time, Veronica Paeper and Peter Klatzow produced a ballet that was received with emphatic enthusiasm ...Although the idea of translating Shakespeare's Hamlet into a ballet was met with scepticism at the time, Veronica Paeper and Peter Klatzow produced a ballet that was received with emphatic enthusiasm when it was premiered in 1992. This article traces the collaboration between choreographer, composer and play. To understand 'the greater conception' that the composer had in mind, psychological and moral questions that relate to the play and the ballet are investigated. In the absence of a narrator, the composer and choreographer transformed feelings and thoughts into music and movement. As this article focuses on the manner in which the subject as listener experiences this music, the primary focus is on the physiognomy of its character-bound musical themes. Secondly it is demonstrated how the transformation of Hamlet's music reflects his psychological condition and how the music of the Ghost, not always accompanied by physical appearances, represents his influential position as instigator and sustainer of dramatic energy. By following a narrative approach that is also cognisant of the effects and moods that musical structures create, the aim is to establish an understanding of how music could serve the broader conception that the composer had in mind.Read More
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-02-19
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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