HANS WERNER HENZE - Schott Music

48
dead, but at this moment he is just being led to his
execution as a deserter. A military band signals the
arrival of the new Governor.
5. The Governor – ceremonial stand
During the military parade the Governor observes that
the General, tormented by the scenes he has just witnessed,
turns away and leaves the parade.
6. On the battlefield
He is followed to the battlefield; here the General has
re-encountered the young woman and advises her to
entrust her child to the older woman. The Governor
orders the young woman to be shot for looting. The
General who pleads for mercy on her part is arrested
and taken to a mental asylum.
7. The river
The old woman attempts to cross the river with the
child. The General who is just being led past them
is forced to witness the shooting of the woman and
child by the soldiers without being able to intervene.
8. Garden in the mental asylum
The General sits amongst lunatics who relate terrible
tales from legends and historical events; they
are building an imaginary boat which will take them
across an imaginary river to freedom. The 2 nd soldier
utilises a trick to gain access to the asylum in civilian
clothes; he pleads to the General to lead a revolt
against the Emperor. He is however forced to leave
without having achieved anything, as subsequently
also the Governor who brings the greetings of the
Emperor and his plea for support from the General in
the civil war which has just broken out. The General
protests against further bloodshed.
9. The murder – government office, gateway outside
the conference room, room in the slums
The Governor reports to the ministry of his fruitless
visit of the General. When he leaves the conference
room, he is shot by the 2nd soldier who has been
waiting for him at the gateway. The soldier subsequently
walks home and encounters his frightened
wife.
10. The emperor’s court
Picnic on the river bank. The Emperor has been informed
that the Governor had been shot by the 2nd
soldier who had previously visited the General. He
orders the General to be blinded.
11. Mental asylum
The Doctor reports to the General that the 2nd soldier
has killed the Governor and then killed himself and
the members of his family before the followers of the
Emperor were able to seize them. In reaction to these
new terrible events, the General wants to blind himself,
but is tied up in a straitjacket. He is blinded by
two murderers sent by the Emperor. Now the General
sees in his inward eye all the victims of war who stand
and accuse him. The lunatics are afraid of the disfigured
General; they consider him to be a spy who is a
danger to themselves and their boat and the island to
which they intend to flee. They smother him under
large sheets, imagining that these represent the water
of the river.
“
My compositional activity during the tenyear
span between the Bassarids and We
come to the River has been a continual process,
away from the hedonistic world of the Bacchae and
Maenades and towards the contemporary figures,
murderers and victims of the new work. This was a
path strewn with obstacles, both artistic and moralistic.
It was for me a time of study and practising and
works such as El Cimarrón, Natascha Ungeheuer and
La Cubana must be regarded as preparatory stages.
During this period, my music gained in clarity and
assertiveness and became more the receptacle for
messages and precisely defined content. […] The
composition of the texts and scenes of We come to
the River represented a learning process and in fact
the essence of composition is always a process of
learning: realisation, comprehension, and examination.
The description of this particular learning
process however must inevitably also focus on the
powerful forces existing in our world: the moral
conflicts of individuals and of the suffering and destitution
of the suppressed and exploited. The figures
of power, the militia and purveyors of violence are
the people we meet on the street, in hotel lobbies
and watch on TV news reports. The violability and
vulnerability of the weak and poor will be transformed
into strength to form a new power which
will change the world.
”