Eisler: Lenin (Requiem)

Introduction

Lenin (Requiem) was composed by Hanns Eisler (1898-1962) from 1935 to 1937. It was commissioned by a Russian music publisher during the time of Eisler’s exile from Germany. The piece was composed in the twelve-tone method but sounds almost like tonal music, and even includes a pre-existing tonal movement inserted by Eisler. The text was written by Bertolt Brecht (1898 –1956), a loyal collaborator of Eisler’s. The piece was premiered in 1958 but has not been performed often since then, mostly in Europe.

Compositional Background

The composition of Lenin (Requiem) was commissioned by Staatlicher Musikverlag Moskau (Moscow State Music Publisher) in 1932 as a dedication to Alan Dudley Bush (1900-1995), a British composer who was a committed socialist and advocator of Marxism. Eisler started to fulfill this commission by composing a work dedicated to the memory of Lenin in 1935 and finished it in 1937. Brecht, Eisler’s collaborator, finished the text that same year, shortly before the twentieth anniversary of the October Revolution, of which Lenin had been the leader. They were both staying in Skovsbostrand, Denmark, having been exiled by Hitler at that time. The work is in nine movements and is composed for alto and baritone solo, mixed choir and orchestra. The commission was not simple: Eisler and Brecht had to find a way of guarding homage to a great man from the gloom of religious associations, and of giving mourning an active profile, a revolutionary impetus, instead of allowing it to debilitate the mourners.

Based on the significance of the text rather than the format, Eisler put the word Requiem in parentheses in the title. When in 1935 Eisler began his commissioned work, he called it Lenin-Kantate to honor Lenin’s death in the face of the exploiters, but soon changed it to Lenin (Requiem) when Brecht completed the text Kantate zu Lenine Todestag (“Cantata to Lenin’s Death”) in 1937. An authentic Requiem Mass/Missa Pro Defunctis/Mass for the Dead is supposed to use the liturgical Latin text, but the Lenin (Requiem) did not follow the same Latin format as a Requiem Mass. However, the beginning stanzas of Lenin (Requiem) show the soldier’s change from disbelief (“I could not believe it”) to certainty (“Now I know he is dead”); compare this to the first sentence of the Introit of the Requiem Mass: “Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine” (“Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord”). Both show the acceptance of death. Moreover, the last few stanzas of Lenin (Requiem) show that “Lenin ist eingeschreint in dem großen Herzen der Arbeiterklasse” (“Lenin is enshrined in the heart of the vast working class, he will live forever in working class’s heart”). Compare this to the last phrase of the Requiem Mass: “Aeternam habeas requiem” (“Have eternal rest”). They both seek a certain level of eternity. So Lenin (Requiem) and the Requiem Mass have similarities, in part, in terms of the text rather than format.

The Lenin (Requiem) was composed during Eisler’s exile without any prospect of a performance. The premiere was not until 20 years later in East Germany, on November 22, 1958, performed by the Berlin Radio with soprano Irmgard Arnold, baritone Hermann Hähnel, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Radio Chorus, conducted by Helmut Koch.

Movements

1. Introduction und Recitativ (Grave, ♩= ca.69)
2. Larghetto ( = ca.84-92)
3. Arie mit Chor (Allegretto, ♩= ca.104)
4. Uberleitend - Tempo (♩= 104-108)
5. Recitativ ( = ca.54)
6. Andante ( = ca.84-88) -
7. Lob des Kämpfers (Ballade) (Kräftig, ♩= 144)
8. Zurückhaltend (♩= 96)