Das Marienleben | |
---|---|
Song cycle by Paul Hindemith | |
English | The Life of Mary |
Text | 15 poems by Rainer Maria Rilke |
Language | German |
Based on | Life of Mary |
Composed | 1923 | , revised 1948
Movements | 15 |
Scoring | Soprano and piano (some also with orchestra) |
Das Marienleben (The Life of Mary) is a song cycle by German composer Paul Hindemith. The cycle, written for piano and soprano, sets to music a collection of 15 poems by Rainer Maria Rilke that tells the story of the life of Mary.[1] The cycle was featured in the 1923 Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar.[2] Thirteen years after its 1923 premiere in Frankfurt, Hindemith began extensively revising and reworking the piece, eventually producing a second version which premiered in Hanover in 1948.[3]
Hindemith also orchestrated six of the songs: four in 1938 and two more in 1948.[3]