# Question out of interest - Victor Hugo and Euryanthe



## bellwether (Jul 31, 2010)

Hello all!

I'm currently reading "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo, and in it he states that "huntsmen astray in the woods" from Weber's Euryanthe is "perhaps the most beautiful piece of music ever composed" (page 799)...

I was hoping, out of interest, to find the piece on Youtube, but I'm not familiar with Euryanthe, or opera in general, and cannot find any reference to that particular piece online... nothing about huntsmen, nothing about woods, nothing about huntsmen being astray in the woods... 

Can anyone direct me to the piece that Hugo was referring to?

Thanks for any direction you can give me,

Bellwether


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

In the fifth scene of act three of Euryanthe there is a hunter's chorus (Jägerchor) where they sing about the joys of hunting in the forest in the fresh morning. Perhaps that's what Hugo was referring to.
I don't think it's on youtube.

There is also a Jägerchor in Weber's Der Freischütz - it might give you an idea of the style although it's really more jolly than beautiful.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

There's an excellent complete recording of Euranthe from the 70s which used to be on EMI but is now on Berlin Classics as it was a collaborative effort between that label and what was then East Germany. 
It features Jessye Norman,Nicolai Gedda,Rita Hunter and Tom Krause ,with Marek Janowski and the Staatskapelle,Dresden,and is well worth hearing if you can still find it.
Euryanthe has some terrific music but many consider the libretto, by an amateur woman named Wilhelmine von Chezy one of the worst ever for an opera
It's the story of a young woman,betrothed to a nobleman who is falsely accused of faithlessness and who is rescued from execution at the last minute,and all ends happily.
I believe there's a more recent live recording from an Italian music festival on the Dynamic label,but I haven't heard it.


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## bellwether (Jul 31, 2010)

Thanks, both, for the info!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

bellwether said:


> Hello all!
> 
> I'm currently reading "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo, and in it he states that "huntsmen astray in the woods" from Weber's Euryanthe is "perhaps the most beautiful piece of music ever composed" (page 799)...
> 
> ...


The correct name for the Hunting Chorus in Euryanthe is _Die thale Dampfen, die Hohen gluhn!_ and it is indeed very beautiful, but I wouldn't call it the most beautiful piece of music ever composed.

Unfortunately I couldn't find it on YouTube. It's in the third act, and it comes exactly after this scene that I did find... the video clip ends literally one second before the chorus starts.






The YouTube user who posted this video above, also posted several other fragments of the same performance, but not the Hunting Chorus. Obviously he's got it, but just chose not to post that part. Here is his channel, maybe you can contact the user and ask him to upload the chorus. But be prepared for a disappointment, it is short, and while beautiful, not that extraordinary, and in my opinion not even the best part of Euryanthe which is shockful of gorgeous music.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AchillesValda

A better suggestion would be for you to purchase a copy of Euryanthe which is sublime, then you can listen to it yourself.

These are very good:

















The DVD sells for about $32 on Amazon.com.

The CD is actually more expensive ($57), but you can get it used from Amazon.com partners for about $15+3 of shipping, and the mp3 download costs $17.

If you want just the Hunting Chorus (in my opinion, a mistake, the whole opera is gorgeous), you can buy the mp3 download for just this track, for $0.99, at this page:

http://www.amazon.com/Weber-Euryant...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1284350221&sr=1-1

It is the track number 6 on disc 3. Scroll down the page and you'll see it. You can listen to about 20 seconds of it (a rather representative segment) by clicking on the play icon on the left side of the track.


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## bellwether (Jul 31, 2010)

Thank you, Almaviva, for the great info!

I listened to the 20 seconds of the piece you mentioned, "Die thale Dampfen, die Hohen gluhn!", and it is very nice!-- though not at all the style that I would associate with Victor Hugo. Very strange that he should choose to single out that particular piece.

I think I will have to find a copy of "Euryanthe" to buy... I don't know if I'll be able to see exactly what Hugo saw, but maybe I can find something beautiful in it for myself 

bellwether


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

bellwether said:


> Thank you, Almaviva, for the great info!
> 
> I listened to the 20 seconds of the piece you mentioned, "Die thale Dampfen, die Hohen gluhn!", and it is very nice!-- though not at all the style that I would associate with Victor Hugo. Very strange that he should choose to single out that particular piece.
> 
> ...


Oh, there is no going wrong here, Euryanthe is really *extremely* beautiful, I'm quite sure you'll enjoy it since it is so melodious - I mean, if you enjoy lyrical singing in general (not everybody likes opera). If you buy it and listen to it (or see it if you get the DVD - in my opinion, a better way to approach it) then post back here to let us know what you thought of it.


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## ganio (Dec 25, 2015)

mamascarlatti said:


> In the fifth scene of act three of Euryanthe there is a hunter's chorus (Jägerchor) where they sing about the joys of hunting in the forest in the fresh morning. Perhaps that's what Hugo was referring to.





Almaviva said:


> The correct name for the Hunting Chorus in Euryanthe is _Die thale Dampfen, die Hohen gluhn!_ and it is indeed very beautiful, but I wouldn't call it the most beautiful piece of music ever composed.
> Unfortunately I couldn't find it on YouTube. It's in the third act, and it comes exactly after this scene that I did find... the video clip ends literally one second before the chorus starts.


Indeed, the third scene (not the fifth) of act three starts with the Jägerchor (No. 18), immediately after the Euryanthe's cavatina in G Major _Hier dicht am Quell, wo Weiden steh'n_ (last words: _Nein! Sie verriet dich nicht!_). The first stanza of the chorus (_Die Thale dampfen, die Höhen glühn!_) is to be sung from behind the stage, and the next stanza (_Nun freudig sieget das gold'ne Licht!_) "from mountaintops" ("_auf den Bergen_").


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