RETHINKING JEANNE AND THE THEME OF THE SUPERNATURAL

IN DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN

by

JINKYUNG LEE

(Under the Direction of David Haas)

ABSTRACT

Krzysztof Penderecki’s (b. 1933) Die Teufel von Loudun is an adaptation of a play by

John Whiting that tells a story of demonic possession and exorcism based on a historical event in

Loudun. Previous scholars have neglected the supernatural element, despite the clear evidence

that Penderecki changed texts and reordered the plot to make Jeanne’s supernatural experiences

more convincing and more significant to the plot. Through strange shifts in vocal range and

timbre, evocative orchestration, and unusual uses of the chorus, Penderecki revealed the

coexistence of two realms: one natural and one supernatural. At times, he blurred the border

between the realms through ambiguous musical effects involving oddly mismatched timbres.

Elsewhere he made structural links between scenes in order to reveal previously hidden

supernatural elements. Penderecki’s multiple evocations of the supernatural through music add

an important dimension to the opera and make the character Jeanne central to understanding it.

INDEX WORDS: Krysztof Penderecki, Die Teufel von Loudun, Jeanne, Demonic

Possession, Exorcism, Supernatural

RETHINKING JEANNE AND THE THEME OF THE SUPERNATURAL

IN DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN

by

JINKYUNG LEE

B.M., Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, 2006

M.M., Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, 2010

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

MASTER OF ARTS

ATHENS, GEORGIA

2017

© 2017

JinKyung Lee

All Rights Reserved

RETHINKING JEANNE AND THE THEME OF THE SUPERNATURAL

IN DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN

by

JINKYUNG LEE

Major Professor: David Hass Committee: Dorothea Link Rebecca Simpson-Litke Electronic Version Approved: Suzanne Barbour Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2017

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My deep gratitude goes first to my advisor, Dr. David Haas. I am truly indebted to his

patience, unwavering support and encouragement, and fastidious editing. I also would like to

thank my committee members, Dr. Dorothea Link and Dr. Rebecca Simpson-Litke. They offered

truly helpful suggestions. My appreciation also extends to my first reader, Dr. Joanna Smolko,

and second reader, Mr. Gregory Timmons. Their deep reading helped me to write precise and

understandable arguments and descriptions of music. Also, I am grateful to European American

Music Distributors Company (Agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG) for permission to

reproduce the excerpts from the original and revised editions of Die Teufel von Loudun.

A special thank goes to my parent, Kapheon Lee and Heangryun Cho. They always

support and encourage me in my endeavors.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES .............................................................................................. viii

CHAPTERS

1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1

Purpose .....................................................................................................................3

Literature Review.....................................................................................................5

Score Editions ........................................................................................................11

Methodology and Chapter Organization ................................................................13

2 Penderecki’s Adaptation of The Devils and Its Significance for the Theme of the

Supernatural .................................................................................................................15

Penderecki’s Reorganization in his Libretto ..........................................................18

Supernatural Elements in the Libretto ...................................................................30

Act 1, scene i ..........................................................................................................30

Act 1, scene vi ........................................................................................................33

Act 1, scene xiii......................................................................................................35

Act 2, scene i ..........................................................................................................37

Act 2, scene iii........................................................................................................40

Act 2, scene ix ........................................................................................................40

vi

Act 2, scene x .........................................................................................................43

Conclusion .............................................................................................................47

3 Penderecki’s Musical Devices for the Theme of the Supernatural ..............................50

The Role of Timbre and Texture in Act 1, scene i .................................................52

The Role of Range and Timbral Changes in Jeanne’s Voice ................................58

The Role of the Chorus ..........................................................................................65

The Role of the Women’s Chorus in Evoking the Supernatural ...........................67

The Role of Bass Voices ........................................................................................72

Musical Parallels between Act 1, scene i and Act 2, scene x ................................77

Conclusion .............................................................................................................81

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................85

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1: Zofia Helman’s Structural Analysis ................................................................................16

Table 2: Structure and Plot Comparison between The Devils and Die Teufel von Loudun ...........19

Table 3: Parallel Structures in Act 1, scene i and Act 2, scene x ...................................................80

viii

LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Page

Musical Example 1: R8-1 – R8, Act 1, scene i ..............................................................................56

Musical Example 2: Jeanne and Asmodues, R4+1 – R4+6, Act 2, scene i ...................................62

Musical Example 3: Jeanne, Leviathan, and the Sisters, R29 – R30+2, Act 2, scene ix ...............63

Musical Example 4: Jeanne and the SA Chorus, R27+16 – R27+23, Act 2, scene ix ..................69

Musical Example 5: R37-1 – R37, Act 1, scene vi ........................................................................73

Musical Example 6: Bass Chorus, R40 – R40+1, Act 2, scene x ..................................................77

Musical Example 7: Two Basses and Timpani, R35+5 – R35+14, Act 2, scene x .......................78

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Best known for his sonoristic Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960) for 52 strings,

Krzysztof Penderecki in fact has explored a wide variety of compositional techniques (serial,

electronic, and aleatory), notations, styles, and genres. He has also responded to a wide range of

subject material. His Passio et mors domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam or St. Luke

Passion (1965-7)1 sets Latin scriptures, psalms, Latin hymns, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the

Improperia for Good Friday and the Marian sequence of the Stabat Mater. It is scored for a large

orchestra, speaker, chorus, and soloists. The work features thick clusters and microtones.

Penderecki used 12-tone rows for the musical structure, borrowing the four-note motif, B♭-A-C-

B, Bach set in his St. Luke Passion. Penderecki’s oratorio Dies irae (1967)2, dedicated to the

victims of Auschwitz, for three soloists, mixed choir, and an orchestra3 sets extracts from the

Bible, classical Greek tragedy, and contemporary Polish and French lyric poetry4 instead of

employing the traditional Dies irae. It features musical themes with minor seconds and leaps of

ninths and sevenths, aleatory, microtones, various singing styles, and clusters.

1 St. Luke Passion was commissioned by West German Radio to celebrate the seven hundredth anniversary of the founding of Münster Cathedral and was first performed in Münster on March 30, 1966. Penderecki was awarded Westphalia and Italia Prizes in 1966 and 1967 for the St. Luke Passion. 2 Dies irae was composed for an international ceremony at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and was first performed on April 16, 1967 at the unveiling of a cenotaph. 3 The orchestra of Dies irae excludes clarinets, violins, and violas. 4 Penderecki uses Psalm 116, the Book of Revelation, St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, Aeschylus’s Eumenides, and poems by Władisław Broniewski, Louis Aragon, Tadeusz Póżewicz, and Paul Valéry.

2

Perhaps his boldest project of all is the German-language opera Die Teufel von Loudon

(1969), which explores issues of religious-politico history, ecstatic religious visions, demonic

possession, and exorcism. To set this complex narrative, Penderecki uses an astonishing range of

compositional techniques, including aleatory, various singing styles, and unusual orchestration.

Die Teufel von Loudon was Penderecki’s first opera, a work composed in 3 acts and 34

scenes5. It is based on the German translation of John Whiting’s play The Devils (1961), a

dramatization of Aldous Huxley’s novella The Devils of Loudun (1952).6 The plot of the opera is

based on a series of alleged demonic events in Loudun, France, which occurred between 1632

and 1640. Grandier, an urbane and libertine priest of Loudun, was burned at the stake on the

charge of seduction on August 18, 1634. His accuser was Jeanne des Anges, a prioress of the

Ursuline convent. The opera narrates a story of demonic possession and exorcism in a time of

strictly regulated religious practice; however, beneath the surface lies a conflict between the

French government and an individual who disobeyed the King’s edict to destroy the town’s

fortifications.

The main protagonist of Die Teufel von Loudun is Father Grandier. Although he does not

actively advance the plot, Grandier is at the center of the narrative. The town gossips, the

chemist Adam and the surgeon Mannoury, talk about Grandier and his “sanctimonious behavior

in the light of his vanity and indiscretions.”7 Based on their conversations, the audience learns of

5 The original version of the opera consisted of 30 scenes in 3 acts, but the 2012 revised version consists of 34 scenes in 3 acts. See pages 11-12 in this chapter. 6 Penderecki read Huxley’s novel and Whiting’s play in the summer of 1965 and decided to write a libretto, based on the story of Loudun. (Bob Mac Maciejewski, Twelve Polish Composers. (London: Allgro Press, 1976), 180). The Polish novelist Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz focused on Sister Jeanne in his novel Matka Joanna od Aniolow (1943), and the Polish film director Jerzy Kawalerowicz dramatized the novel in his film Matka Joanna od Aniolow (1961). Although there is no evidence that he did so, Penderecki may have read the novel and watched the film since he focused more on Sister Jeanne than Whiting did. 7 James Graeme Fullerton, “The Grotesque in Twentieth-Century Opera” (Ph.D diss., City University of New York, 2006), 94.

3

Grandier’s personality and private life. Grandier is prosecuted because of a false accusation that

he bewitched nuns in the Convent of Loudun. Although he protests his innocence, the French

government and Catholic authorities sentence him to be burned at the stake at the end of the

opera.

A second protagonist, Sister Jeanne, is as important as Grandier in terms of the plot, the

structure of the opera, and musical features. In Penderecki’s reordering of the plot, Jeanne opens

the opera, while Grandier ends it. Penderecki combines two different scenes from the play for the

opening scene of the opera. In this opening scene, Jeanne sees two visions that lead her to accuse

Grandier of possessing her. In other words, her accusation triggers the plot of the opera. In

addition to emphasizing her central role in the plot, Penderecki made Jeanne’s musical role the

most prominent and varied. The two visions in the opening scene are the opera’s only arias, and

they are assigned to her. Throughout the opera, her musical language is expressive, exaggerated,

and fluctuates across a large ambitus. It features frequent changes in register, leaps of ninths and

larger intervals, unnatural speech stress, laughing, and even changes in her vocal color.8 If

Grandier may indeed be the main protagonist in the drama, Penderecki’s music for Jeanne makes

her the most memorable character in the opera.

Purpose

In this thesis, I focus on Jeanne des Anges in order to explore how the opera can be

interpreted if we assume Jeanne to be indeed possessed instead of hysterical. In the opera, Jeanne

oscillates between the real and unreal and seen and unseen worlds. She is possessed by devils

and clearly sees two visions in Act 1, Scene i, which foreshadow Grandier’s death and depict his 8 Zofia Helman, “The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki: Genre–Form–Style,” in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Music in the Context of 20th Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, ed. Teresa Małecka (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 1999), 86.

4

libertine life. The visions are remarkably important since Jeanne experiences them before she

meets Grandier. Without these supernatural visions predicting distant and future events, Jeanne

would never have found cause to accuse Grandier.

As I present my claims about the supernatural element, I will also present my

interpretation of passages that have been used to deny its presence. For example, in Act 2, scene

x, Jeanne’s demonic possession is dismissed as a deception by the priest who performed the

exorcism, when it is revealed that the holy relic supposedly brought to the exorcism by Prince

Henri de Condé was never brought there. Nevertheless, the persistence of an unnatural masculine

voice from within Jeanne indicates that devils still remain in her body. This raises interesting

questions: Who really lies throughout the opera? How can we interpret the scenes which are

related to the demonic supernatural? Why did Penderecki employ his most expressive and

innovative musical language at precisely the moments in the drama where the presence of the

supernatural seems most likely?

In a number of dramatic works, Penderecki demonstrated the expressive power and

suitability of his compositional innovations for religious and socio-political content. In this opera,

Penderecki makes new applications of the musical language that he had already explored in his

Dies Irae and Threnody. From my analysis, I expect to present a new interpretation of the opera

based on a detailed examination of the complexities of the character Jeanne, who has been

ignored in previous writings. I shall also explore the application of Penderecki’s general manner

of musical expression and extended techniques for the purpose of giving musical expression to

the supernatural.

5

Literature Review

In this literature review, I first discuss Regina Chłopicka’s articles, which provide the

foundational scholarship on this opera, and then discuss several articles that have analyzed the

opera in terms of form, structure, musical characterization, the themes of the opera in connection

to Grandier, and the role of Jeanne.

Regina Chłopicka has written three articles devoted to various aspects of the opera. In the

article “Torture and Stake in Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun,” 9 she explores the

opera in terms of theme, operatic genre, and the characterization of the two main characters,

Grandier and Jeanne. She presents a view of the opera as eclectic, claiming that Die Teufel von

Loudun is close to music drama and that it shows the influence of the oratorio, expressionistic

theater, liturgical rites, and mystery plays. In her article, she also compares the portrayal of

Grandier with that of Jesus Christ based on how they both struggle against the authorities and die

on crosses, and she compares Jeanne with Judas. She states that “The theme of The Devils of

Loudun is the drama of an individual who faces death for the truth, freedom and dignity of the

human being.”10 In another article, entitled “The Theme of Good and Evil in Krzysztof

Penderecki’s Stage Works,” Chłopicka argues that the opera portrays the theme of good and evil,

which is often the main theme of Penderecki’s operas. She states, “The whole drama of the

struggle of good and evil, then, takes place at the level of human moral choices, and although

throughout the opera evil is abundant, the ending brings the sign of hope and faith in man.”11 In

the article “Theme of Death in Penderecki’s Musical Theatre: Central Theme in 20th Century

9 Regina Chłopicka, “Torture and Stake in Krzusztof Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun,” Theatre, Opera, Ballet: Bilingual European Review 3 (1996): 64-74. 10 Ibid., 69. 11 Regina Chłopicka, “The Theme of Good and Evil in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Stage Works,” Music in Poland 44, no. 2 (1991): 11.

6

Art,” Chłopicka considers Grandier’s ability to forgive. She considers his forgiveness of his

tormentors at the end of the opera to be a “spiritual victory over evil,” symbolic of hope and faith

for humanity.12

Other scholars have explored various aspects of the opera, such as form, style, musical

characterization, and the main theme of the opera. Zofia Helman discusses the blending of the

genres in her article “The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki: Genre—Form—Style.”

She notes that the opera mixes various musical genres such as music drama, comic opera,

oratorio, and religious mystery plays. She observes that Act 3 is a reprise of Act 1, since the

structures of Act 1 and Act 3 are similar: scenes i-v of Act 1 and Act 3 present the main

characters. In terms of the relationship between music and characters, Helman also explores

musical characterization. She states:

Characterization of the protagonists by means of the voice line and also by the kind of singing that they are asked to employ is clear in the fragments of the opera where changes of the mood are apparent, e.g. when the unnatural, hysterical singing of Jeanne changes into a fluent, quiet recitative or when in the exorcism scene Father Barré’s and Father Mignon’s prayer-like recitative turns into grotesque chanting.13

For example, when Jeanne’s melody leaps by ninths and major sevenths (or even larger

intervals), this depicts her dilemma, hysteria, and falseness; when she returns to “normal speech”

(narrow-ranged melodies), it indicates her return to reality.14

James Graeme Fullerton’s analysis of the musical characterization is similar to Helman’s,

in that he argues that certain musical features are related to certain characters and atmosphere.

For example, pointillism is related to comic characters when they express “the macabre-ironic

12 Regina Chłopicka, “Theme of Death in Penderecki’s Musical Theatre: Central Theme in 20th Century Art,” in Pota glasbe ob koncu tisočletja: Dosežki—perspective, ed. Primož Kuret (Ljubljana: Festival Ljubljana, 1997), 172. 13 Helman, 88. 14 Ibid., 85.

7

manner of speech.”15 Moreover, pointillism also occurs when the nuns have an awkward

conversation about their complaints about housework in Act 2, scene vii, which “recalls the

pointillistic style used for Adam and Mannoury, although Penderecki replaces the heavy sounds

of the electric bass and low woodwinds with the lighter harp and strings.”16 Thus, pointillism is

related to the musical expression of humorous moments in the opera.

Wolfram Schwinger explores a different interpretation of the musical characterization of

the opera in his book Krzysztof Penderecki. He argues that “for him [Penderecki’s] individual

character portrayal was less important than a flexible musical outline for thirty short scenes,

some atmospheric and some dramatic. It is almost impossible to differentiate between the

declamatory style of Jeanne and that of Grandier.”17 Yet he mentions only the declamatory style

of Jeanne and Grandier without considering other singing styles.

Most scholars have focused primarily on Grandier’s role when discussing the theme of

the opera. Edward Boniecki argues that Grandier represents Penderecki’s hope that good and

justice can triumph. He writes,

A sign of hope for the victory of the good and justice is the burnt priest who stood by God despite all odds in a world ruled by Satan. This is the message of Penderecki’s work based on the story from the 17th century and is meant for the world of the 20th century during which totalitarian states have murdered nearly one hundred million people.18

15 Fullerton, 159, quoted in Wolfram Schwinger, Krzysztof Penderecki, his Life and Work: Encounters, Biography, and Musical Commentary (London: Schott, 1989), 255. 16 Ibid., 179. 17 Wolfram Schwinger, Krzysztof Penderecki, his Life and Work: Encounters, Biography, and Musical Commentary (New York: Schott, 1989), 255. 18 Edward Boniecki, “Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun and the Case of Urban Grandier,” in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Music in the Context of 20th Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, ed. Teresa Małecka (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie: 1999), 78.

8

“Totalitarian” and “one hundred million people” clearly refer to the major wars of the 20th

century—World Wars I and II—and to violent nationalist movements such as Nazism and

Fascism.

Bob Mac Maciejewski and Ateş Orga relate the theme of the opera to 20th century

political issues. Maciejewski states, “Penderecki gives the theme of persecution a universal

significance and reminds us that in a world that has witnessed Auschwitz, Hitler, Hiroshima and

Vietnam in recent times we have no reason to feel superior.”19 In addition, Orga argues that “all

the other sins of modern ‘civilization’ are metaphorically paralleled” within the story of the

opera.20 In general, the scholars understand that in the opera Penderecki shapes Grandier into a

Christ figure in order to depict Grandier’s martyrdom and to reflect on 20th century political

issues.

Three interesting articles study the character of Jeanne. One is Stephen Downes’ article

“Daughters of Kundry? Laughter and the Grotesque in Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun.” This

article mostly focuses on Jeanne’s laughter as presenting a discrepancy between voice and body.

According to Downes, “Here laughter is associated with distortion, both in terms of bodily

disfigurement and vocal/gender incongruity.”21 When a devil laughs through Jeanne’s mouth,

sound and sight do not match, creating a grotesque distortion. In other words, low-pitched

masculine laughter comes out of Jeanne’s mouth, showing a discrepancy between her female

body and her male voice. This discrepancy demonstrates a “grotesque separation of body and

19 Bob Mac Maciejewski, Twelve Polish Composers (London: Allegro Press, 1976), 180. 20 Ateş Orga, “A Case of Mass Hysteria,” Music and Musicians 22, no. 3 (November 1973): 41. 21 Stephen Downes, “Daughters of Kundry? Laughter and the Grotesque in Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun,” in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Music in the Context of 20th-Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, ed. Teresa Małecka (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie: 1999), 100.

9

voice.”22 Thus, Jeanne’s laugh and her male voice suggest that the torture the Fathers perform

has failed because the body and voice are separately represented.23

Regina and Władysław Chłopicka discuss Jeanne’s role in the opera by arguing that she

has two distinct roles: “a tool of revenge on the priest for the authorities” and “a pitiful victim.”24

Although she accuses Grandier at first, Jeanne is forced to accuse Grandier several more times

and suffers almost tortuous-agony during the exorcism. Thus, their shared experience of

victimhood links Jeanne and Grandier. In the previously mentioned article “Torture and Stake in

Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun,” Regina compares Jeanne’s character to Judas.

Jeanne and Judas are both accusers; however, they are portrayed differently. Regina states that

“Judas is represented as a petty, greedy, mean and evil person,” but Jeanne is a victim since she

“is pushed into accusing Father Grandier by her wild visions, full of desire and love, bordering

on hatred.”25 Regina also describes Jeanne as having a “split personality.”26 Her personality is

“torn between prayer and blasphemy, obeying God and rebelling against him, helpless to resist

the violent emotions that throw her about, [and] she balances on the edge of the real and the

dreamlike, seeking help from representatives of the Church.”27 According to Regina’s

observation, Jeanne is a complicated character who is both an accuser and a pitiful victim, and

faces two contrasting outward realities and her complex inner world.

James Graeme Fullerton also mentions Jeanne in his dissertation “The Grotesque in

Twentieth-Century Opera,” although his primary focus is on Adam, Mannoury, and the Ursuline

22 Ibid., 104. 23 Ibid., 105. 24 Regina Chłopicka and Władysław Chłopicki, “Female characters in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Musical Theatre,” in Beethoven: Studien und Interpretationen (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 2012), 536. 25 Regina Chłopicka, “Torture and Stake in Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun,” 72. 26 Ibid., 72. 27 Ibid.

10

nuns. He argues that the opening scene conveys Jeanne’s hysterical condition with pedal points,

tone clusters, and an aleatory-like vocal style and instrumental passages.28 He also discusses

orchestration in relation to her voice. For example, in Act 2, scene x, the public exorcism scene,

Penderecki “depicts all of this in the orchestration, beginning with Jeanne’s excruciating screams,

which Penderecki uses as another sound color, and followed shortly thereafter by a chaotic

fanfare in the brass leading to glassy string glissandi.”29 Although he discusses musical styles

and instrumentation for the scenes in which Jeanne appears, Fullerton mainly focuses on the

comic characters in order to argue that the comic scenes can set up the moments of horror

through contrast.

All of these scholars focus only on Jeanne’s psychological condition without regard to

the existence of devils or the possibility of demonic possession. They simply explain Jeanne’s

psychological condition in one word: hysteria. Downes states that Jeanne’s laughter is “on the

edge of erotic hysteria,”30 and Schwinger mentions “Jeanne’s hysterical laughter is the result of

the pornographic visions created.”31 Helman mentions that Jeanne’s singing styles depict “her

dilemma, hysteria, and falseness”32 and adds that the visions “lead her [Jeanne] to hysteria and

false accusations of Father Grandier.”33 In addition, many scholars seem to either reject the

premise of true demonic possession because of the discovery of the nonexistent relic at the

public exorcism or do not pay any attention to the issue. Fullerton states that “a visiting

28 Fullerton, 157. 29 Ibid., 161-162. 30 Downes, 98. 31 Schwinger, 103. 32 Helman, 86. 33 Ibid., 93.

11

nobleman [the prince] with a fake relic proves she is merely hysterical,” 34 and Edward Boniecki

states in his observation of the public exorcism scene that “such evil turns out to be the true

catalyst, not the demoniac version, expelled with unusual invention by ardent exorcists from

hysterical (by exciting popularity) and later intimidated nuns pretending to be possessed during

spectacular public exorcisms.”35 But Jeanne’s psychological condition cannot simply be depicted

as a hysterical condition if we consider Jeanne’s visions. Her visions clearly foreshadow

Grandier’s death at the end of the opera and depict his libertine private life. As I will demonstrate,

this interpretation is supported by the evocative effects created by the chorus, as well as the

difference between the portrayals of Jeanne and the other nuns.

Score Editions

Die Teufel von Loudun exists in several editions that are accessible to scholars. Schott

published two scores of the opera’s first edition in 1969: One is 190 pages36 in length and the

other is 205 pages.37 Schott published a revised edition in 2012,38 which has two added scenes.39

34 Fullerton, 93. Italics by author. 35 Boniecki, 78. Italics by author. 36 Krzysztof Penderecki, Die Teufel von Loudun, 190 pages (Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1969). 37 Krzysztof Penderecki, Die Teufel von Loudun, 205 pages (Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1969). In a response to the author, Lena Kleinschmidt of Schott’s Infoservice, Concert Opera Media Division, offered one explanation: “We suppose that this is the case because there were published the score for the performance material as well as a study score which is not meant for performances” (Lena Kleinschmidt, e-mail message to author, October 16, 2016). However, both editions are labeled “Studien Partitur” on their title pages, and both have the same plate number, “6225,” yet they are clearly not the same. The longer edition differs from the shorter edition in the following ways: 1) The short description “printed in German” appears in the short edition; 2) the dialogue between Grandier and De Laubardemont was added in Act 1, scene i; and 3) the final scene was expanded by Penderecki. 38 Krzysztof Penderecki, Die Teufel von Loudun (Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 2013), Accessed November 20, 2015, http://www.schott-music.com/shop/products/search/quick/result.html?searchMode=SM_QUICK&Quick=Teufel%20von%20loudun. 39 There is some confusion regarding Penderecki’s editions. According to the Grove Dictionary, Penderecki added two further scenes to Act 2 in 1975. Barbara Malecka-Contamin, however, states that Penderecki added two scenes in 1972 at the suggestion of Polish theatre director Kazimierz Dejmek. According to Malecka-Contamin, the two added scenes are a marriage between Grandier and Philippe, a female character, and a conversation between Louis

12

Compared with the original edition’s 30 scenes, the revised edition’s list of 34 scenes suggests

that four scenes were added. However, it would be more accurate to state that only three new

scenes were composed, the last of which was inserted to divide a single scene in the original into

two separate sections. Penderecki inserted his first two added scenes between scenes xii and xiii

in Act 1 of the 1969 edition. The first added scene (Act 1, scene xiii of the revised edition) is a

conversation between Barré and Rangier, in which Barré tells Rangier about his experience with

Satan. The second added scene (Act 1, scene xiv of the revised edition) portrays a marriage

between Grandier and Philippe. He then divided Act 2, scene x into two different scenes and

inserted his third newly composed scene between them. In this third new scene (Act 2, scene xi

of the revised version), De Laubardemont reports the exorcism at Loudun to the Council. The

subdivision of the original Act 2, scene x occurred near its end. Thus, Act 2, scene x of the 1969

edition became three different scenes in the revised edition.

My analysis will primarily rely on the 205 paged score published in 1969. This score

follows Penderecki’s libretto of the opera that was published in 1969 by Schott. The scenes

added to the revised versions are not essential for discussing the issues of demonic possession

and exorcism, since the added scenes focus more on Grandier than on Jeanne. However, I will

reference the revised version when discussing scenes in which Penderecki provided score

directions or character names not found in the 1969 edition.

XIII and Richelieu (Barbara Malecka-Contamin, Krzysztof Penderecki: style et matériaux (Paris: Kime, 1997), 85). The problem is that a scene of the marriage is not in Act 2, but in Act 1 in the revised version. Schott explains that the composer added two scenes in Act 2 in 1975, but a new score of this version has not been published. Finally, the two scenes became fixed components of the revised version from 2012 (Lena Kleinschmidt, e-mail message to author, October 16, 2016). However, this explanation is not fully understandable, since the original version has a total of 30 scenes but the revised version has 34 scenes.

13

Methodology and Chapter Organization

In this thesis, I present a new interpretation of the opera based on a detailed examination

of the character Sister Jeanne, who has been largely ignored in previous writing. My focus is on

the specific scenes that both feature Jeanne and contain evidence suggesting the possible

presence of the supernatural: the visions in Act 1, scene i and the public exorcism in Act 2, scene

x. In particular, I examine moments in the opera wherein text and score notations make direct

references to supernatural occurrences. This interpretation of these passages is based on my

analysis of the following types of musical evidence:

• Penderecki’s adaptation and reordering of the play within his libretto

• The styles, range, and timbre of vocal writing in Jeanne’s part

• The instrumentation choices and languages that coincide with her role

• The multiple uses of choral writing: the chorus of the Ursuline nuns, the chorus of

supernatural voices, choruses used merely to provide a timbre

• The stark shifts of style that Penderecki uses to distinguish between depictions of

everyday reality and the supernatural reality experienced by Sister Jeanne.

In Chapter 2, I discuss Penderecki’s reordering of the play and his alterations of the plot.

The chapter is divided into two sections. In the first section, I discuss how Penderecki centralizes

Jeanne by comparing the sequence of the libretto with that of the play. I focus on Penderecki’s

reordering of the play, deletions from the play, and textual additions to his libretto. In the second

section, I discuss the seven selected scenes in order to demonstrate demonic supernatural

elements in the opera. I analyze the score directions and the dialogue and actions of the

characters in the opera.

14

In Chapter 3, I explore the composer’s musical devices for expressing supernatural

elements. I mainly discuss two prominent scenes, Act 1, scene i and Act 2, scene x. I also touch

on Act 1, scenes vi and xiii and Act 2, scene ix, focusing on usages of the chorus and

orchestration. By way of introduction to Penderecki’s musical language, I will explore prominent

musical effects which can be found in Act 1, scene i and timbral and range changes in selected

passages sung or spoken by Jeanne. Next, I discuss the usage of the chorus and orchestration.

Finally, I discuss musical parallels between Act 1, scene i and Act 2, scene x that further

substantiate the connection between a supernatural vision of future events and the events

themselves. My interpretation provides a more nuanced understanding of the character and

psychology of Jeanne, one of the 20th century’s most complex operatic figures.

15

CHAPTER 2

PENDERECKI’S ADAPTATION OF THE DEVILS AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR

THE THEME OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Penderecki based his libretto on the play The Devils, written by John Whiting. The main

plot of both the libretto and play is the same: Father Grandier is prosecuted and burned at the

stake because of a false accusation that he bewitched nuns in the Ursuline convent in Loudun;

however, Penderecki reorders the sequence of the plot for his libretto and alters scenes and

dialogues, and his alterations increase Sister Jeanne’s prominence.

Zofia Helman outlines the structure of Die Teufel von Loudun in terms of classical drama

structure: exposition, development, climax, peripety, and denouement.40 As seen in Table 1, the

exposition presents the main characters and plots of the opera centering on Grandier. The

exposition is quite long and consists of short and isolated episodes.41 In Act 1, scene xi, the real

drama begins: Jeanne accuses Father Grandier. According to Helman, the whole of Act 3 is a

reprise of Act 1: the motifs from Act 1 are reiterated in the peripety that presents the main

characters in sequence, and the denouement resolves the conflict by presenting Jeanne’s vision in

Act 1, scene i in the real world; thus, her vision is fulfilled at the end of the opera.

40 Zofia Helman, “The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki: Genre–Form–Style,” in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Music in theCcontext of 20th Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, ed. Teresa Małecka (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie: 1999), 83. 41 Ibid., 84.

16

Table 1 Zofia Helman’s Structural Analysis42

Exposition 1 Act 1 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5

Jeanne in the cloister cell (Jeanne’s visions) Adam and Mannoury (Gossip about Grandier) Grandier and Ninon (Grandier’s libertine life) Adam, Mannoury, Grandier Grandier at church (Confession)

Exposition 2 Act 1 Scene 6 Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9 Scene 10

Jeanne and nuns at church Adam and Mannoury Grandier and Phille At city walls Grandier and others Adam and Mannoury

Development Act 1 Act 2

Scene 11 Scene 12 Scene 13 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Scene 7

Jeanne and Father Mignon (Accusation) At the chemist’s Jeanne and Father Barré (Calling devils out) Exorcisms Grandier, judge, and governor Jeanne’s cell, interrogation Grandier, judge, governor Grandier and Philippe Male quartet (Barré, Mignon, Mannoury, Adam, and Rangier) Jeanne and nuns at cloister

Climax Act 2 Scene 8 Scene 9 Scene 10

At city walls Exorcisms Exorcisms (in the public place)

Peripety Act 3 Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5

Three sections on the stage (Grandier and Bontems; Jeanne and Mignon; and Mannoury and Adam) Prison cell Trial Jeanne and nuns at cloister Two sections (Grandier’s tortures; Jeanne’s cell)

Denouement Act 3 Scene 6 Scene 7

Orchestra only, characters pantomime (The procession) Grandier’s torture and death

Robert S. Hatten presents an interesting interpretation of the reordering: Audiences can

hardly be sympathetic toward Jeanne and her situation—although Jeanne is not only an accuser

but also a victim—because “Jeanne is presented from the start as already warped in a way that

42 I have reorganized Helman’s table: Helman presents the names of structural elements in the first row and lists the scenes under the names; however, I have changed the position of the names from the first row to first column. I also add additional information in parentheses in order for readers to understand the table easily.

17

can hardly summon empathy.”43 As for Grandier, he is “so lightly sketched in Act 1 that he fails

to involve the listener in his fate;”44 But Grandier’s role is expanded throughout the opera, and a

false interpretation of Grandier that he possessed the sisters in the Ursuline convent is revealed to

be false. After the public exorcism in Act 2, scene x, audiences realize they have been led to

misjudge Grandier: they were led to believe that Grandier possessed the sisters in Act 1, scene

xiii and Act 2, scenes i and ix; however, here, it is revealed that he is not guilty because the nuns’

possession is revealed to be false.45

According to Helman’s table, Jeanne plays a pivotal role because she triggers the plot of

the opera. Although she does not discuss this, Helman’s table shows that Penderecki places

Jeanne at the core of the opera in terms of the structure. Jeanne appears in the first part of the

first five sections—Act 1, scenes i, vi, and xi; Act 2, scene viii; Act 3, scene i—but does not

appear in the denouement. Meanwhile, Hatten’s interpretation suggests that Penderecki’s

reordering hides the fate of Grandier and the actuality of demonic possession from the audiences,

focusing on Jeanne rather than on Grandier in the beginning of the opera. Moreover, Jeanne fails

to generate sympathy because she is represented as a psychologically disturbed person. The two

different interpretations by Helman and Hatten regarding the reordering suggest that Jeanne is

important in terms of the structure. Yet the two scholars seems to diminish Jeanne’s role with

regard to the plot because they believe the demonic possession is fake; however, the libretto and

play clearly indicate dialogue and directions for devils, and a devil reappears after Jeanne is

released from devils in Act 1, scene x.

43 Rober S. Hatten. “Penderecki’s Operas in the Context of Twentieth-century Opera,” in Krzysztof Penderecki’s music in the Context of 20th Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, ed. Teresa Małecka (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie: 1999), 20. 44 Ibid., 20. 45 Ibid., 21.

18

This chapter consists of two sections: In the first section of the chapter, I compare the

sequence of the libretto with that of the play in order to demonstrate how Penderecki centralizes

the character of Jeanne through the reordering of the plot structure. I discuss how Penderecki

reorders the sequence of the play, deletes scenes from the play, and adds texts to his libretto. In

the second section, I discuss the role of the demonic supernatural in the opera, focusing on the

score directions and the dialogues of the characters. I select seven scenes in the opera, focusing

on Jeanne’s dialogues and actions. These discussions provide an important background for the

investigation of the composer’s devices for expressing supernatural experiences in Chapter 3.

Penderecki’s Reorganization in his Libretto

Penderecki adapts the play in three ways: reordering, omitting parts of the play and

dialogue, and adding new texts. For example, Penderecki combines three scenes from the play

into one scene, Die Teufel, 1/i, and moves The Devils, 1/xv to the beginning in the opera.

Penderecki omits many of Grandier’s scenes, such as The Devils, 1/id, 1/iia, 1/vi, 1/ix, 1/x,

1/xviii, and 1/xx.46 Last, Penderecki adds new texts for the chorus. Table 2 presents a

comparison of the play and the opera that demonstrates these alterations. The table contains plot

summaries of the play and opera, indicating the parts that Penderecki changed.

46 For Act and scene references in the format, I present Die Teufel, Act number in Hindu-Arabic numerals/scene number in Roman numerals for the opera and The Devils, Act number in Hindu-Arabic numerals/scene number in Roman numerals for the play in order to distinguish between the opera and play.

19

Table 2. Structure and Plot Comparison between The Devils and Die Teufel von Loudun47

Act 1

John Whiting, The Devils Krzysztof Penderecki, Die Teufel von Loudun Scene i Jeanne’s cell; night

a. Jeanne prays to God. (From The Devils, 1/viii)

b. She sees a vision of Father Grandier and his death. (The vision is a foreshadowing of The Devils, 3/xi.)

c. Claire comes to her and delivers a letter from Grandier, stating his rejection of Jeanne’s request to be the director of her convent. (From The Devils, 1/xva)

d. After Claire exits, Jeanne sees another vision of Ninon and Grandier. (From The Devils, 1/xvb)

Scene i. The Streets of Loudun; day a. Adam and Mannoury talk about

Grandier, the widow Ninon, and a criminal who was hung last night.

b. Trincant and Phillipe come near the gallows and chat.

c. D’Armagnac and De Cerisay talks about Grandier.

d. Grandier has a conversation with Sewerman about the criminal and his sin.

Scene ii The streets of Loudun a. As in The Devils, 1/ia

The Devils, 1/ib-id is omitted in the opera.

Scene ii a. De Cerisay suggests that Trincant show

Latin epigrams to Grandier; after Trincant leaves, D’Armagnac says to De Cerisay that he saw Grandier and he seemed different.

b. In a room, Ninon confesses that she considers Grandier to be a man.

Scene iii In a tub The Devils, 1/iia is omitted.

a. As in The Devils, 1/iib

Scene iii a. Mannoury and Adam sit near a table and

chat; they move to the street.

b. Grandier approaches them; after saying “Hello,” they have a small conversation about the dead man’s head; after Grandier leaves, Mannoury and Adam say that Grandier smelled of Ninon.

Scene iv The Street a. As in The Devils, 1/iiia, except that the

conversation between Mannoury and Adam is shortened.

b. As in The Devils, 1/iiib

47 John Whiting’s play The Devils does not have numbered scenes for each act. I have added them in this table, based on the entrances and exits of characters. The scene numbers in the second column are taken from the opera’s score, which does feature numbered scenes. The table does not record Penderecki’s shortening of text within scenes but does include all of his reorderings, deletions, and additions of entire scenes.

20

Scene iv The Church Grandier enters the church and prays to God.

Scene v The Church As in The Devils, 1/iv

Scene v a. De la Rochepozay claims that Grandier’s

handkerchief shows the church’s peril. b. Father Barré and Rangier talk about

Satan and Grandier. They consider the possibility that people have followed evil because of Grandier.

The Devils, 1/va is omitted.

The Devils, 1/vb is moved to Die Teufel, 1/xiii in the revised version.

Scene vi Trincant introduces his daughter to Grandier as an ignorant girl; Trincant suggests that Grandier teach her, and Grandier accepts the suggestion.

Omitted

Scene vii The Pharmacy Adam and Mannoury talk about Grandier and his private life. They want to find any evidence of Grandier’s libertinism.

Omitted

Scene viii Sister Jeanne is praying to God asking that her hump be removed.

The Devils, 1/viii is moved to Die Teufel, 1/ia.

Scene ix Grandier teaches Latin to Phillipe.

Omitted

Scene x The fortification of the town and a Council of State

a. D’Armagnac tells Grandier that he has refused an order from France to destroy the walls of Loudun, and Grandier answers that he will support D’Armagnac’s refusal.

b. In a Council of State, Richelieu announces D’Armagnac’s denial of the order from the King of France.

Omitted

Scene xi (An unseen woman’s voice) a. Sister Jeanne, Claire, Louise, and

Gabrielle suffer because the director of the convent, Canon Moussaut, was dead; Jeanne suggests that Grandier be the new director, believing that it is God’s will.

b. After the Sisters leave, Jeanne calls back Claire and asks her whether she has beautiful eyes; Jeanne is alone and she recalls a summer morning.

c. Grandier comes through the crowd and Jeanne cries out; nobody hears her voice except for Grandier; Jeanne is writing rapidly.

Scene vi The Devils, 1/xia is omitted

i. As in The Devils, 1/xib, except that Penderecki adds three Latin prayers.

ii. The Devils, 1/xic is edited by Penderecki: Grandier is serving in his church and Jeanne sees him; she screams and runs from the church.

21

Scene xii The street Adam and Mannoury discuss how to accuse Grandier of debauchery and profanity.

Scene vii As in The Devils, 1/xii

Scene xiii A confessional Phillipe, a young woman, confesses that she is possessed by a man; Grandier comes out from the box, and they stand facing each other.

Scene viii A confessional As in The Devils, 1/xiii

Scene xiv De la Rochepozay does not accept Adam’s and Mannoury’s opinion against Grandier but will accept their opinion later.

Omitted

Scene xv a. Claire comes to Jeanne to deliver a letter

from Grandier; Jeanne reads the letter, which stated his refusal of her invitation; Jeanne tears the letter and Jeanne whispers the name, “Grandier.”

b. Jeanne sees a vision of Phillipe and Grandier; Jeanne envies Phillipe and insults her body shape.

The Devils, 1/xva is moved to Die

Teufel, 1/1b

The Devils, 1/xvb is moved to Die Teufel, 1ib; however, Pendereki replaces Phillipe with Ninon.

Scene xvi Laubardemont delivers an order from France to pull down the fortification; D’Armagnac and Grandier refuse the order.

Scene ix As in The Devils, 1/xvi

Scene x As in The Devils, 1/vii

Scene xvii A cloister Jeanne welcomes Father Mignon as the new director and confesses to him that she suffers from visions of a demonic nature.

Scene xi As in The Devils, 1/xvii

Scene xviii In the pulpit Grandier argues his innocence; De Laubardemont and two attendants listen and leave.

Omitted

Scene xix The pharmacy De Laubardemont visits the pharmacy; De Laubardemont asks Adam and Mannoury about Grandier.

The Devils, 1/xix is moved to Die Teufel, xiib.

22

Scene xx A secluded place Phillipe believes Grandier loves her.

Omitted

Scene xxi The pharmacy Mignon asks about Jeanne’s symptoms; Adam and Mannoury will testify to her symptoms from any chemical or biological manifestations.

Scene xii a. As in The Devils, 1/xxi

b. As in The Devils, 1/xix [Scene xiii in the revised version]

As in The Devils, 1/vb

[Scene xiv in the revised version] As in The Devils, 2/i

Scene xxii Jeanne’s room; dawn a. Jeanne is praying

b. Laubardemont, Mannoury, Adam,

Mignon, Rangier, and Barré enter the room; Barré calls a devil from Jeanne’s body, and Jeanne answers in a deep man’s voice. Barré asks who a friend of the devil is and she answers Grandier.

Scene xiii [Scene xv in the revised version] a. As in The Devils, 1/xxiia, except that

Penderecki adds the prayer “Rosary.” b. As in The Devils, 1/xxiib, except that

Penderecki adds three more devils’ names.

Act 2 John Whiting, The Devils Penderecki, Die Teufel von Loudun

Scene i Saint Peter’s Church, night Grandier and Phillipe get married secretly.

The Devils, 2/i is moved to Die Teufel, 1/xiv in the revised version.

Scene ii A street Grandier and Phillipe come from the church; Sewerman speaks to them, and Grandier and Sewerman discuss love and happiness; after Phillipe leaves, they discuss the Sisters of Saint Ursula.

Omitted

Scene iii Daylight Barré performs an exorcism and addresses a devil in Jeanne; Adam testifies to her physical body in the room in order to prove whether she is possessed or not.

Scene i As in The Devils, 2/iii, except that Penderecki extends the exorcism scene.

Scene iv De Cerisay says to D’Armagnac and Grandier that the devils seem to have left Jeanne; D’Armagnac worries that Grandier is in danger.

Scene ii As in The Devils, 2/iv

23

Scene v A high-ceilinged room a. Jeanne explains how she met the devils

and gives the name of Grandier as the possessor; Barré and De Cerisay move far from Jeanne.

b. De Cerisay denies that Jeanne is possessed because she speaks in her own voice; De Cerisay leaves, and Mannoury and Adam approach Barré. Barré believes that Jeanne has committed fornication.

Scene iii i. As in The Devils, 2/va

ii. As in The Devils, 2/vb, except that Penderecki adds the Ursuline nuns’ and Mignon’s prayers.

Scene iv As in The Devils, 2/vii

c. Phillipe comes to Grandier and confesses she is pregnant; Grandier bids farewell to her and leaves.

Scene v As in The Devils, 2/vc

Scene vi The pharmacy Barré appears and he seems to be drunk; he was denied access to the convent; Mignon promises him that he will find a solution.

Scene vi As in The Devils, 2/vi except that Penderecki adds Rangier in one of the characters.

Scene vii Grandier shows appreciation for D’Armagnac and De Cerisay for stopping the exorcism; D’Armagnac warns that the government will send a new enemy, Richelieu.

The Devils, 2/vii is moved to Die Teufel, 2/iv.

Scene viii The convent garden Jeanne, Claire, Louise, Gabrielle, and two sisters are afraid that they sinned against and mocked God.

Scene vii As in The Devils, 2/viii, except for the ordering of some conversation: The Sisters discuss Father Barré and then their mockery of God, while the Sisters mock God first and discuss Barré in the play.

Scene ix On the fortifications; night D’armagnac states that the town fortification will be destroyed. D’Armagnac worries about the decision from the Government, and Grandier prays to God, asking for his revelation.

Scene viii As in The Devils, 2/ix, except for added Latin prayer by Penderecki

Scene x De Laubardemont and Mignon have a plan against the devil; Mignon leads Jeanne, Claire, Louise, Gabrielle, and two sisters and argues that the Sisters are possessed; Jeanne agrees that she is; Mignon states that the devils condemn them with silence; a devil, Leviathan, speaks following devils, Beherit, Isacaaron, Elymi, and Eazaz; De Laubardemont believes that Barré must return; Mignon asks the gates to be opened.

Scene ix As in The Devils, 2/x, except that Penderecki deletes De Laubardemont and Mignon’s conversation against devils.

24

Scene xi In the public place of the town a. The Sisters perform their antics and

Barré performs the exorcism; De Condé shows a relic, and Barré performs the exorcism with the relic; Finally, the devils leave Jeanne, but the relic box is empty when De Condé opens it; Mignon suddenly runs, and the devils speak through him; Rangier suddenly begins to neigh, and the Sisters begin to grunt, except for Jeanne; Barré performs the exorcism; Claire and Louis are excited that they became famous.

b. Jeanne is left alone; Leviathan talks to Jeanne.

Scene x a. As in The Devils, 2/xia, except that

Penderecki reorders some events and conversations in the scene: Penderecki inserts a conversation between Jeanne and De Condé into a conversation between the Sisters; Penderecki also sets the exorcist prayer only in Latin, while Whiting mixed both English and Latin.

b. As in The Devils, 2/xib

c. As in The Devils, 2/b Die Teufel, 2/xc happens almost simultaneously with Die Teufel, 2/xb.

Scene xii A Council; night De Laubardemont speaks to the Council and reports on the possession at Loudun; De Condé mentions that Grandier is innocent but Laubardemont refutes it.

[Scene xi in the revised version] As in The Devils, 3/xii

`Scene xiii A brilliant morning a. During a conversation between the

Sewerman and Grandier, Grandier seems to be peaceful.

b. Grandier enters the church; Laubardemont blocks him from entering the church.

[Scene xii in the revised version] The Devils, 2/xiiia is omitted.

a. As in The Devils, 2/xiiib

b. As in The Devils, 2/xib

Act 3 John Whiting, The Devils Penderecki, Die Teufel von Loudun

Scene i A cell; night When Grandier stays alone at night, Bontemps approaches Grandier and worries about him.

Scene i a. As in The Devils, 3/i

Scene ii Jeanne and Mignon Jeanne asks Mignon to stay with her, but he rejects her request.

b. As in The Devils, 3/ii

Scene iii Grandier’s cell; he is alone.

a. Grandier prays to God; Father Ambrose promises he will try to help Grandier.

b. Bontemps asks whether Grandier needs a priest or not.

c. As in The Devils, 3/iiia, except that

Penderecki excerpts the part of the conversation between Grandier and Ambrose and moves the remaining part of the conversation to Die Teufel, 3/vii.

The Devils, 3/iiib is moved to Die Teufel, 3/ie.

25

Scene iv Daylight Claire, Gabrielle, and Louise seem to be excited; Jeanne appears and Louise worries about their future.

Omitted

Scene v A Cell a. Adam comes in when Mannoury is

alone.

d. As in The Devils, 3/va

e. As in The Devils, 3/iiib

b. De Laubardemont comes in and asks

Adam to go to the jailer. c. Grandier is brought in by a Captain

of the Guard; Laubardemont asks Grandier to change clothes, cut his hair, curls, and fingernails.

Scene ii a. As in The Devils, 3/vb

b. As in The Devils, 3/vc

Scene vi A public places; a large crowd a. A clerk announces that Grandier is

guilty of commerce with the devil; Grandier slowly comes into sight; Barré, Rangier, and Mignon are scattering holy water; Laubardemont cuts Grandier’s hair; there are hysterical giggles from the women in the enclosure.

b. Grandier argues his innocence. c. De Laubardemont calls upon

Grandier to confess his sin, but Grandier denies his sin.

Scene iii As in The Devils, 3/vi

Scene vii A garden Jeanne enters and tries to commit suicide; Claire, Gabrielle, and Louise prevent her from committing suicide.

Scene iv As in The Devils, 3/vii

Scene viii The upper room a. Grandier is tortured; Mannoury, Adam,

and Mignon are crouched in the lower room; Barré asks Grandier to confess but Grandier refuses to confess; Barré continues to interrogate Grandier and tortures him.

b. Grandier’s screams echo in the garden where Jeanne sits alone; Jeanne is seeking Grandier while he is being tortured.

Scene v a. As in The Devils, 3/viiia

b. As in The Devils, 3/viiib Die Teufel, 3/vb occurs in the middle of Die Teufel, 3/va and happens simultaneously in the opera. Penderecki adds prayers for Jeanne and the Ursuline nuns.

26

Scene ix The upper room Grandier has not confessed.

c. As in The Devil, 3/ix

Scene x A Street A crowd is staring into the distance; Grandier comes into sight. He is seated in a chair.

Scene vi As in The Devils, 3/x Penderecki omits the dialogue.

Scene xi Saint Ursula’s Convent

a. The procession comes to the convent; Laubardemont tells Grandier that he needs to stop at the convent; Grandier does not know where he is, but Laubardemont does not believe Grandier.

b. Grandier and Jeanne stare at each other; Jeanne is happy to see him, but Grandier does not know Jeanne.

Scene vii a. As in The Devils, 3/iiia

Penderecki shortens The Devils, 3/iiia. b. As in The Devils, 3/xia

c. As in The Devils, 3/xib Penderecki adds a prayer for the Chorus.

Scene xii The streets of Loudun; night

a. Grandier is burned at the stake off stage.

b. The crowd has dispersed and is rushing and screaming hysterically through the streets.

c. Jeanne wanders in alone. Mannoury and Adam, Barré and Mignon, Phillipe and the old man, D’Armagnac and De Cerisay, Jeanne and Sewerman; each pair speaks a few sentences. Jeanne cries out.

d. Rangier prays for Grandier; Barré and

De Laubardemont try to force Grandier to confess; however Grandier refuses making a confession.

e. As in The Devils, 3/xiia, except that Grandier is burned on stage in the opera.

The Devils, 3/xiib is omitted.

f. As the part in The Devils, 3/xiic: Penderecki only adapted the scene in which Jeanne stays on stage alone and prays.

Penderecki changes scenes involving Jeanne, especially in Act 1 of the opera, reordering

scenes, omitting dialogues, and adding texts. The changes are significant in Die Teufel, 1/i and

1/vi. Penderecki’s alterations focus on the plot dealing with Jeanne and her supernatural

experiences.

Penderecki’s most significant reordering is found in Die Teufel, 1/i, and the scene

suggests Jeanne’s supernatural experiences. Penderecki adapts four different scenes, The Devils,

27

1/viii, 1/xi, 1/xv, and 3/xi for his Die Teufel, 1/i. Among the scenes of the play, there are two

significantly reordered scenes. First, Penderecki creates a supernatural vision by adapting a scene

from The Devils, 3/xi. The scene depicts Grandier’s progress as he is carried from the prison to

the final destination, the Cross. The adaptation is important because it is the first possible

suggestion of Jeanne’s supernatural experience in the opera. The scene is presented only as

Jeanne’s vision in the opera, whereas this scene depicts reality when it appears in Act 3 of the

play.

Second, Penderecki strengthens the supernatural theme of the opera through shifting The

Devils, 1/xv to Die Teufel, 1/i and placing the scene after Jeanne’s first vision. In The Devils,

1/xv, Jeanne receives a letter from Grandier stating his refusal of Jeanne’s invitation and her

vision of Grandier and Phillippe. The vision in The Devils, 1/xv is the first appearance in the play;

however, Penderecki adapts the vision as the second vision in the opera and places it together

with the first vision. Thus, Die Teufel, 1/i introduces two different visions by Jeanne, which

creates stronger evidence for the supernatural than in the play.

Penderecki also omits parts of scenes and dialogues in order to focus more on Jeanne.

The best example of omitting scenes is Penderecki’s deletion of The Devils, 1/xia in which

Jeanne is concerned about her convent because of the death of the director, Canon Moussaut, and

she suggests that Grandier be the new director. Instead, Penderecki only retains The Devils, 1/xib

and 1/xic for Die Teufel, 1/vi; however, Penderecki edits The Devils, 1/xic. Here, Jeanne writes a

letter in the play, and she reads a devotional book in the opera.

Penderecki also condenses The Devils, 1/xi and deletes many dialogues for Jeanne and

the Ursuline nuns. What Penderecki retains for the scene (underlined below) is mostly Jeanne’s

dialogue, which expresses her suffering from her hunchback and her obsession with her eyes;

28

however, Penderecki deletes the dialogue of Jeanne and the Sisters in which they are concerned

about their convent because of the death of the director and her suggestion that Grandier be

invited.

An unseen woman’s voice. Voice: Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius est. . . . Jeanne: We have suffered a great loss, Sisters. Canon Moussaut was a good old man. . . . Jeanne: Do so. There is a – (fit of coughing.) Don’t touch my back! (Stillness: exhaustion.)

There is a man. His name is Grandier. He is young. I have never seen him, but God has often put him in my thoughts lately.

. . . Claire: Yes? Jeanne: They say I have beautiful eyes. It is true? Claire: Yes, Mother. Jeanne: Too beautiful to close even in sleep, it seems. Go with the others. . . . Jeanne is writing. Rapid, angular hand, ornamented.

The Devils, 1/xia and xib48

Jeanne: Rührt meinen Rücken nicht an! Claire? (Do not touch my back! Claire?) Claire: Ja? (Yes?) Jeanne: Es heißt, ich habe schöne Augen. Ist das wahr? (They say I have beautiful eyes. It

is true?) Claire: Ja. Mutter. (Yes. Mother.) Jeanne: Anscheinend so schön, daß ich sie nicht schließen darf, nicht einmal, um zu

schlafen. Geh zu den anderen! (So lively, it seems, that I may not close them at all–not even at night, to sleep. Go with the others.)

Ursulin Nuns: Benedicat et custodiat nos omnipotens et misericors Dominus, Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus!

. . . Jeanne liest in einem Erbauungsbuch.(Jeanne reads a devotional book.)

Die Teufel, 1/vi49

Penderecki deletes text and then adds new text in Die Teufel, 1/vi. Her text is the Communion

text, Lux Aeternae, from the Requiem Mass; instead, Penderecki deletes the Latin prayer but 48 Underlined by author. 49 Underlined by author.

29

adds three different prayers, which are prayed by the Ursuline nuns in his opera: a part of the

Canticle of Simeon, an old prayer, Visita, quaesumus, Domine [Lord to visit us], and Confiteor

Deo [I confess].

As for Grandier, Penderecki omits many of his scenes. As seen in Table 2, Penderecki

omits The Devils, 1/id, 1/iia, 1/vi, 1/ix, 1/x, 1/xviii, 1/xx and 2/iii in which Grandier is on stage.

Also, Penderecki omits or reduces scenes in which characters mention Grandier in their

conversations: The Devils, 1/ic, 1/v, 1/vii, 1/xiv, and 1/xix. Among these scenes, The Devils, 1/vb

is most interesting. In this scene, Father Barré talks about his experience with Satan at Chinon

and believes that Satan moved to Loudun, and Grandier is responsible. This is the first

suggestion that Grandier is connected to Satan in the play, and the scene appears before the scene

in which Jeanne accuses Grandier. In the 1969 edition, Penderecki did not adapt the scene but

presented Grandier as having a relationship with devils through Jeanne, although the relationship

is revealed to be untrue later. This suggests that Penderecki separates supernatural elements from

Grandier in his opera. Penderecki adapted the scene in his revised version; however, the scene

(The Devils, 1/vb) is in Die Teufel, 1/xiii, which is after the scene of Jeanne’s accusation (Die

Teufel, 1/xi). This also suggests that Penderecki prioritizes her role in the opera, setting up

Jeanne as the first person to suggest the connection between Grandier and devils.

It is obvious that Penderecki sought to emphasize Jeanne early on, even though he makes

Grandier primary later on in the opera. The decision to prioritize Jeanne gave the composer many

possibilities to explore the supernatural aspects of the plot in the opera. It is possible to interpret

the plot of the opera as a naturalistic narrative if we conclude that Jeanne is not possessed at the

public exorcism, as do the characters in the opera. If we focus only on Grandier and his sacrifice,

we easily ignore any possible supernatural elements in the opera. Even though Father Barré

30

considers that Grandier has a relationship with Satan in the play, his dialogue does not contain

any evidence, and Penderecki does not consider Barré’s dialogue to be crucial. However,

Penderecki seeks for the supernatural through Jeanne. In the next part of this chapter, I suggest

how Penderecki retains evidence of the supernatural element in his libretto, considering seven

scenes in the libretto.

Supernatural Elements in the Libretto

The differences between the play and opera discussed provide evidence of the

composer’s goal to increase the role of Sister Jeanne. In this section, I present evidence

suggesting that most of these changes also gave Penderecki opportunities for creating musical

expressions of the supernatural. There are two main supernatural elements in the opera: visions

and demonic voices. I selected seven scenes in order to discuss these supernatural elements: Die

Teufel, 1/i, 1/vi, and 1/xiii (visions) and Die Teufel, 1/xiii, 2/i, 2/iii, 2/ix, and 2/x (demonic

voices). In each case, I begin by summarizing the content of the scene as it appears in Whiting’s

play and explain the specific type of supernatural experience, if any, represented therein. Then I

discuss the text found in the libretto, giving particular attention to changes made by the composer

to enhance the supernatural elements.

Act 1, scene i

The first scene of the opera presents two clear supernatural elements in the form of two

visions, each with distinct content. The libretto also suggests a further hint of the supernatural in

the form of an indication that the singer must sing certain passages “mit anderer Stimme” (in a

31

different voice). In creating this operatic scene, Penderecki combined texts describing visions

that were taken from two different scenes in the play: The Devils, 3/xi and 1/xv.

The first vision appears as Jeanne is finishing the prayer that opens the scene. The

audience can see the vision with her, since it is acted out at the back of the stage, and also

overhear the spoken dialogue. The vision is a depiction of Father Grandier and others in a

procession. He has been cruelly tortured and is now seated on a chair that is bound to a litter.

This scene in a supernatural vision corresponds to an actual scene in Act 3 of the play and in the

opera.

Penderecki makes significant changes to the text that he has transplanted from Act 3 of

the play for the first vision. The composer uses Latin for Jeanne’s vision in the opera, whereas

the play text is in the vernacular (English). The libretto text for Act 3 is also written in vernacular

(German and English). This alteration suggests that Penderecki distinguishes the vision and the

real scene by different language settings.

There is also a crucial change in pronoun usage that changes the meaning of the original

passage and connects this alteration directly to Jeanne. In the original play text, Grandier asks

De Laubardemont (the King’s Commissioner) to identify a group of nuns. De Laubardemont

answers: “They are the people you have wronged.” In Penderecki’s text, Grandier only asks

about one woman. The pronoun they is replaced by “haec femina” (that woman).50 The complete

Latin text reads “Quis est haec femina?” (Who is that woman?) The change in Jeanne’s vision is

indeed significant, for it reveals that she is the only person who is seeing the future, which

happens in Die Teufel, 3/vii, and that the future is altered in a way to connect herself more

directly with Father Grandier in her vision.

50 The original meaning of haec femina’ is ‘this woman.’ But I have translated the phrase as ‘that woman’ because it better fits the dramatic situation presented on stage.

32

The second vision appears after Jeanne has received the letter from Grandier. Jeanne

becomes hysterical and confused about the object of her desire. She finally realizes that she

wants Grandier instead of God: “Ich wollte mich in dieser Sache an Gott wenden. Nein, nicht

Gott: Mann” (I very nearly addressed myself to God on this. No, not God: man). This leads to

her second vision in which Grandier and Ninon engage in sexual relations.

Penderecki changed the second vision slightly from the play, condensing the vision by

deleting some of Jeanne’s dialogue. In her dialogue in the play, Jeanne describes the figure of

Philippe (a female character) making love to Grandier. For this vision, Whiting gives this stage

direction: “They [Philippe and Grandier] will continue to be seen in the touching formal attitudes

of passion throughout Jeanne’s words [my emphasis].” This does not make clear if what

Philippe and Grandier are doing on stage is somehow a vision or merely a figment of Jeanne’s

imagination. Whiting also did not label the scene as a vision in the play. However, Penderecki

did not retain Whiting’s stage direction in his libretto. Instead, he wrote that “Ihre Krankhafte

Phantasie gaukelt ihr die Erscheinung von Ninon und Grandier in der Badeszene vor” (Her

[Jeanne’s] sick imagination conjures up a vision of Ninon and Grandier). The direction of the

composer suggests what she is seeing is a vision.

Penderecki also changed a stage direction, so that the agency of the vision is not Jeanne’s

but someone else’s. During Jeanne’s description of the vision as it is given in the play, Whiting

inserted the stage direction “sudden laughter,” probably signifying that the laughter is Phillipe’s.

In his libretto, Penderecki specifies the laughter as “höhnisches” (mocking). In the play, Jeanne

takes note of the (imagined) laughter and reacts with the question, “What was that you did?” In

the opera, Jeanne ignores the laughter, despite the fact that Penderecki assigns this (now)

mocking laughter not to Phillipe or Grandier, but to the chorus. Thus, the laughter by the chorus

33

begs the following questions: Who is laughing at Jeanne? Who mocks her? In Die Teufel, 1/i,

Penderecki does not give answers to these questions; however, he suggests that there is someone

else who is responsible for Jeanne’s vision and her reaction to it.

Finally, Penderecki twice indicates that Jeanne should sing in a different voice. The voice

change in Die Teufel, 1/i does not give clear evidence of the supernatural at the moment because

Penderecki does not specify how her voice should be changed, simply indicating “mit anderer

Stimme” in the libretto; however, this direction to change her voice foreshadows the important

role her vocal changes play later in the opera. I will discuss this voice change when I discuss Die

Teufel, 1/xiii, 2/i, 2/ix, and 2/x.

Act 1, scene vi

Die Teufel, 1/vi is the second scene in which Jeanne appears. The scene presents Jeanne’s

obsession with her eyes and a mystical meeting. Penderecki deleted dialogue in which Jeanne

converses with the Ursuline nuns and retained Jeanne’s dialogue expressing her suffering and

obsession with her eyes. Penderecki also replaced a mystical event in the play with his own new

mystical event.

Penderecki’s reduction of dialogue brought more focus onto Jeanne’s obsessive

commenting about her eyes. The scene in the play begins with an unseen woman’s voice whose

text is a part of the Requiem Mass. The unseen woman’s voice may suggest a supernatural

element in the play; however, the text of the voice points to a situation facing Jeanne and her

convent: The director of the convent has died and will need to be replaced. This emphasis on

Jeanne’s eyes occurring in the midst of a second vision is a second hint of the supernatural,

which connects to the odd change of voice that occurred in the first vision.

34

Focusing on Jeanne’s eyes also connects to the end of the scene, in which Penderecki

replaces the original episode of the play with his own episode. In the play, Jeanne cries out, and

Grandier seems to hear a woman’s crying among the crowd on the street; however, he did not

recognize who cried out. That Grandier heard the sound of crying may be an auditory illusion

because Grandier and Jeanne are not in the same place. However, Whiting does not clearly

indicate that the sound Grandier heard is an illusion but leaves room for the idea that this could

be a supernatural element in the play.

At the end of the scene, Penderecki replaced the original episode of the play with a new

one, changed the stage setting from the street to the church, and provided a new set of stage

directions: “Grandier kommt zurück in die Kirche im vollen Ornat, begleitet von zwei

Meßdienern. Jeanne dreht sich um und sieht Grandier. Sie schreit auf und flieft aus der Kirche”

(Grandier re-enters the church. He is in full canonicals, and is accompanied by two servers,

Jeanne turns and sees Grandier. She screams and runs from the church). It is not clear whether

this episode is a vision or reality. The setting for Die Teufel, 1/vi is inside a church. Jeanne does

not leave the church, but Grandier re-enters the church. This results in a question: Might Jeanne

and Grandier be in the same place? Since they belong to their own churches, they never actually

share the same church in the opera. Moreover, in the episode, Jeanne can only see Grandier, and

Grandier does not recognize her. Although they are physically located in the same place, they do

not share the same experience in the place. This at least suggests that this episode might be yet

another vision of Grandier.

This alteration suggests two significant differences between the play and opera. First,

Penderecki changed who is reacting in this scene. While Grandier reacts to the voice of crying in

the play, Jeanne reacts to Grandier in the opera. In other words, Penderecki sets Jeanne as a main

35

character of the short, possibly illusionary event, while Whiting emphasizes Grandier through

focusing on his response. The second important thing is that Penderecki made a connection

between Jeanne’s obsession with her eyes and the visions that she sees. In brief, Penderecki

introduces two critical elements: the voice changes in Act 1, scene i (the first scene involving

Jeanne) and the topic of eyes in Act 1, scene vi (the second scene focusing on Jeanne). Both of

these specifically foreshadow the demonic supernatural that occurs in later scenes.

Act 1, scene xiii

Evidence to support Jeanne’s claim that she is possessed first appears in Die Teufel, 1/xiii.

In the scene, Father Barré visits Jeanne and addresses the devils whom he believes to be

possessing Jeanne. One of devils, Asmodeus, answers him through Jeanne’s mouth.

Penderecki alters this important scene in three ways: by adding another supernatural

vision, altering stage directions, and inserting additional text. The very brief but important (and

new) supernatural vision involving Grandier and Philippe occurs near the beginning of Die

Teufel, 1/xiii. The scene opens with Jeanne’s prayer, in which she begs God for love by saying,

“Hab mich lieb” (Give me love). At the very end of the prayer, Penderecki adds a stage cue to

the libretto: “Man sieht Grandier und Philippe an der Mauer spazieren” (Grandier and Philippe

are seen walking by the town wall). This interpolation involving the supernatural also provides a

further opportunity for the composer to connect Jeanne and Grandier, one that was not found in

the play. Thanks to the stage setup, we can observe Jeanne viewing Grandier and Philippe, even

though they are not physically in her bedroom with her but rather are walking some distance

away near the actual town wall. This staging once again suggests Jeanne’s experience of a

supernatural vision. After the vision, Jeanne once again begs for love by saying, “Hab mich lieb,”

36

but here Penderecki specifically directs her to say this “zu Grandier,” i.e., the Grandier of the

vision whom Jeanne and the audience can view.

After Jeanne’s comment, several people enter the room, most importantly, Father Barré, a

powerful church administrator and a believer in the possibility of demonic possession. At this

point in the play (and opera), he is quite convinced that Jeanne is possessed. Very quickly, he

tries to call out the devils. In Whiting’s play, he achieves his goal: Jeanne jerks her head

backward, emits “peals of masculine laughter,” and announces “in a deep man’s voice:” “Here

we are, and here we stay.” In the libretto, Penderecki indicates that Jeanne should sing in a deep

voice when a devil speaks through her; however, Penderecki does not follow Whiting’s direction

at all in his libretto. Whiting clearly distinguishes when Jeanne and devils speak; however,

Penderecki leaves ambiguous moments which can blur the distinctions between Jeanne’s and

devils’ voices in the libretto. For example, in the play, a devil says, “Here we are, and here we

stay” with a direction to use a “deep man’s voice” through Jeanne; however, Penderecki does not

direct Jeanne to say the same thing with a male voice. This suggests a discrepancy between a text

and an expected voice and gives a sense of confusion over who speaks through Jeanne’s mouth.

Penderecki changed this scene through interpolating texts from other scenes of the play.

After the devil Asmodeus responds to Barré’s calling out, Barré asks Asmodeus, “Wie ist der

Name Eures Freundes?” (What is the name of your friend?) In the play, Jeanne quickly responds

to Barré’s question by replying, “Grandier” with the stage directions: “Jeanne is swaying on her

knees. She gives inarticulate cries which gradually form themselves into the word.” Penderecki

expands this short dialogue by borrowing a dialogue from The Devils, 2/va. This adaptation is

interesting because it shows that the composer decided not to place the dialogue from The Devils,

37

2/va in Die Teufel, 2/iii (the more obvious location), but instead to transplant it to Die Teufel,

1/xiii.

Penderecki did not use the dialogue as it is but changed the language from English to

Latin. This change of language recalls Jeanne’s first vision in Die Teufel 1/i. As I mentioned in

my interpretation of Jeanne’s first vision, Penderecki distinguished the vision and the real scene

through different language settings. The dialogue between Grandier and De Laubardemont in

Jeanne’s first vision is written in Latin, while the dialogue in Die Teufel, 3/vii, which appears the

real event in the opera, is written in the vernacular (German or English). When he shifted the

dialogue from The Devils, 2/va to Die Teufel, 1/xiii, Penderecki also changed the language from

vernacular to Latin. Jeanne’s text here is the only time when she speaks Latin. This suggests that

the dialogue of Jeanne in the scene is not spoken by the real Jeanne but by someone else,

although Penderecki does not indicate who speaks the dialogue with a name in parentheses, as he

does elsewhere.

Act 2, scene i

Die Teufel, 2/i is the first scene in which an exorcism is performed. In this scene, Father

Barré performs the exorcism, and the devil, Asmodeus, speaks again through Jeanne.

Penderecki’s treatment of the exorcism is longer than in Whiting’s play, and he emphasizes the

religious nature of the event by incorporating elements such as prayers. Penderecki begins Act 2

Jeanne: (Long silence: quietly.) Grandier. Grandier. Barré: What is his rank? Jeanne: Priest. Barré: Of what church? Jeanne: Saint Peter’s. The Devils, 2/va

Jeanne: Urbanus. (Urbane) Barré: Dic qualitatem. (Tell status) Jannes: Sacerdos. (Priest) Barré: Cujus ecclesiae? (Of what church?) Jeanne: Sancti Petri. (Saint Peter) Jeanne: Grandier.

Die Teufel, 1/xiii

38

with the exorcism scene, even though Whiting began his Act 2 with a secret marriage between

Grandier and Philippe.51 The length of the prayer, only one sentence in the play, is expanded in

the opera and assigned not just to Father Barré but also to Fathers Mignon and Rangier.

This scene presents three significant alterations that suggest that supernatural elements

are in the play. First, there are two added bursts of laughter. One appears, thanks to the stage

direction “hohngelächter” (scornful laughter) that Penderecki gives to the chorus. Such

unexpected laughter is quite inappropriate for the serious mood of an exorcism. At the beginning

of the ritual, Father Barré prays the first half of Psalm 101:2 and the Ursuline nuns respond with

the rest of the psalm. Then, as Barré prays the exorcism prayer again, he is interrupted by

laughter from an unnamed chorus. We can find the role of the laughter from the next stage cue.

The stage cue calls for more laughter, which is not found in the play: “Asmodeus spricht mit

tiefer Stimme aus Jeanne. Lachen” (Asmodeus speaks through Jeanne in a deep voice. Laughter).

Even though Penderecki does not clearly indicate who laughs at this moment, we can infer that

Asmodeus is laughing.

The second element takes the form of another interruption, in which the devil Asmodeus

(speaking through Jeanne) complains that he cannot understand Latin: “Bedaure, ich muß Euch

unterbrechen. Ich versteh’ kein Wort. Ich bin ein heidnischer Teufel. Latein ist für mich eine

fremde Sprache” (I’m sorry to interrupt you. I cannot understand. I am a heathen devil. Latin is a

foreign language to me). This is interesting if we consider that Jeanne’s first vision in Die Teufel,

1/i and her conversation with Father Barré in Die Teufel, 1/xiii are related to demonic possession.

Penderecki uses Latin for Die Teufel, 1/i and 1/xiii, and the scenes suggest a possibility of the

supernatural in the opera; however, if we believe Asmodeus’s argument that he cannot

51 Penderecki deleted the marriage scene in the 1969 version, but he restored the scene in his revised version.

39

understand Latin, the supernatural elements found in the two scenes easily argue against the idea

that the elements are related to demonic possession. In the libretto and score, however,

Penderecki implies that devils lie. Penderecki quotes St. Chrysostomus’s words, “Daemoni,

etiam vera dicenti, non est credendum” (The devil cannot be believed, even when he tells the

truth) on the first page of his libretto and score. We do not know whether the devil lies in Die

Teufel, 2/i about his understanding of Latin. However, we can see that Latin usage is a pivotal

element connected to the supernatural in the opera.

Finally, Penderecki changes a vocal direction. Both Whiting and Penderecki distinguish

between when Jeanne and a devil speak. They both place the name of the devil, Asmodeus, in

parentheses after Jeanne’s name. However, Penderecki slightly changes the voice direction, as he

did in Die Teufel, 1/xiii. In Die Teufel, 2/i, when Jeanne (or a devil) asks for mercy following the

exorcism, Penderecki gives a voice direction different from Whiting’s. In the play, Whiting sets

up an ambiguous “voice” character who asks for mercy: “VOICE: (Of Asmodeus. Is it Jeanne’s

voice?) Mercy. Mercy.” This indication does not clearly resolve who is speaking now.

Penderecki, however, clarifies this ambiguous voice, by assigning a short dialogue to Asmodeus.

After this dialogue, Jeanne begs for mercy and claims that she is who she is: “Ich bin’s, die jetzt

zu Euch spricht, Schwester Jeanne von den Engeln!” (It is I who speaks to you now, Sister Jane

of the Angels!) Father Barré does not believe that it is really Jeanne who is speaking because of

the mixture of voices: “Du sprichst mit vielen Stimmen” (You speak with many voices). The use

of different voices for Jeanne and Asmodeus strengthens Barré’s belief that she is truly possessed.

40

Act 2, scene iii

In this scene, characters in both the play and opera respond to the alteration of vocal

styles that distinguishes Jeanne from the devils within her. In Die Teufel, 2/i, Father Barré had

believed that Jeanne was possessed because she spoke with different voice. Now, however, her

demonic possession is denied by de Cerisay because she is speaking with her own voice. The

vulgarity of her words that influenced Father Barré appears irrelevant to de Cerisay. All of this

occurs when Father Barré visits Jeanne, accompanied by Rangier, Mignon, Adam, Mannoury,

and de Cerisay, who is the town governor, in order to listen to her description of her experience

with demonic possession. Jeanne whispers and laughs while describing her experience. She

describes her demonic experience with obscene words and finally denies God: “Gott ist tot. Ich

habe Frieden gefunden” (God is dead. I have found peace). Barré strongly believes that she is

possessed because of her language, although she speaks with her own voice; however, de Cerisay

denies demonic possession: “Das war kein Teufel. Sie sprach mit ihrer eigenen Stimme. Der

Stimme einer unglücklichen Frau” (That was no devil. She spoke with her own voice. The voice

of an unhappy woman). Father Barré and de Cerisay observe the same situation but they do not

have the same conclusion regarding Jeanne. Thus, Die Teufel, 2/iii contains another ambiguous

moment that may confuse audiences regarding whether or not she is possessed.

Act 2, scene ix

Die Teufel, 2/ix (cf., The Devils, 2/x) is the first scene that presents a mass demonic

possession. It begins with Jeanne reporting that the Archbishop’s doctor has pronounced her

possession to be false, a verdict that Father Mignon now disputes. Mignon asks Jeanne whether

she is possessed or not and succeeds in calling devils out from her. The devils respond to Mignon

41

and speak not only through Jeanne but also through Sisters Louise, Gabrielle, and Claire. Finally,

Mignon decides to perform the exorcism in a public place. In the operatic scene, Penderecki

strengthens the expression of demonic possession through three prominent alterations: by

changing verb tenses, adding vocal directions, and changing the assignment of the dialogue.

At the beginning of the scene, Mignon says that he is sure that Jeanne is possessed, and

Jeanne agrees. However, the tense in the play and libretto are different. In the play, Mignon and

Jeanne discuss a past event in which the Archbishop’s doctor diagnosed her as not being

possessed, but Mignon is certain that she was possessed in the play. In their conversation, they

only mention the past episode. However, in Penderecki’s libretto, Mignon and Jeanne use the

present tense even though they are talking about the past event, stating that Jeanne is possessed.

This small change indicates that the past event continues to influence the present moment.

Penderecki also emphasizes the statement “Es ist wahr” (It is true) which is stated first by Jeanne

and then by the Ursuline nuns, Gabrielle, Claire, and Louise. This contrasts with the past tense

statement “It was true” spoken by Jeanne in the play.

After Jeanne agrees that she is possessed, Leviathan interrupts a conversation between

Mignon and Jeanne. When he speaks through Jeanne, Penderecki directs how he is to speak. In

Leviathan’s first statement, “Dürfte ich ein Wörtchen sagen?” (May I put in a word?),

Penderecki requires Leviathan to speak “zynisch” (cynically), a direction which is not found in

the play. When Mignon asks where Leviathan is inside Jeanne, Leviathan answers, “In der Stirne

dieser Dame” (In the forehead of this lady). For the dialogue, Penderecki also adds a direction of

“naiv, mit Kinderstimme” (naively, with childlike voice). These directions recall Penderecki’s

direction for Jeanne to speak “mit anderer Stimme” in Die Teufel, 1/i. Penderecki gives specific

directions to the woman portraying Jeanne at this point in Die Teufel, 2/ix, while in Die Teufel,

42

1/i, the composer simply indicates for part of the text to be sung “mit anderer Stimme.” Thus,

these directions suggest that Jeanne’s ambiguous “different voice” foreshadows the more

specific directions for the devils’ voices here and in the following scene.

After Leviathan answers Mignon, the devils Isacaaron and Beherit state where they are

lodged inside Jeanne. Here, Penderecki changes the assignment of dialogue, as well as the

performance direction. In the play, after Leviathan speaks, other devils speak not only through

Jeanne but also through other Sisters. Whiting’s direction is clear on who speaks through whom:

Leviathan, Beherit, and Isacaaron speak through Jeanne, and Elymi speaks through Claire. He

also indicates for them to speak in additional (unnamed) voices. The parallel passages are given

here:

Jeanne: (As Leviathan.) May I put in a word? Mignon: God be praised! What is your name? Jeanne: (As Leviathan.) Leviathan. Mignon: Where are you lodged, unholy thing? Jeanne: (As Leviathan.) In the lady’s forehead. Jeanne: (As Beherit.) I am in the woman’s stomach. My name is Beherit. Jeanne: (As Isacaaron.) Isacaaron speaking. From under the last rib on the left. Claire: (As Elymi.) I am here. (Another voice.) And I. Louise: (As Eazaz.) And I. (Another voice.) And I am here.

The Devils, 2/x Jeanne (Leviathan): zynisch Dürfte ich ein Wörtchen sagen? (cynically May I put in a word?) Mignon: Gott sei gelobt! Wie ist dein Name? (God be praised! What is your name?) Jeanne (Leviathan): Leviathan. Mignon: Wo hausest du, unheiliges Wesen? (Where are you lodged, unholy thing?) Jeanne (Leviathan): naiv, mit Kinderstimme In der Stirne dieser Dame. (naively, with childlike voice In

the forehead of this lady.) Louise (Isacaaron): Hier spricht Isacaaron (Isacaaron speaking). Jeanne (Beherit): Ich sitze im Magen. Mein Name ist Beherit. (I’m lodged in the stomach. My name is

Beherit). Ein Furz, Mignon bekreuzigt sich und hält sich die Nase zu. (Like a fart, Mignon crosses himself and

holds his nose.) Gabrielle: Und ich auch (and I am). Claire: Ich bin auch da! (And so am I).

Die Teufel, 2/ix

43

In his libretto, Penderecki only associates specific devils’ names with Jeanne. Although the

dialogue suggests that devils speak through Louise, Gabrielle, and Claire, Penderecki does not

make clear who speaks through whom in his voice directions here. This ambiguous voice setting

recalls the discrepancy between a text and an expected voice in Die Teufel, 1/xiii. In Die Teufel,

1/xiii, Penderecki blurred the distinctions between Jeanne’s and devils’ voices. In Die Teufel,

2/ix, however, Penderecki clearly distinguishes Jeanne’s and the devils’ voices but he does not

give any direction to the other sisters. Since he named the devil in Jeanne’s case, Penderecki

should have written Isacaaron in parenthesis after Louise’s name in his libretto. The fact that he

did not suggests another discrepancy between a text and an expected voice, resulting in some

confusion over who is speaking through the sisters’ mouths. The dialogue of Gabrielle and Claire

is even more confusing. Louise mentions the name Isacaaron, but the dialogue of Gabrielle and

Claire only includes the pronoun Ich without a devil’s name. Thus, audiences cannot recognize

who really speaks either from their dialogue or vocal inflection.

Act 2, scene x

Die Teufel, 2/x (c.f. The Devils, 2/xi) is an important scene in which a public exorcism is

performed, after which Prince de Condé alleges that the demonic possession has been faked. His

evidence is the closed box used in the exorcism, which was said to contain a holy relic. Even

though Sister Jeanne expressed fear of the relic, the box is subsequently opened to reveal no relic

at all. Despite the fact that the Prince seems to have exposed a fraud, both the play and libretto

still contain evidence of supernatural elements such as demonic voices.

It is Father Barré who performs the exorcism and calls the devils out. As this occurs,

Leviathan speaks through Jeanne. Here, Penderecki changes the language of the exorcism

44

prayers from English to Latin and supplies a few additional performance directions. In the play,

Barré responds to de Condé’s question about language choice, saying that “They [i.e., these

devils] are not conversant with the language. You’ll understand, sir, that there are uneducated as

well as educated devils.” This shift to the vernacular is the only spot in the entire play in which

Whiting does not follow the traditional use of Latin for the reciting of a prayer. Penderecki’s

language usage is different. In Die Teufel, 2/x, Penderecki deletes the dialogue of Barré and sets

the exorcism prayer in Latin.

The change in language for the exorcist prayer here also suggests that Penderecki

considers Latin as an important element to express the demonic supernatural, as observed in the

previous scenes, e.g., in Die Teufel, 1/i and 1/xiii. In Die Teufel, 1/i, Penderecki writes Jeanne’s

first vision, which is adapted from The Devils, 3/x, in Latin. In Die Teufel, 1/xiii, in which

Leviathan speaks through Jeanne, Penderecki also uses Latin for the last part of dialogue, which

is from The Devils, 2/iii. In Die Teufel, 2/x, Penderecki does not follow Whiting’s vernacular

setting but set the prayer in Latin. These three different scenes which are related to supernatural

elements—a vision, a devil’s dialogue, and an exorcism—suggest that Penderecki considers a

Latin setting as a device to express the supernatural in the opera.

Penderecki adds laughter at the moment Leviathan speaks. When Barré calls Leviathan

out, Leviathan answers him, “Geh weg!” (Go away) in a sleepy voice. Barré continues to pray,

but his prayer is interrupted by the laughter of the Ursuline nuns. After the laughter, Jeanne (or a

devil) states, “Bringt nicht immerzu den Namen dieses Hochstaplers ins Gespräch!” (Don’t keep

bringing that imposter’s name into our conversation). This laughter recalls the laughter in

Die Teufle, 2/i. In Die Teufle, 2/i, laughter by the chorus interrupts Barré’s prayer, and the other

laughter (from Asmodeus) is heard; after the laughter, Asmodeus speaks through Jeanne. In

45

Die Teufle, 2/x, laughter is reused just before Jeanne speaks. This suggests that laughter

functions as a sign of the devils’ appearance.

Penderecki gives another confusing setting of dialogue here similar to what is found in

Die Teufel, 1/xiii and 2/ix. After Leviathan speaks, many devils speak the name of Grandier

through Louise and Claire in the play. Whiting clearly indicates which devils speak through

whom; however, Penderecki again does not mention the devils’ names in his libretto. Based on

the content of the text, the dialogue should be spoken by devils. For example, right after the

laughter, Jeanne says, “Bringt nicht immerzu sen Namen dieses Hochstaplers ins Gespräch”

without any devils’ name. The dialogue seems to be spoken by devils, but the libretto does not

state this. Subsequently, Jeanne and the other Sisters speak the name of Grandier after Barré

mentions the name of Grandier.

Into the chorus speaking the name of Grandier, Penderecki introduces new characters,

two basses dressed in nun’s habits, who are not found in the play. They dance together and state,

“Wir dienen ihm” (We serve him). It is a statement that Jeanne had made in both the play and

opera. The presence of these two basses suggests that devils can disguise themselves as nuns to

blend in with the Sisters. In both the play and opera, devils borrow the Sisters’ mouths in order to

speak. Thus, in the play, devils can be sensed through sound, but not by sight. By contrast,

Penderecki created a visual manifestation of devils through these two basses disguised as nuns in

Die Teufel, 2/x. This strange visual image is similar to the discrepancy between the implied

speaker of a text and the voices who do speak it.

Penderecki also makes significant changes to the text in the scene involving the missing

holy relic. When Prince de Condé gives Barré a small box, he tells him that it contains a relic,

and Barré performs the exorcism, assuming the relic is inside. Finally, the devils appear to leave

46

Jeanne’s body and she says that she is free. In the play, Whiting describes this moment as

follows: “She [Jeanne] speaks calmly, with the voice of a young girl, in her own person.”

Penderecki describes it more directly, “Sie singt mit ihrer ‘eigenen’ Stimme” (She sings with her

‘own’ voice). Penderecki emphasizes the word eigen in his libretto. This suggests that voice

direction is one of the important supernatural elements in the opera.

In both the opera and the play, there is another ambiguous moment suggesting that

Jeanne was released from demonic possession near the end of Die Teufel, 2/x. When Jeanne

believes that she is free, de Condé presents a small empty box, showing that the relic is not in the

box. The empty box suggests that Barré’s exorcism was false and raises doubt as to whether

Jeanne was ever possessed. The only thing we clearly know is that the box is empty, and there is

no relic in the box. Thus, we cannot be sure whether she was possessed. However, right after the

silent moment that follows de Condé’s question—“Was für ein Kunststück spielt Ihr uns vor?

(What a trick to play on us?)—Mignon breaks the moment and begins to run “in winzigen

Kreisen” (in tiny circles), shouting out in the voices of the devils Leviathan and Beherit.

Thereafter, Rangier suddenly begins to neigh like a horse. These two strange and unmotivated

actions come as direct challenges to de Condé’s belief that no supernatural event had occurred.

Both the play and opera offer one clear moment of the supernatural at the very end of the

scene. During the disturbance, Jeanne is the only person who stands calmly alone. Her serene

state contrasts to the general mood in town and suggests that Jeanne is released from demonic

possession during the exorcism. At the end of the scene, however, Leviathan reappears and once

again begins to talk to her, using her vocal cords but not her normal voice.

Here, Penderecki changed the sequence of two scenes from the play, and deleted one

scene. After the public exorcism, Whiting had written a scene (The Devils, 2/xii) in which

47

De Laubardemont reports the event in Loudun to the King of France. Penderecki deleted the

scene in his libretto. Whiting also had written a conversation between Grandier and Sewerman,

preceding the barring of his (Grandier’s) access into his church in The Devils, 2/xiii. Penderecki

deleted that conversation, but retained the scene of Grandier’s banning. But Penderecki’s

treatment is different from Whiting’s. Penderecki deleted The Devils, 2/xii, and combined The

Devils, 2/xi and 2/xiii (except for the conversation in The Devils, 2/xiii) into Die Teufel, 2/x. At

the very end of Die Teufel, 2/x, Leviathan speaks through Jeanne and has a conversation with her.

Penderecki inserted what remained of the scene of Grandier’s banning into this conversation.

Thus, Die Teufel, 2/x ends with a dialogue of Leviathan, while this scene of the play ends with

Grandier’s banning. These alterations suggest that Jeanne may not have been released at all

during the exorcism, and is certainly possessed when Act 2 comes to an end.

Conclusion

In this chapter, I discussed the libretto and the play, comparing the sequence of scenes in

them in order to demonstrate how Penderecki prioritized Jeanne in his opera. I then analyzed

seven scenes: Die Teufel, 1/i, 1/vi, 1/xiii, 2/i, 2/iii, 2/ix, and 2/x.

Penderecki increased Jeanne’s prominence in the following ways: by reordering sequence,

by omitting parts of the play and dialogue, and by adding new texts. These three processes

centralize Jeanne and strengthen the supernatural theme of the opera. The best example of

reordering which prioritizes Jeanne is found in Act 1, scene i. In the scene, Penderecki combined

four scenes of the play, focusing on Jeanne and her supernatural visions. An important moment

when the process of omission is used to strengthen Jeanne’s role is found in Act 1, scene vi; here,

Penderecki deleted most of thedialogue from the corresponding scene in the play, except for

48

Jeanne’s lament over her suffering and obsession with her eyes.

My analysis of the seven scenes demonstrated how Penderecki increased Jeanne’s role

and the supernatural elements in four ways: using different vocal styles, using Latin, creating

ambiguous moments through mismatching voice and text, and adding scenes and replacing

scenes in the play with new scenes. These means of representing the supernatural sometimes

overlap throughout the opera. For example, in Act 1, scene i, different vocal directions and Latin

usage are found at the points where Penderecki directed characters to speak or sing in different

voices.

Penderecki’s special added instructions concerning quality of voice began early. In Act 1,

scene i, he wrote “mit anderer Stimme” for Jeanne at two different moments. Here, Penderecki

did not indicate how Jeanne is to speak or sing differently. He, however, gave more precise

directions in later scenes: e.g., to sing in “mit tiefer Stimme” in Act 1, scene xiii; and to sing

“zynisch” and “naiv, mit Kinderstimme” in Act 2, scene ix. These vocal directions suggest that

Jeanne while possessed or the devils themselves can use different voices, which serves as a

significant reason to suspect the supernatural.

Penderecki’s changed in the sequence of the play for his libretto and incorporation of

Latin where the changes occur are both significant. In Act 1, scene i, Penderecki used text from

a later scene, Act 3, scene vii, for Jeanne’s first vision. Penderecki set the vision in Latin, while

the remainder of the scene is in German or English. Later, Penderecki shifted a dialogue between

Jeanne and Barré from Act 2, scene iii to Act 1, scene xiii and translated the vernacular language

into Latin. This Latin usage raises a question as to why Penderecki reset the reordered texts from

the play in Latin. In terms of understanding Latin, a devil states that Latin is a foreign language

to him in Act 2, scene i. This suggests that the two scenes in Latin are not always related to the

49

demonic supernatural.

Even though the implication of Latin is not always clear, this does not mean that the

presence of the demonic supernatural should be ruled out. The ambiguous moments resulting

from an apparent mismatch between text and voice still could hold important clues. In such

scenes as Act 1, scene xiii and Act 2, scene i, Penderecki did not clearly indicate who speaks

certain texts. Though the texts themselves appear to be from a devil’s perspective, Penderecki set

the texts for Jeanne and the sisters in these scenes. Unlike Whiting, who clearly distinguished

between Jeanne’s and the sisters’ voices and devils’ voices, Penderecki allowed the moment in

his libretto to remain ambiguous.

As a final category of alterations, Penderecki added or replaced scenes and characters.

The most prominent replacement of a scene with a vision is in Act 1, scene vi. In the opera,

Penderecki introduced this new scene so as to have Jeanne face Grandier in the church. Even

though Jeanne cannot, in reality, be in the same place with Grandier at this moment (as she is in

a different church), this scene suggests that Jeanne is experiencing another vision that involves

Grandier.

In the next chapter, I will discuss how Penderecki uses innovative 20th century

compositional techniques in order to musically express the changes in his libretto, especially at

points where he highlights the supernatural. While each case is unique, and not all of them are

free from ambiguity, both the amount of evidence to be found in the individual scenes and the

strong correspondences between certain scenes make for a strong case that the composer

intended his audience not simply to hear the supernatural but to witness experience it.

50

CHAPTER 3

PENDERECKI’S MUSICAL DEVICES FOR THE THEME OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Having identified Jeanne’s prominence in the libretto and Penderecki’s efforts to

enhance the supernatural element, I next turn to how Penderecki scores these elements musically.

In general, the opera is atonal and expressionist. Penderecki uses a large orchestra and a four-part

chorus. The orchestration for the opera is clearly indicated by the composer: strings (forty-two in

total), four flutes (two doubling piccolo and one on alto flute), two English horns, E♭ clarinet,

contrabass clarinet, two alto saxophones, two baritone saxophones, three bassoons,

contrabassoon, six horns, four trumpets (one doubling on D trumpet), four trombones, two tubas,

percussion, harp, piano, harmonium, organ, church bells, and electric bass guitar. Penderecki

omits both B♭ clarinets and oboes from the instrumentation.

Even though instruments do not fully correlate to particular characters or plot elements,

some instruments are related to certain characters and moments. According to Helmann, “Comic

and grotesque scenes are set in chamber music with characteristic instruments, abrupt,

discontinuous motifs, often single isolated sounds or consonances and scattered sounds

figures.”52 For example, an electric bass guitar, the most unusual instrument in this opera, “is

used for depiction of grotesque moments by passages of dexterous figures, large leaps, varied

dynamics, and glissandi” in order to depict grotesque moments.53

52 Zofia Helman, “The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki: Genre–Form–Style,” in Krzysztof Penderecki’s music in the context of 20th Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, ed. Teresa Małecka (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie: 1999), 89. 53 James Graeme Fullerton, “The Grotesque in Twentieth-Century Opera” (Ph.D diss., City University of New York, 2006), 156-157.

51

The four-part chorus is vitally important in the opera. The chorus has three significant

roles, which can overlap over the course of the opera: 1) to depict groups of people such as the

Ursuline nuns, Carmelites, and crowd; 2) to create an abstract timbre as another instrumental

group; and 3) to depict devils and possessed women. In order to distinguish these roles,

Penderecki utilizes the chorus in various ways. For example, Penderecki generally groups

soprano and alto for the Ursuline nuns, and tenor and bass for the Carmelites. When Penderecki

uses the chorus merely as a timbral resource, the chorus is usually scored without text, assigning

them either SATB clusters or quick atonal passages. The chorus also makes nonverbal sounds

such as vowels, laughter, grunts, squeals, and howls. These sounds create a grotesque timbre and

may depict possessed women in the opera. The text the chorus sings is an important element to

distinguish the roles of the chorus. Many of the texts sung by the chorus are prayers so the

chorus indicates the Ursuline nuns or Carmelites; however, when the chorus sings a word such as

the name of Grandier, it may depict possessed nuns.

In this chapter, I discuss selected scenes of Penderecki’s opera in order to demonstrate

how the composer expresses the demonic possession of Jeanne and others. First, I discuss Act 1,

scene i, in which Jeanne first appears and has her visions of Father Grandier. In this scene, the

composer demonstrates his ability to use unusual vocal and instrumental timbres for expressive

purposes, even when clear evidence of demonic possession is lacking. After this introduction to

his musical language, I then explore the significant expressive role played by the following

stylistic aspects in evoking the supernatural events: 1) timbral and textural changes in Jeanne’s

vocal part signifying possession; 2) significant musical writing in the chorus and orchestra that

enhance the evocations of demonic possession; and 3) the musical affinities between the visions

in Act 1, scene i and the later scenes.

52

The Role of Timbre and Texture in Act 1, scene i

Act 1, scene i introduces Jeanne and assigns her much solo singing. It also establishes an

early connection between Jeanne and Grandier of great significance to the plot. Jeanne sees two

visions; the first foreshadows Grandier’s death and the second depicts his libertine life. Also, the

scene introduces the letter from Grandier in which he refuses Jeanne’s invitation to her convent.

The brief “letter scene” is set between her two visions (See Table 2 in Chapter 2).

The scene is scored for a large orchestra (consisting of flute, alto saxophone, horn,

English horn, trumpet, contrabassoon and bassoon, contrabass clarinet, timpani, organ, piano,

church bell, and strings) and the four-part chorus. These instruments create grotesque sounds

through clusters, glissandi, and fast atonal accompanimental patterns. These sounds raise

questions: What do the sounds depict? Do they express Sister Jeanne’s psychological condition?

Do they foreshadow future tragedy? Do they express the supernatural in general? At this point,

neither the score nor the libretto provides clear answers. Hans Kellner states that sustained tone

clusters, which are Penderecki’s first innovative musical device in his opera, “characterize the

oppressive weight of a total environment” of the opera.54 However, Kellner also states that the

music characterize neither individuals nor concepts.55 Thus, in this scoring, these grotesque

timbres, at the very least, serve as a soundscape for the opera.

For Jeanne’s music, the composer combines a variety of vocal styles: recitation, prayers,

and Sprechstimme. Her musical language is eclectic; it features frequent changes in register,

leaping intervals, speech styles, and laughter. For example, her initial melodic line in Act 1,

scene i features a long sustained note which becomes more expressive and exaggerated with

54 Hans Kellner, “Devils and Angels: A Study of the Demonic in Three Twentieth-Century Operas.” Music and Man 2, no. 3/4 (1978): 266. 55 Ibid., 266.

53

leaps of 7ths, 9ths, and larger intervals. Her jagged melody contrasts with the clusters of long

sustained notes in the orchestra and chorus. At two points in the score, R4 and R5, Penderecki

directs the singer to use a “mit anderer Stimme.” At R4, the vocal style changes from jagged

melody to a long spoken prayer, and at R5, from prayer and weeping to singing a jagged melody.

In a more traditional opera, such changes in style might only signify a change of affect. Here,

however, the score indication serves to prepare the listener for later scenes in which the change

of voice signifies demonic possession.

Penderecki changed the orchestral scoring and musical language to mark the changes of

situation in Act 1, scene i: from Jeanne’s first vision to the letter scene with Jeanne and Claire,

and then to Jeanne’s second vision. The orchestration in her first vision is fuller than that used in

the letter scene and her second vision. During her first vision, the orchestra and chorus join

together in a series of tone clusters, in long note values. However, within the overall cluster, the

cello, double bass, and timpani produce a distinguishable interval, the augmented fourth. In the

letter scene, Penderecki reduces the orchestra to a few instruments––organ, horn, trumpet, cello,

double bass, and church bell; however, he employs a similar compositional technique, clusters

with long note values, here in a low range. In the second vision, the chorus reappears, and the

orchestration gradually expands to include flute, harmonium, saxophone, horn, organ, cello, and

double bass; however, the orchestration is still smaller than in her first vision. For example, cello

and double bass are the only strings used in her second vision. In addition, the texture changes

from clusters to atonal polyphony in the middle of the second vision.

There are three prominent effects involving timbral and textural changes in the general

musical transformation of the scene, which occur at significant points in the drama. First, cello

and bass create a contrasting timbre and rhythm against the chorus and the remainder of the

54

orchestra in Jeanne’s first vision. Act 1, scene i begins with quiet clusters. In general, orchestra

and chorus are free in terms of meter and rhythm, with an indication quasi senza misura.56 In

Jeanne’s long opening on D4, augmented fourths played by cello and double bass appear at

fortissimo. Małorzala Matynia-Szukalska calls the augmented fourths “Grandier’s martyrdom

motif,” 57 a combination of two augmented fourths, F-B and C-F♯. These two augmented fourths

repeat every six bars for an additional six times. The third attack of cello and bass appears

simultaneously with the attack by contrabass clarinet, bassoon, and contra bassoon. The

augmented fourths of the cello and bass continue until the vision ends. After the repetition of the

augmented fourths, the timpani appear with the same augmented fourth twice at piano.

A second prominent effect is the strong accented attack that is used in order to mark the

commencement of each of Jeanne’s visions. The first musical attack appears at R2. Contrabass

clarinet, bassoon, and contrabassoon, which are first introduced at this time, suddenly appear

with dissonance in fortissimo and sustain for four measures with decrescendo. After this strongly

accented cluster chord is struck, Jeanne and the audience together can observe De Laubardemont

and Grandier, the characters in this first vision, standing outside of the convent. Later, in Act 3,

scene vii, when this future event actually takes place, Grandier will be gazing at Jeanne. It will

be the first and only time he has the opportunity to do so.

A much stronger sound attack appears at R8 of Act 1, scene i. Horn, trumpet, and church

bell attack their pitches in the middle of the scene. Here, Claire delivers to Jeanne a letter from

Grandier, and Jeanne reads the letter in monotone. Only organ, cello, and bass accompany her

56 The scene opens without a designated meter, as various instruments and voices enter and sustain pitches marked with a fermata. The senza misura marking applies to a series of measures to which Penderecki attaches the meter of 2/4, albeit in parentheses. 57 Małgorzala Matynia-Szukalska, “Elementy dramaturgii “Diabłow z Loudun,” in Współezesność i tradycja w muzyce Krzystofa Pendereckiego, (Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 1983), 95, quoted in Zofia Helman, “The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki: Genre–Form–Style,” 90.

55

reading of the letter. However, Jeanne’s musical language changes after she has read the letter.

Before and during the reading, she was speaking, not singing: afterward, she returns to singing

with phrases containing large leaps. Moreover, she sings faster and faster, with the direction

poco accelerando, and finally, she laughs. The first appearance of her laughter in the opera may

express her insanity due to Grandier’s refusal, but there can be no doubt that the laugh triggers a

change in the music. At this point, as seen in Musical Example 1, horn, trumpet, and church bell

suddenly appear with a dissonant forte cluster. This attack creates a contrast in timbre and texture

and leads to an even more jagged melody. This prominent, unique sound attack seems to

foreshadow Jeanne’s abnormal mentality: here, she is expressing her desire for a man58—

Grandier, instead of God—as her melody gradually leaps wider intervals up and down involving

9ths and 13ths, eventually reaching the high pitch B♭4.

58 Fullerton explains that Jeanne’s prayers mingle with her sexual fantasies of Grandier, and her hysterical state is expressed by means of pedal points, tone clusters, and seemingly aleatoric vocal and instrumental passages. (Fullerton, “The Grotesque in Twentieth-Century Opera,” 157).

56

Musical Example 1 R8-1 – R8, Act 1, scene i

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN original version Copyright © 1969 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany Copyright © renewed All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

57

A third weird effect in the texture involves the change from cluster to atonal polyphony

in the middle of Jeanne’s second vision. This textural change during the second vision is the

most significant one for the entire scene. At the start of this vision, orchestra and chorus create a

texture similar to the one that opens the scene (and first vision). However, in the middle of the

second vision, the chorus begins to sing rapid bursts of notes in aleatoric rhythmic patterns

creating a texture of frenzied 8- and then 12-part atonal polyphony. Meanwhile, dynamics

increase, the rhythmic durations become shorter, and the texture expands further with the

addition of flute, harmonium, alto saxophone, and horn, in that order. Finally, when the orchestra

and chorus reach fortissimo, they suddenly disappear, and only the organ on C2 in pianissimo

remains.

These three musical effects are clearly audible and distinguishable. What do these

distinguishable musical effects signify in the opera? Fullerton explains that “thick and low-

pitched orchestration can enhance the feeling of the monstrous or frightening, as can its opposite,

shrillness.”59 Kellner suggests that the music “primarily functions as scene.”60 But could we

consider these musical traits as the signs of the supernatural possession? Can the musical traits

help us determine whether or not Jeanne is possessed? It can be difficult to answer these

questions clearly if we focus only on Act 1, scene i. Although the scene provides much

information, in both the musical style and the narrative, the scene does not introduce any text

referencing either devils or demonic possession. This means that one could come to the

conclusion that Jeanne’s exaggerated melody and the other prominent musical features are

related only to her insanity. Later scenes, however, present more convincing evidence to suggest

59 Fullerton, 61-62. 60 Kellner, 266.

58

that supernatural possession is a strong possibility and a plausible explanation for the strange and

inexplicable events.

The Role of Range and Timbral Changes in Jeanne’s Voice

Jeanne accuses Grandier of possessing her in Act 1, scene x. Fathers Mignon and Barré

believe that she is possessed and perform exorcisms several times. Finally, her demonic

possession is dismissed as false because of the ruse involving a nonexistent holy relic in Act 2,

scene x. However, it is difficult to assert that Jeanne merely imitates demonic possession as

opposed to asserting that she is actually possessed by devils because of the extremes of range and

timbre in her vocal line. My main purpose in this section is to supply musical evidence for

Jeanne’s possession pertaining to these two factors.

The first clear evidence that Penderecki presents for Jeanne’s possession is heard as

Penderecki distinguishes the ranges between Jeanne and devils by providing the performance

instruction basso profondo for the devils.61 Evidence for the presences of devils, in either score

notations or sound, appears in a total of five of the scenes in which Jeanne appears: Die Teufel,

1/iii, 2/i, 2/iii, 2/ix, and 2/x. In these scenes, devils mainly speak through Jeanne’s body, except

that Beherit and Leviathan speak single words and small phrases through Father Mignon after

Jeanne is released from the devils in Act 2, scene x.62 Although Jeanne’s vocal range is wide––

G3 is quite low for a soprano—the vocal range for the devils is usually set even lower in the bass

register, whenever devils speak or sing.

61 The score does not explain how the performer of Jeanne is to achieve a basso profundo vocal quality. Fullerton, however, notes that “the role of Beherit [one of devils] is performed off-stage by a male singer with a microphone” when Beherit sings through Jeanne (Fullerton, 174). Based on his explanation, therefore, a direction of basso profondo can be performed off-stage by a male singer instead of on-stage by Jeanne. 62 In Act 2, scene ix, devils seem to speak through Sisters Louise, Gabrielle, and Claire; however, Penderecki does not provide any vocal directions so it is hard to demonstrate that the devils really speak through the sisters.

59

The second category of evidence consists of Penderecki’s score directions indicating

how the devils must speak or sing. In Act 1, scene i, the composer calls for an uncanny timbral

shift, when he writes “mit anderer Stimme” twice at the beginning of melodic phrases. The

directions become more precise in Act 2, scenes ix and x, wherein he also begins to name the

devils speaking through Jeanne. For example, Penderecki asks Leviathan to speak or sing

“zynisch” or “naiv, mit Kinderstimme” on the score (See Musical Example 3). Elsewhere, in Act

2, scene iii, Rangier denies her possession because she speaks with her own voice. Later,

Penderecki indicates “Sie singt mit ihrer ‘eigenen’ Stimme” (She sings with her ‘own’ voice),

when Jeanne is released from devils in Act 2, scene x. This means conversely that Jeanne loses

her own voice when she is possessed.

These two features, however, do not apply to every situation in the opera so the features

may weaken an argument that Jeanne is possessed but strengthen an assertion that Jeanne is

insane. As I mentioned in Chapter 2, Penderecki, at times, creates a discrepancy between the

voice type given in the score and the voice implied by the textual content. For example, the text

“Hier sind wir” (here we are) implies the presence of devils in Act 1, scene xiii; however, the

vocal range is in soprano which means that Jeanne sings the text in her natural voice. Earlier in

the text, a devil first revealed his existence with masculine laughter. After the masculine laughter

at R63 of Act 1, however, the subsequent text is spoken by Jeanne. Here at least, the mismatched

vocal range raises doubts about the presence of a devil.

This mismatched vocal range is also observed at the end of Act 1, scene xiii. Here the

musical setting generates more ambiguity, when Father Barré asks Jeanne (or a devil) how to

gain entry into Jeanne’s body. Jeanne (or a devil) answers “durch Vermittlung eines Freundes”

(by means of a friend). Barré asks the exact name and Jeanne answers “Asmodeus” and

60

continues to answer Barré’s questions in Latin, also revealing that the friend is Father Grandier.

Penderecki set the phrase “durch Vermittlung eines Freundes” in a bass range, marked basso

profondo which implies a devil’s voice. But then the mention of the names of Asmodeus and

Grandier is set in a soprano range which implies Jeanne’s natural voice.63 The reason why this

setting is strange can be found in Barré’s dialogue right after he has heard the name of Asmodeus:

“Das ist Euer Name” (That’s your name [a devil’s name]). Because of Barré’s dialogue, we

expect that the speaker who answers as “Asmodeus” to be a devil; however, the setting of the

speaker suggests that the speaker is Jeanne instead of a devil. In other words, at this moment, it

appears that the devil Asmodeus has so fully possessed Jeanne that he can now control her

normal (soprano) voice.

In Act 2, scene i, the ambiguous vocal mismatching is also present. Here Asmodeus is

complaining that he cannot understand Latin during the exorcism performed by Barré. In the

libretto, Penderecki wrote the devil’s name in parenthesis after the name of Jeanne, indicating

that the complaint is spoken by the devil through Jeanne; however, Penderecki’s musical setting

leaves it unclear as to who speaks (or sings) the complaint. The dialogue “Entschuldigt

mich…Bedaure, ich muß Euch unterbrechen” (Excuse me…I’m sorry to interrupt you) is spoken,

but Penderecki sets the lines “Ich versteh’ kein Wort. Ich bin ein heidnischer Teufel” (I cannot

understand. I am a heathen devil) melodically in a soprano range, without a clear indication of

the source. Considering how Penderecki had previously distinguished Jeanne’s and devils’ voice

by vocal range in general, the soprano setting here again suggests that Jeanne is singing. Even

63 In the 1969 version, the score only distinguished the respective dialogue of Asmodeus or Jeanne by means of vocal range. In the revised version, however, Penderecki clearly marked that the text “durch Vermittlung eines Freundes” is performed by the devil Asmodeus, while the word “Asmodeus” and Latin text which depicts Grandier are performed by Jeanne.

61

though Penderecki did not clearly indicate here who is singing the soprano part in his score, the

text is evidence that it is indeed the devil.

In his revised version, however, Penderecki clearly indicated that Jeanne sings the name

of Asmodeus in Act 1, scene xiii and the dialogue “Ich versteh’ kein Wort. Ich bin ein

heidnischer Teufel” in Act 2, scene i (See Musical Example 2). These musical settings in the

revised version create ambiguity as to whether she is pretending to be possessed. If Penderecki’s

indication in the revised version means natural Jeanne in both scenes, it is obvious that Jeanne is

pretending to be possessed. Considering the text in the both scenes, however, we can recognize

questionable parts in the two scenes. While Jeanne answers Barré in Latin in Act 1, scene xiii,

Jeanne argues that she cannot understand Latin in Act 2, scene i. If Jeanne cannot understand

Latin as presented in Act 2, scene i, Jeanne’s usage of Latin in Act 1, scene xiii is unexplainable.

We cannot fully explore whether Jeanne is possessed in Act 1, scene xiii with the only evidence

of Latin usage. However, Act 2, scene i suggests Penderecki’s indication in Act 2, scene i means

possessed Jeanne because Jeanne identifies herself as a devil in Act 2, scene i. Thus, the same

musical settings in both scenes suggest that Penderecki expressed Jeanne as a possessed woman.

62

Musical Example 2 Jeanne and Asmodeus, R4+1 – R4+6, Act 2, scene i

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN revised version 2012 Copyright © 2012 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

Yet another case of range mismatching is found in Act 2, scene ix. Jeanne’s text is “In

der Stirne dieser Dame” (in the forehead of this lady). Considering the meaning of the text, the

text should be sung by devils. However, Penderecki set the text for soprano as seen in Musical

Example 3. Penderecki also required that Louise, Gabrielle, and Claire speak in their natural

voices. Their text shows that devils can also speak through the Sisters; however, Penderecki did

not provide any devils’ names with the Sisters in his libretto and score and did not assign pitches

to the Sisters. Thus, it is hard to judge whether the Sisters are possessed or not.

63

Musical Example 3 Jeanne, Leviathan, and the Sisters, R29 – R30+2, Act 2, scene ix

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN original version Copyright © 1969 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany Copyright © renewed All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

64

Does the use of mixed ranges suggest that Jeanne and the Sisters are merely pretending

to be possessed? Or do these examples reveal a possession in which devils can speak using

Jeanne’s and the Sisters’ normal voices? In one other passage involving a mixture of ranges,

there can be no doubt that Jeanne is possessed. In Act 2, scene ix, Mignon has demanded that the

devil in Jeanne identifies himself. The response he gets is most surprising: not one but two

voices appear to come out of Jeanne’s mouth. To be specific, when the devil answers the

question with the name Leviathan, Jeanne and the devil [Leviathan] (i.e., two performers singing

simultaneously) are instructed to sing a pitch dyad consisting of the highest and lowest possible

notes available to the two performers (See the vertical arrow at R29+4 in Musical Example 3).

The gesture suggests that Jeanne and the devil are united together in her body. If she were merely

mimicking demonic possession, it would be impossible to have two different voices

simultaneously. Thus, this short passage demonstrates that Jeanne is fully possessed and devils

can use her body and voice.

Penderecki distinguishes the voices between Jeanne and devils using vocal ranges;

however, as we saw in Chapter 2, Penderecki also creates ambiguous moments in which

audiences cannot recognize who is speaking or singing in a particular vocal range. These

ambiguous moments do indeed raise doubts about Jeanne’s possession. For this reason, the

aforementioned measure with its short gesture is enormously significant, for the simultaneous

singing of two contrasting voices, one male and one female, each emanating from the character

Jeanne, leaves no doubt that two entities, one natural and one supernatural, are present in

Jeanne’s body.

65

The Role of the Chorus

It is also crucial to look at the role of the chorus when examining the musical depiction

of demonic possession in this opera, for the chorus contributes much to the eerie atmosphere of

scenes involving demonic possession of Jeanne and others. To ensure a special role for the

chorus, Penderecki only uses it in scenes when Jeanne is present on stage. The chorus joins her

for all of her scenes, with the exception of these: Die Teufel, 1/ix, 2/vii, and 3/iv. The scenes in

which the chorus does not appear are not closely related to demonic possession and exorcism,

although characters in the scenes talk about devils and their fear of being possessed. In Act 1,

scene xi, Jeanne makes an accusation of Grandier to Father Mignon. In Act 2, scene vii, Jeanne,

Louise, Claire, and Gabrielle express their fear of being possessed, without any evidence at that

point that anyone is possessed or that devils are in any way present.

We can now begin to explore how Penderecki uses the chorus to depict demonic

possession of Jeanne and other nuns. Two scholars have briefly discussed roles of the chorus in

the opera. Helman explains that the chorus participates in narrating the drama of the opera and

comments on events of the opera.64 Hatten also explains that “[Penderecki’s] women’s

chorus…suggest[s] the tenuous boundary between religious ecstasy and sexual possession.”65

Their explanations are related to the plot of the opera and religious effects; however, they only

consider the role of the chorus in isolation without considering the relationship between Jeanne

and the chorus. Before discussing my primary subject, the depiction of demonic possession by

the chorus, I will outline the three significant roles of the chorus in order to clarify how

Penderecki depicts demonic possession using the chorus.

64 Helman, 83. 65 Hatten, 20.

66

The chorus has three roles in the opera: 1) to represent actual people; 2) as an abstract

timbre; 3) to enhance the depiction of supernatural possession, through an obvious and highly

unusual shift in style or scoring. In the first case, the chorus is connected with a group of people

whom we see on stage: the Ursuline nuns, the Carmelite monks, or the crowd. Penderecki

indicates where the Ursuline nuns and Carmelite monks sing in his score and libretto: Die Teufel,

1/vi, 1/xiii, 2/i, and 2/iii for the Ursuline nuns and Die Teufel, 2/x for the Carmelite monks. In

these scenes, the chorus for the Ursuline nuns is written for soprano and alto, except for the

chorus in Act 1, scene vi,66 in which the SATB chorus is still labeled “Ursuline nuns.” The

chorus of Carmelites, a religious order of monks, is set for tenor and bass. At other points, the

score provides some indication that a crowd or other group is involved but the assignment of the

voice parts in the score to people on stage is less clear. For example, in Act 2, scene x, the

soprano and alto are marked with the direction, “Das Kreischen und Schreien erstirbt allmählich”

(The screams and shouts gradually die away), and the bass part with the direction, “Die Menge

ist verstummt” (The crowd is silent). The identity of the Ursuline nuns and Carmelite monks

(both singing in Latin) is clear, but Penderecki adds other choral passages in various scorings

which he does not assign to one of the named groups on stage. Moreover, these choral groups

sing untexted music. In Act 3, scene vii, a somewhat simpler case, a four-part chorus is present

and at one point is given the word “Judas!” to scream at Father Grandier.

In the second case, the chorus is also used as an abstract timbre: i.e., a timbral resource

not associated with any on-stage (or off-stage) group. Penderecki seems to distinguish between

choral sections and “the chorus” as an entity. Penderecki uses the label chorus on the index page

of his libretto. In the score or libretto, the label can be found in the following scenes: Die Teufel,

66 I discuss the bass chorus usage in Act 1, scene 6 in the section “The Role of Bass Voice.” See pages 72-74.

67

1/i, 2/iii, 2/ix, 3/i, 3/v. and 3/vii. Among these scenes, the chorus in Act 1, scene i, part of Act 2,

scene x, Act 3, scene i, and part of Act 3, scene vii do not have texts. The chorus in these scenes

clearly functions as abstract timbre. The chorus is set in four part SATB, or in a group of soprano

and alto, producing pitch or fast atonal passages without a specific meaning.

In the third case, the chorus is used in a prominent way (more prominent than in the

second case) yet without any clear association to a group of people visible on stage. Two types of

choral writing fall into this category. The first involves scoring for women’s voices when neither

the Ursuline nuns, nor any other group of women, are present on stage or referenced in the text.

Passages of this sort occur in five locations: Die Teufel 1/xiii, 2/ix, 2/x, 3/i, and 3/v. A second

type of this sort of choral writing involves the anomalous addition of one or more bass voices to

a women’s chorus to evoke the demonic supernatural, as found in the following scenes:

Die Teufel, 1/vi, 1/xiii, 2/i, and 2/x.

The Role of the Women’s Chorus in Evoking the Supernatural

The grouping of soprano and alto usually indicates the Ursuline nuns. However, in

certain locations, the group itself is identified only as chorus in the opera, and is related to

appearance of devils. Act 1, scene xiii is the first scene in which a devil’s voice is present. Father

Barré asks Jeanne who possessed her and Jeanne answers his question in Latin. After she

answers the question, a chorus of sopranos and altos immediately begins to sing pitch clusters:

C5 to D♭4 in soprano and F4 to G♭3 in alto, moving slightly down in glissandi at R65-1. The

group of sopranos slides down and murmurs the name of Grandier with the direction

sussurrando at R65+1. The group of altos goes down to the lowest possible note, stays on the

lowest note, and then murmurs the name of Grandier. Right before the group of sopranos

68

murmurs Grandier, Jeanne speaks the name of Grandier, and the chorus follows her. At this point,

Jeanne speaks the name in basso profondo and laughs in a deep and angry voice. The chorus

group repeats Jeanne’s text clearly, “Grandier.” After the murmurs, the chorus laughs with

undefined pitches. At this point the bass voices laugh following Jeanne’s deep and angry

laughter.67

Another use of demonic choral echoing appears in Act 2, scene ix. The characters on

stage are Father Mignon, Jeanne, Claire, Louise, Gabrielle and the two lay Sisters. Except for the

two lay Sisters, the characters have their own parts. As seen in Musical Example 4, the chorus is

set in polyphony, but the overall effect is closer to pitch cluster. The text for the chorus is “Es ist

wahr, Grandier” (It is true, Grandier), which is a repetition of Jeanne’s text. Father Mignon

asserts that Jeanne is possessed, and Jeanne agrees with him saying “es ist wahr.” The chorus

follows her text, speaking and then murmuring the name of Grandier.

67 I discuss the bass laughs in Act 1, scene xiii in the section of “The Role of Bass Voices.” See pages 74-75.

69

Musical Example 4 Jeanne and the SA Chorus, R27+16 – R27+23, Act 2, scene ix

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN original version Copyright © 1969 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany Copyright © renewed All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

70

Musical Example 4 (cont.) Jeanne and the SA Chorus, R27+16 – R27+23, Act 2, scene ix

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN original version Copyright © 1969 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany Copyright © renewed All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

71

After the chorus whispers the name of Grandier, Leviathan interrupts a conversation

between Mignon and Jeanne, and the chorus reappears with strange sounds. Penderecki makes a

clear reference to the supernatural in the score, by naming them the “teuflische Stimmen schreien

durcheinander” (clamour of diabolical voices). To enhance the effect, instruments contribute a

cacophony of noisy and indeterminate pitches, rising up from a low pitch to strike the highest

possible notes at fortissimo.

Although the chorus in Act 1, scene xiii is not assigned text except for the name of

Grandier, the musical gestures of the chorus in Act 1, scene xiii and Act 2, scene ix are similar in

three ways. First, the chorus in both scenes follows and repeats Jeanne’s text. Second,

Penderecki directs the chorus to murmur when the chorus says the name of Grandier. Finally, the

chorus appears just when the text suggests an appearance of devils. In the first instance,

Asmodeus spoke before the chorus appears and the mysterious bass chorus appears after the

chorus’ murmur. In the second instance, Leviathan speaks after the chorus has murmured.

Yet another use of demonic sopranos and altos is found in Act 2, scene x. Here the group

appears right after Leviathan begins to speak through Jeanne. Father Barré calls out Leviathan

and Leviathan responds to Barré, “Geh weg!” in a sleepy voice. At this moment, the chorus has a

short passage in which the singing style is unique: Penderecki indicates that they sing with

closed mouths, bocca chiusa, and then laugh. The dynamic marks crescendos from pianissimo to

forte across two measures. Four measures after this dramatic crescendo, they sing their highest

possible notes at fortissimo.

72

The Role of Bass Voices

Throughout the score, Penderecki uses one or more basses in a distinctive manner, and

often in scenes that reference the supernatural. Four scenes, in particular, are enhanced by the

weird use of bass voices: Die Teufel, 1/vi, 1/xiii, 2/i, and 2/x.

In Act 1, scene vi, Jeanne speaks about her suffering from her hunchback and her

obsession with her eyes. As it begins, sopranos and altos are producing meaningless sounds. At

R37-1, after the SA chorus stops singing, six bass voices enter, and the women reenter at R37,

along with the tenor chorus whose singing style is bocca chiusa in clusters (See the musical

direction “b. ch.” [bocca chiusa] above the tenor part at R37 in Musical Example 5). When they

reenter, they sing the ancient prayer Visita, quaesumus, Domine. The six-part bass chorus sings

parts that are distinct from the women in melodic contour as they chant an excerpt from the

Canticle of Simeon.

73

Musical Example 5 R37-1 – R37, Act 1, scene vi

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN original version Copyright © 1969 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany Copyright © renewed All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

74

Against the six part bass chorus, Jeanne sings yet another text, as she expresses her obsession

with her eyes and prays to God. Her melody also contrasts with the melody of the bass. It is

angular and jagged with large leaping intervals, while the basses sing the single note G2 in

staggered and irregular repetitions.

At R38-1, where the four-part chorus ends its phrase, Penderecki created a new scene to

replace the original scene, The Devils, 1/xic (See page 34 in Chapter 2): The action on stage is

simple but powerful: Jeanne sees Grandier in church with two servers, and she screams and runs

from the church. Right after this interpolated new scene, the church bell, organ, and piano appear

and the chorus (STB, without alto) whistles in clusters. The whistling contrasts with the sound of

the church bell, and also with the prayer Confiteor Deo being spoken by the altos. The chorus’s

whistles seem to mock the sacred ceremony and possibly Jeanne herself. The prayer

Confiteor Deo spoken by the altos is not clearly heard because Penderecki indicates for the altos

to mutter with the direction, “Schnell monoton gemurmelt” (fast monotonous murmur).

In Act 1, scene vi, it is not entirely clear whether the bass part is related to a demonic

supernatural sound. But since the only people visible on stage are Jeanne, the Ursuline nuns, and

Claire, the sound of the bass is unexpected, strange, and inexplicable. Also, the bass part is set

independently before the chorus whistles and contrasts with the melody of Jeanne and the text of

the SAT. These suggest that the bass functions differently from the other parts of the chorus here,

although the function of the bass is unclear at this point.

Unexpected bass voices are also present in Act 1, scene xiii in which a devil appears for

the first time. In the scene, the devil Asmodeus first speaks through Jeanne. At the end of the

scene, the chorus of sopranos and altos murmurs the name of Grandier and laughs, and the bass

chorus laughs at forte.

75

What does the bass chorus indicate here? The scene begins with a prayer recited by

Jeanne and a rosary spoken by the Sisters which is confirmed by Penderecki’s score indication:

“Im Hintergrund hört man die Schwestern den Rosenkranz schnell beten” (In the background the

Sisters can be heard saying their rosary). The Rosary continues until Father Barré enters Jeanne’s

room along with Father Mignon, Mannoury, Adam, and Rangier. At R65-1, the SA chorus

reappears right after Jeanne mentions St. Peter, the name of Grandier’s church. Prior to this

moment, the audiences only hear the SA chorus. The bass laugh suddenly enters, without

warning or rational explanation, at the very end of the scene. At this moment, we cannot

understand what the bass chorus’ laughter means; however, we can find a similar musical setting,

the bass chorus laughter that appears in Act 2, scene x.

The bass chorus also appears at the moment when Jeanne is released from the devils in

Act 2, scene x. At R 39, after Barré performs his exorcism, Jeanne sings the highest possible note

at fortississimo, and then descends with indeterminate pitches. She finally sings “Ich bin frei” (I

am free) in her own voice. Penderecki inserted an important stage cue at this point: “Die Teufel

verlassen Jeannes Körper durch ihren verzerrten Mund in einer Folge von schrecklichen

Schreien…Sie singt mit ihrer ‘eigenen’ Stimme” (The devils leave Jeanne’s body in a number of

horrible screams by way of her distorted mouth….She [Jeanne] sings with her own voice). After

Jeanne’s high note, the SA chorus interjects their own highest possible notes at fortissimo,

followed by yet more laughter from the bass soli (whose pitch is indeterminate but moves from

low to high) in the half measure of R39+2. The musical gesture of the bass soli is reminiscent of

the bass laughter at the end of Act 1, scene xiii, implying that the musical gestures of the bass

chorus in both Act 1, scene xiii and Act 2, scene x are connected with each other.

76

A bass chorus is again present after Father Barré concludes his exorcism in Act 2, scene

x. Just before the basses enter, Prince de Condé opens the relic box showing that the box is

empty. Father Barré is surprised and upset saying, “Was für ein Kunststück habt Ihr uns da

vorgespielt?” (What a cruel trick to play on a poor cleric?) The Prince says “Was für ein

Kunststück spielt Ihr uns vor?” (What a trick to play on us). Right after the Prince’s dialogue, the

bass chorus begins on a sustained F2 immediately following a long sustained F2 by the double

bass at R40. The bass sings in a distinctive vocal style, bocca chiusa, which is also used for the

group of sopranos and altos in Act 2, scene x (See page 71 in Chapter 3) and for the group of

tenors in Act 1, scene vi (See page 72 in Chapter 3). The bass chorus sustains F2 for a measure

and produces a glissando that descends slightly to an unclear pitch over the duration of one

measure. As the basses produce their glissando, the vocal style changes from bocca chiusa to

normal singing. At this moment, as seen in Musical Example 6, Penderecki gives the following

stage cue: “Plötzlich beginnt Mignon in winzigen Kreisen umherzulaufen. Er hält seinen Kopf

mit beiden Händen” (Suddenly Mignon begins to run in tiny circles, holding his head in his

hands).

Even though Mignon’s action is strange at the time, an explanation appears nine

measures later, when Leviathan speaks “Abermals betrogen!!” (Fooled once again!!), and

Beherit speaks “Mach Platz!!” (Make way!!) through Mignon. The quiet moment is broken by

baritone saxophone and other instruments including contrabassoon, glockenspiel, tuba, bass

guitar, and others playing fortississimo. At the moment Leviathan speaks through Mignon, alto

and baritone saxophones, contrabass clarinet, bassoon, contrabassoon, and horn play their lowest

possible notes. When Beherit speaks, the string parts play their highest possible notes, and

through aleatoric glissandi move gradually to a lower pitch. All of these strange sounds unfold

77

from the bass note at R40. Thus, the bass note at R40 acts as a signal for Mignon’s strange

actions and his possession.

Musical Example 6 Bass Chorus, R40 – R40+1, Act 2, scene x

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN original version Copyright © 1969 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany Copyright © renewed All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

Musical Parallels between Act 1, scene i and Act 2, scene x

In Act 1, scene i, Jeanne experiences two visions. In this scene, there are three

remarkable musical expressions: prominent augmented fourths, strong sound attacks, and weird

shifts of timbre in the chorus. These three musical expressions are also found in Act 2, scene x,

which suggests a significant connection between the two scenes.

Two different augmented fourths are present in Act 1, scene i: F-B and C-F♯. As noted

above, Małgorzala Matynia-Szukalska considers the two augmented fourths to be “Grandier’s

martyrdom motif.”68 The motif reappears at R47+3 in Act 3, scene vii and R63+1 – R65+1 in

Act 3, scene vii. The two scenes are related to Grandier’s martyrdom because they depict

Grandier’s final procession and his crucifixion.

68 Matynia-Szukalska, 95, quoted in Helman, 90.

78

A fragment of Grandier’s martyrdom motif also appears in Act 2, scene x and Act 3,

scene vii.69 The motif appears in Act 2, scene x when two basses in nun’s habits appear. The two

basses sing the text “Wir dienen him” (We serve him) on F and B, accompanied by timpani on

the same pitches (See Musical Exmaple 7).

Musical Example 7 Two Basses and Timpani, R35+5 – R35+14, Act 2, scene x

Penderecki DIE TEUFEL VON LOUDUN original version Copyright © 1969 by Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany Copyright © renewed All Rights Reserved. Used by permission of European American Music Distributors Company, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany

69 When Jeanne and Grandier finally meet at the Ursuline convent, timpani play an augmented fourth, F-B, at R59+1 of Act 3, scene vii.

79

The augmented fourths in Act 2, Scene x not only mark a return of the augmented fourths found

in Act 1, scene i but also present a similar pattern of repetition. Texturally, the repeated

augmented fourths in both scenes contrast with the music in the orchestra. In Act 1, scene i,

orchestra and chorus are free in meter with an indication quasi senza misura; however, the two

augmented fourths in the cellos and double basses repeat regularly every six bars. The meter here

is 2/4, but the music for chorus and orchestra is rhythmically aleatoric. In Act 2, scene x, right

before the two basses enter, the chorus sings their highest possible note at fortissimo without

clear rhythmic duration and then murmurs the name of Grandier. Horn and tuba have a fast short

passage in polyphony, and violin and cello have jagged melodies jumping between the highest

possible notes and lower notes. In the middle of this noisy texture, the two basses and timpani

enter on the augmented fourth, F-B, and they have regular rhythmic patterns as seen in Musical

Example 7.

The connection between Act 1, scene i and the final portion of Act 2, scene x is further

strengthened by their parallel design, as seen in Table 3. As we have discussed above, Act 1,

scene i is divided into three sections: a vision, a dialogue concerning a letter, and a second vision.

The end of Act 2, scene x is also divided into three sections: 1) an opening dialogue between

Jeanne and Leviathan in the public square; 2) a central section in which Grandier (standing apart

from and unaware of Jeanne) is denied entrance to the church, and 3) more dialogue between

Jeanne and Leviathan. As Table 3 shows, the first and the third sections reference the

supernatural, and the second the real world in both cases, creating a parallel structure.

80

Table 3 Parallel Structures in Act 1, scene i and Act 2, scene x

The supernatural Real World The supernatural Act 1, scene i Jeanne’s first vision Letter Scene Jeanne’s second vision R44-2 – R46+3 in Act 2, scene x

Conversation between Jeanne and Leviathan

Grandier is removed from his church.70

Conversation between Jeanne and Leviathan.

The parallel structures in both scenes suggest that Jeanne’s visions are related not only to the

psychological or religious supernatural visions but also to a demonic supernatural.

In both scenes, Penderecki incorporated prominent musical gestures which distinguish

natural from supernatural events. Penderecki used two strong sound attacks which lead into

Jeanne’s visions in Act 1, scene i. An analogous strong sound attack by horn, trombone, and tuba

appears at R44 in Act 2, scene x. Conversely, Penderecki used a strong sound attack to signal a

shift from the supernatural events to a real situation in which Grandier is banned from entering

his church. In the first conversation between Jeanne and Leviathan, Jeanne is standing and

expressing her fear of something, and Leviathan speaks through her: “Unsinn. Wir helfen dir in

allem, was du tust” (Nonsense. We’ll support you in all that you do). Right before the scene

changes, horn, trombone, tuba, and double bass make twice a strong sound at sforzando

fortississimo, which signals a stage change, a shift from the supernatural realm to the natural

realm. After a short conversation between De Laubardemont and Grandier, the four-part chorus,

horn, trumpet, trombone, timpani, tamtam, clapper, cello, and double bass appear in louder

dynamics (from mezzo forte to fortississimo), and the scene changes to a conversation between

Jeanne and Leviathan.

In the second conversation, there is a textural change of the sort that was noted in

Jeanne’s second vision. Just as the texture changed from clusters to atonal polyphony in that

70 In the revised version, Penderecki divided these three sections into three different scenes.

81

second vision, so here the texture of the chorus gradually changes from clusters to atonal

polyphony while the conversation is proceeding, at R45 – R45+3.

The parallels in plot design, musical structure, and musical texture in these two scenes

strengthen the possibility that Jeanne was already possessed at the beginning of the opera, long

before any clear evidence was revealed. On their own the odd events and sounds that appear in

Act 1, scene i were too ambiguous to answer the question: Was Jeanne possessed from the very

beginning? However, the connections between the scenes can support the claim that Jeanne’s

visions are related to demonic possession and that all of her actions, and especially her

accusation of Grandierare, is commanded by devils.

Conclusion

In this chapter, I discussed the musical elements that are related to Jeanne and her

demonic possession, as found in Act 1, scene i and Act 2, scene x. The possibility that Jeanne

and others were genuinely possessed has been ignored simply because characters in the opera

realize the demonic possession is false with the evidence of the nonexistent relic in Act 2, scene

x. But Penderecki successfully expressed supernatural elements with his musical techniques and

languages. Among his musical devices, I focused on Jeanne’s melody, timbral and textural

changes, and the chorus usage.

Since Penderecki’s opera makes no use at all of referential melodies or motives, he took

on significant challenges with respect to the musical depiction of events and characters. For this

reason, he was unable to rely on a special set of symbolic motives or melodies representing the

supernatural, as had Weber, Wagner and others. Instead, he employed strong timbral and textural

changes at those moments where the natural world changes to the unnatural world.

82

In Act 1, scene i, Penderecki incorporated three prominent musical elements: augmented

fourths, strong musical attacks, and textural changes. These musical elements are audible and

help to establish sharp contrasts between the portions of the scene distinguishing the supernatural

from everyday reality. However, it can be difficult to find a conclusive relationship with the

supernatural possession if one focuses only on Act 1, scene i. The composer successfully linked

the scene to a later scene, Act 2, scene x, which expresses another vivid supernatural experience

of Jeanne, a conversation with a devil, by sharing musical elements such as strong sound attacks

and weird shifts in timbre and by paralleling a structure in both scenes. These musical

connections demonstrate that Jeanne is not merely hysterical but possessed, and her supernatural

experiences are related to the demonic supernatural.

Penderecki also used different vocal ranges to distinguish a real person from the devils

who have possessed her. At certain points, Penderecki sets Jeanne in a bass range in order to

express the devils’ voices through Jeanne. A male voice emanating from a female body clearly

demonstrates that Jeanne is not pretending to be possessed but is truly possessed by the devils.

Even though the role of the supernatural is evident in certain scenes, establishing that an

extreme shift in musical style symbolizes a contrast between the natural and supernatural,

elsewhere Penderecki generated ambiguity by deviating from his established pattern of assigning

ranges, blurring the border between the two realms: e.g., in some scenes 1) a vocal range is

“mismatched” to a supernatural figure; e.g., 2) a voice from a character identifies itself as a devil

yet sings in the natural vocal range of the character; and e.g., 3) two voices, one at the highest

and the other at the lowest possible note emanate from a character. As explored above, at such

places the words imply that the texts should be sung or spoken by devils, yet Penderecki set the

texts in a soprano range. This leaves us confused as to whether Jeanne is possessed or only

83

pretending to be possessed. The ambiguity Penderecki generated using mismatched vocal ranges

gradually becomes evidence of demonic possession when a character identifies itself as a devil

yet sings in the natural vocal range of the character, as in Act 2, scene i, and a character emanates

two different vocal ranges, soprano and bass, simultaneously, as in Act 2, scene ix.

Unusual choral writing is another important key pointing to Jeanne’s possession in the opera.

Most often Penderecki utilizes the SA chorus, either on its own or with basses. While the

grouping of sopranos and altos can represent the Ursuline nuns visible on stage, at other points

these voices are merely designated as chorus in the score. In Act 1, scene xiii and Act 2, scene ix

the linkage to the demonic supernatural is unquestionable. In both scenes, the chorus of voices

seizes the words that Jeanne has just sung, in a singing style labeled sussurrando. Both times, the

demonic chorus appears when named devils have appeared and spoken. The sudden appearance

of bass voices where they do not belong, as well as their tendency to sing independently

conceived melodic material, are other prominent musical devices that Penderecki used to suggest

the presence of one or more devils in the opera.

All of these musical examples demonstrate Penderecki’s creative solutions for expressing

the demonic supernatural by means of the musical techniques and styles that he had developed

for other compositions. Of course, it can be difficult to find where Penderecki expresses the

supernatural musically since Penderecki does not use a melody as his first significant musical

device for marking a certain event. Moreover, the musical devices that he uses instead are often

not simply revealed but sophisticatedly hidden throughout the opera However, as we have seen,

once a goal is set of seeking out the role of the supernatural, the evidence of its significance is

strong: in Whiting’s play, in Penderecki’s changes to the play, and in the many musical

techniques he employed in the passages that relate to the supernatural.

84

By examining the most important musical evidence (timbral and textural changes, male

voice assignments to a female character, and bass choral usage), we can understand more fully

the central role of the supernatural in the deep and elaborate musical design of Die Teufel von

Loudun in scenes wherein the contrast between the supernatural and the everyday are real, and in

those wherein the two realms are blurred.

My interpretation prevents both scholars and opera audiences from falling into the trap of

overestimating the significance of nonexistent relics, and concluding too quickly that the

demonic possession in the opera is merely false. Such an interpretation dispels all doubt as to

Jeanne’s visions in Act 1, scene i. What she experienced then as future event became reality in

Act 3, scene vii, a reality that the audience can see for themselves. At this point, the belief that

Jeanne was merely the victim of hysteria is no longer sustainable. Musical evidence can also be

used to challenge the belief that Jeanne was free, when she was pronounced free of demonic

possession, in Act 2, scene x. Quite to the contrary, a demon remained within her, based on the

evidence of Penderecki’s music.

When supernatural elements are properly considered, a valuable new perspective on the

events of the opera and on Jeanne herself can emerge, one in which her accusation of Grandier is

influenced not merely by hysteria, but also by her demonic possession. From this perspective, the

opera presents not just the tragedy of an accused priest, a victim of the natural world, but also the

tragedy of a possessed woman, a victim of the supernatural world.

85

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books and Journals

Almén, Byron, and Robert S. Hatten. "Narrative Engagement with Twentieth-Century Music: Possibilities

and Limits." In Music and Narrative since 1900, edited by Michael L. Klein and Nicholas Reyland,

59-83. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2013.

Baculewski, Krzysztof. The History of Music in Poland. Vol. 7, The Contemporary Era, edited by Stefan

Sutkowski and translated by John Comber. Warsaw: Sutkowski Edition Warsaw, 2006.

Boniecki, Edward, and Henryk Zwolski. "Penderecki's The Devils of Loudun and the Case of Urban

Grandier." In Krzysztof Penderecki's Music in the Context of 20th-Century Theatre: Studies, Essays,

and Materials, edited by Teresa Małecka, 71-79. Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 1999.

Bylander, Cindy. Krzysztof Penderecki: A Bio-Bliography, Westport: Praeger, 2004.

Certeau, Michel de. The Possession at Loudun. Translated by Michael B. Smith. Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 2000.

Chłopicka, Regina. “20th Century Musical Theatre in Search of Values: From Mystery Play to

Expressionistic Theatre.” In Ideja celostne umetnine ob koncu tisočletja, edited by Primož Kuret,

174-178. Ljubljana, Slovenia: Ministrstvo za Kulturo Republike Slovenije, 1999.

———. "Stylistic Phases in the Work of Krzysztof Penderecki." In Studies in Penderecki, edited by Ray

Robinson and Regina Chłopicka, 51-63. Princeton, NJ: Prestige Publications, 1998.

———. “The Theme of Good and Evil in Krzysztof Penderecki’s Stage Works.” Music in Poland 44, no.

2 (1991): 5-13.

———. "Theme of Death in Penderecki's Musical Theatre: Central Theme in 20th Century Art." In Pota

glasbe ob koncu tisočletja: Dosežki—perspektive, edited by Primož Kuret, 170-175. Ljubljana:

Festival Ljubljana, 1997.

86

———. “Torture and Stake in Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun.” Theatre, Opera, Ballet:

Bilingual European Review no. 3 (1996):66-74.

Chłopicka, Regina, and Władysław Chłopicki. "Female Characters in Krzysztof Penderecki's Musical

Theatre." In Beethoven: Studien und Interpretationen. 533-540. Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w

Krakowie, 2012.

Downes, Stephen. “Daughters of Kundry? Laughter and the Grotesque in Penderecki’s The Devils of

Loudun.” In Krzysztof Penderecki's Music in the Context of 20th-Century Theatre: Studies, Essays,

and Materials, edited by Teresa Małecka, 95-107. Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 1999.

Dufallo, Richard. Trackings: Composers Speak with Richard Dufallo. New York: Oxford University Press,

1989.

Erhardt, Ludwik. Music in Poland. Translated by Jan Aleksandrowicz. Warsaw: Interpress Publishers,

1975.

Felder, David, and Mark Schneider. "An Interview with Krzysztof Penderecki." The Composer 11 (1977):

8-20.

Fullerton, James Graeme. "The Grotesque in Twentieth-Century Opera." PhD diss., City University of

New York, 2006.

Green, Jon D. “The Paradox of Silence in the Arts and Religion.” Brigham Young University Studies 35,

no. 3 (1995-96): 94-131.

Hatten, Robert S. “Penderecki’s Operas in the Context of Twentieth-century Opera.” In Krzysztof

Penderecki’s Music in the Context of 20th Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, edited by

Teresa Małecka, 15-25. Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie: 1999.

Helman, Zofia. "The Devils of Loudun by Krzysztof Penderecki: Genre—Form—Style.” In Krzysztof

Penderecki's Music in the Context of 20th-Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and Materials, edited

by Teresa Małecka, 81-94. Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 1999.

Huxley, Aldous. The Devils of Loudun. NY: Harper & Brothers, 1952.

Jacobson, Bernard. A Polish Renaissance. London: Phaidon, 1996.

87

Kellner, Hans. “Devils and Angels: A Study of the Demonic in Three Twentieth-Century Operas.” Music

and Man 2, no. 3/4 (1978): 255-272.

Maciejewski, Bob Mac. Twelve Polish Composers. London: Allgro Press, 1976.

Malecka-Contamin, Barbara. Krzysztof Penderecki: Style et matériaux. Paris: Kime, 1997.

Margles, Pamela. "Krzysztof Penderecki, his Passion and Politics." Music Magazine 7, no. 5 (1984): 10-

13.

Mirka, Danuta. "To Cut the Gordian Knot: The Timbre System of Krzysztof Penderecki." Journal of

Music Theory 45, no. 2 (Autumn 2001): 435-56.

———. The Sonoristic Structuralism of Krzysztof Penderecki. Katowice: Akademia Muzyczna, 1997.

Murphy, Scott. "A Model of Melodic Expectation for Some Neo-Romantic Music of Penderecki."

Perspectives of New Music 45, no. 1 (Winter 2007): 184-222.

Orga, Ateş. "Penderecki: Composer of Martyrdom." Music and Musicians 18, no. 1 (September 1969):

34-38.

———. “A Case of Mass Hysteria.” Music and Musicians 22, no. 3 (Novermber 1973): 40-43.

Penderecki, Kryzysztof. Labyrinth of Time: Five Addresses for the End of the Millennium. Translated by

William Brand, edited by Ray Robinson. Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 1998.

Radeta, Igor Z. "Interview with Krzysztof Penderecki." New Sound: International Magazine for Music,

no. 37 (January 1, 2011): 5-14. Accessed November 28, 2015.

http://www.newsound.org.rs/en/pdfs/ns37/01%20Interview%20Radeta%2005-14.pdf

Rapp, Dorothea. "Krzysztof Penderecki: Die Teufel von Loudun. Wege der Modernen Kunst." Die Drei:

Zeitschrift für Anthroposophie in Wissenschaft, Kunst und sozialem Leben 40, no. 4 (April 1970):

189-92.

Rappoport-Gelfand, Lidia. Musical Life in Poland: The Postwar Years 1945-1977. Translated by Irina

Lasoff. New York: Gordon and Breach, 1991.

Robinson, Grabriele Scott. “The Shavian Affinities of John Whiting.” The Shaw Review 17, no. 2 (May

1974): 86-98.

88

Robinson, Ray. "Penderecki's Musical Pilgrimage." In Studies in Penderecki, edited by Ray Robinson and

Regina Chłopicka, 33-49. NJ: Prestige Publications, 1998.

———. "Krzysztof Penderecki: An Interview and an Analysis of Stabat Mater." The Choral Journal 24,

no. 3 (November 1983): 7-11, 13-16.

———. "Bach Influences in the Penderecki St. Luke Passion." In A Bach Tribute: Essays in Honor of

William H. Scheide, edited by Paul Brainard, 189-203. Chapel Hill, NC: Hinshaw Music, 1993.

Schwinger, Wolfram. Krzysztof Penderecki, his Life and Work: Encounters, Biography, and Musical

Commentary. Translated by William Mann. New York: Schott, 1989. (Schwinger, Wolfram.

Penderecki: Begegnungen, Lebensdaten, Werkkommentare. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt,

1979; 2nd ed., Mainz: Schoott, 1994.)

———. "The Changes in Four Decades: The Stylistic Paths of Krzysztof Penderecki," translated by Allen

and Helga Winold. In Studies in Penderecki, edited by Ray Ronbinson and Regina Chłopicka, 65-82.

NJ: Prestige Publications, 1998.

———. “Penderecki and The Devils.” Opera 24, no. 11 (November 1973): 961-66.

Sluhovsky, Moshe, “The Devil in the Convent.” The American Historical Review 107, no. 5 (December

2002): 1379-1411.

Sommerville, C. John. “The Religious Music of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries.” Religion 14,

no. 3 (July 1984): 245-267.

Sutcliffe, James Helme. “Devil’s Advocate.” Opera News 33, no. 27 (June, 1969): 14-15.

———. “Double Bow For The Devils of Loudun.” High Fidelity/Musical America (September 1969): 22-

23, 26.

Thomas, Adrian. "Penderecki." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press,

accessed August 1, 2015, http://oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subxcriber/article/grove/music/21246.

———. Polish Music Since Szymanowski. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

———, "Devils of Loudun, The." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press,

accessed August 1, 2015, (March 26, 2016)

89

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriver/article/grove/music/O004356.

Tomaszewski, Mieczysław. "Penderecki's Dialogues and Plays with Time and Space on Earth." In Studies

in Penderecki, edited by Ray Robinson and Regina Chłopicka, 13-32. NJ: Prestige Publications,

1998.

———. Krzysztof Penderecki and his Music. Crakow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakovie, 2003.

Trussler, Simon. “The Plays of John Whiting.” The Tulane Drama Review 11, no. 2 (Winter 1966): 141-

151.

Tuchowski, Andrzej. "The Music Theatre in Relation to Socioethical Problems: The Devils of Loudun by

Krzysztof Penderecki as Seen in Contrast to Peter Grimes and Other Operas by Benjamin Britten."

In Krzysztof Penderecki's Music in the Context of 20th-Century Theatre: Studies, Essays, and

Materials, edited by Teresa Małecka, 109-116. Cracow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 1999.

Whiting, John. The Devils. New York: Hill and Wang, 1961.

———. “The Devils.” In Whiting-Plays Two, edited by Ronald Hayman: 249-341. London: Oberon

Books, 2001.

Scores and Librettos

Penderecki, Krzysztof. Die Teufel von Loudun. 190 pages. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1969.

———. Die Teufel von Loudun. 205 pages. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1969.

———. Die Teufel von Loudun, revised. Mainz: Schott's Söhne, 2013. Accessed November 20, 2015,

http://www.schott-

music.com/shop/products/search/quick/result.html?searchMode=SM_QUICK&Quick=Teufel%20vo

n%20loudun.

———. Die Teufel von Loudun. Libretto. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1969.

———. The Devils of Loudun. Libretto. English version by Desmond Clayton. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne,

1969.

90

Recording and Media

Penderecki, Krzysztof. Die Teufel von Loudun. Performed by Tatiana Troyanos, Andrzej Hiolski, Bernard

Ladysz, Hans Sotin, Karl-Heinz Gerdesmann, Rolf Manero, Jurt Marschner, Heinz Blankenburg, and

the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Chorus of the Hamburg State Opera, conducted

by Marek Janowski, Recorded 1969. Arthaus Musik, 2007. DVD.

Whiting, John. “The Devils” (video clip), uploaded by Thomas Rimmer, Febrary 13, 2016. Accessed

April 14, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjW1iC8ijDg.