Mozart Opera Apollo et Hyacinthus

Classical Music / Operas 

 

Apollo et Hyacinthus, K. 38, is an opera written in 1767 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1767. He was 11 years old at the time. The opera is considered Mozart's first true opera, in three acts (when one considers that Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots is simply a sacred drama).  As is suggested by the name, the opera is based upon Greek mythology as told by Roman poet Ovid in his masterwork Metamorphoses. Interpreting this work, Rufinus Widl wrote the libretto in Latin. 

 

 

Opera Written: 1767

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

First performance: May 13, 1767. University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

Language: Latin

Adapted from: Ovid's Metamorphoses

In Greek mythology, Hyacinthus was a Spartan prince of remarkable beauty and a lover of the sun god Apollo. He was also admired by Zephyrus, the god of the West wind, Boreas, the god of the North wind and a mortal man named Thamyris. Hyacinthus chose Apollo over the others.The myth of Apollo and Hyacinth is a celebration of male love. The Metamorphoses' main theme addresses change and transformation in the classical world. Together Apollo and Hyacinth engaged in all kinds of sports and other pastimes, from hunting to music-making.

Brief History of Apollo et Hyacinthus

After a considerable success in other areas of Europe, Mozart was commissioned to compose a piece for the Benedictine University in his hometown of Salzburg. Mozart's father, Leopold, was a notable name at the university, as many of his pupils were enrolled in the university high school, where theater played a large role in the curriculum. Mozart's first encounter with the university was at the age of five on September 1 and 3, 1761, when he appeared as an extra in Jakob Anton Wimmer and Johann Ernst Eberlin's Latin Drama Sigismundes Hungariae Rex. Though Mozart was often involved at the University, he was never enrolled as a student.

Apollo et Hyacinthus (Apollo and Hyacinth) was part of a much larger work, which has caused debate as to whether this work can be considered Mozart's first 'operatic work.' Many historians consider it to be operatic because it is a secular drama composed of five arias, two duets, a chorus and a trio, connected with recitative. However, it was part of the annual end-of-term 'final comoedia' and did not even receive a distinguishing name until Mozart's sister Nannerl entered it into Leopold's 'catalogue' of his son's early works with the name Apollo und Hyacinth after the composer's death.

It was customary at the university to perform short musical dramas or 'intermedia' interspersed between acts of the larger play. This particular performance was of the five-act tragedy Clementia Croesi, written by the university's philosophy professor Rufinius Widl. The main work and Mozart's intermedia were designed by Widl to share general motifs and themes. Widl's tragedy dealt with the accidental death of the son of the King of Lydia by a misplaced spear throw. Mozart's work paralleled this theme by mounting a story first told by Euripides. 

In the original story, Apollo accidentally kills his lover, a boy named Hyacinth, with one of his stray discus throws. The discus throw was encouraged by Apollo's rival, Zephyr, jealous of his affair with Hyacinth. A grief-stricken Apollo then causes a gorgeous flower to bloom from Hyacinth's grave. Father Rufinius retained the outlined of this plot but removed the obviously controversial themes of a homosexual love triangle by adding in two new characters: Hyacinth's father Oebalus and his sister Melia, the new source of Apollo's love and the jealousy of Zephyr. The performance was a great success but was only performed once during the Mozart's lifetime. 

 

Photo Credit: 

Death of Hyacinth. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain.  Death of Hyacinth, by Alexander Kiselyov

 

Resources:

Angermüller, Rudolph (1988). Mozart's Operas. New York: Rizzoli. pp. 15–17.

Apollo et Hyacinthus. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed May 13, 2009.

Eisen, Cliff; Keefe, Simon P. (2006). The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Osborne, Charles (1978). The Complete Operas of Mozart: A Critical Guide. New York: Atheneum.

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