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A THEATER PLAY FROM A CONCERT PIECE; POETRY AND RITUAL IN THE GESAMTKUNST WERK?
The necessity of solving this problem shows in the musical dramaturgy that
came to fruition on the commands and instructions of Claudel. Although an
important characteristic of the play is that the text and the music are coequal,
Claudel’s personality still dominates. Honegger stated that he regarded himself
as only a shadow of Claudel, and not a bona fide co-author of Joan of Arc at
the Stake.* The poet tried to leave enough space for the musical components
of the play, and reading its dramatic text makes it quite obvious: the choir,
the numerous textual repetitions, and the injection of recitable Latin phrases
in the normally French text all strengthen the inducing effect of the musical
devices. The choice of music of eclectic styles and various epochs was justified
dramaturgically by the play’s still image-like structure.
The play exemplifies the process of Joan of Arc’s becoming a French national
heroine in one frozen moment, and for this purpose using the composer’s usual
imagined biblical or mythological scenes would not have worked as intended,
so traditional French historical locations and scenes were used — with the
corresponding musical inserts. Therefore, Honegger uses folk songs for the
enthronement of Charles VII in Reims, medieval court music for the judg¬
ment of the temporal powers of Joan, children’s songs for her early years in
Domrémy, and finally jazz music for the trial. There are three scenes in par¬
ticular that represent the fate, and the later social functions, of the Maid of
Orléans: the cards scene, Reims, and childhood. These are “the scenes, where
Joan becomes not only a national but a demotic heroine as well, related to her
own historical environment; through these scenes the approach of the piece
becomes unified.”°
All in all it is safe to state that despite the demands of both artists and
Claudel’s initial standoff, the collaboration had productive effects on the two
different traditional background-bearing authors in that Claudel, who played
an active role in Catholic renewal,!° and Honegger, with his Swiss Protestant
background, were able to forge this dramaturgically and narratively coher¬
ent creative work, culminating successfully in a dual Saint Joan personality
8 “Claudel played such a big part, I do not even consider myself an author of the play, only a
humble contributor.” Ibid., 254. This fact is interesting to ponder today, as the play is usually
performed as a concert and this is how it was canonized. The reasoning for this is mostly
known to concertgoers and musical society, who already considered the piece as part of basic
arts knowledge, as opposed to the insanely detailed symbol system and huge authorial cor¬
pus of Claudel, whose works, according to Hungarian traditions at the very least, are mostly
known by university students. This is why Joan of Arc at the Stake is principally known as
Honegger’s piece and not Claudel’s, although Claudel is also well-known for his prosaic pieces,
such as The Tidings Brought to Mary and The Satin Slipper.
" Szöllősy: Ibid., 258. Honegger only uses Gregorian or folk-music when it is justified: only when
he wants to further strengthen the connectedness of the communities (religious or laical).
Ibid., 259-266.
10 Kristöf Rechtenwald: Johanna újra a máglyán [Joan at the Stake again], https://www.vivala¬
musical.hu/johanna-ujra-a-maglyan/, accessed 28 August 2020.