Shooting Matches, Magic Bullets Highlight Der Freischütz Opera
Not an opera fan? Well you should be. Here’s an interesting bit of trivia. Did you know that one of the most famous German operas is all about competitive rifle shooting? Believe it or not, the popular von Weber opera Der Freischütz (“The Marksman”), features shooting matches and precision bullet-making.
The opera’s story should “strike a chord” with our readers. In order to win an important shooting match, the hero, Max, casts seven “Magic Bullets”. He is lured into this occult reloading practice by a fellow shooter with a hidden, not-so-nice agenda. (Sound familiar you guys?) But what our hero Max doesn’t realize is that the devil is at work, and if Max uses the magic bullets at the big match he will forfeit his soul and suffer eternal damnation. Lesson to our readers — don’t try to win matches with Magic Bullets. CLICK HERE for the full story…
The overture and the Jägerchor (“Hunters’ Chorus”) from Act 3 of Der Freischütz are often performed as concert pieces. Listen to a stirring performance of the Jägerchor in the video below. This features full orchestra, mass male choir, and the ‘Jagdhornverein Edelweiss’ horns. You’ll enjoy it…
Jägerchor (Hunters’ Chorus) from Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber
Andre Rieu with the ‘Jagdhornverein Edelweiss’ and the Männerchor ‘Maastrichter-Staar’.
Der Freischütz (usually translated as “The Marksman” or “The Freeshooter”) is an opera in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber, with libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus, Berlin. It is considered the first important German Romantic opera. The plot is based on the German folk legend of the Freischütz and many of its tunes were inspired by German folk music. Despite its daring innovations, it quickly became an international success, with some 50 performances in the first 18 months after the premiere. Among the many artists influenced by Der Freischütz was a young Richard Wagner.
Jägerchor (Hunters’ Chorus) — full version with procession of ‘Jagdhornverein Edelweiss’ in Maastricht.
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Tags: Der Freischütz, Hunters' Chorus, Magic Bullets, Opera, The Marksman, von Weber, Wagner
I’m pretty sure the Devil could’ve picked up a few souls yesterday for as little as a few less 9s in the final string…
Cool story.
Dammit! I was finally glad we didn’t have him on TV here anymore… now he’s on my favorite shooting site as well.
What’s the world coming to?
It’s a great opera! It was one that appealed strongly to the 19th century German psyche and was enormously popular. As a musician it has been my pleasure to perform the overture numerous times and I have seen the opera on stage. It’s spooky and thrilling even if you’re not an opera fan. See it if you get a chance; it’s still performed fairly regularly. I’m pleased to see a little music here!!!
It is one of the pivotal operas in music history. It’s scare appeal at the time would be analogous to the effect ‘The Exorcist’ had, in it’s day.
Another opera which features firearms, specifically, a chic with a pistol is Fidelio, by L.V. Beethoven. In the crucial denouement the villain pulls a knife and our plucky heroin pulls out a pistol, and this was before Col. Colt. was even born.
@Dasher
haha so true