"Der Freischütz," or "The Freeshooter," a romantic opera in two acts, with words by Friedrich Kind and music by Carl Maria von Weber, was first produced in Berlin, June 18, 1821.
CHARACTERS.
Prince Ottokar.
Cuno, the head ranger.
Max,
Caspar, two young foresters serving under him.
Kilian, a rich peasant.
A Hermit.
Zamiel, the fiend huntsman.
Agnes, Cuno's daughter.
Anna, her cousin.
Chorus of Hunters, peasants, bridesmaids and invisible spirits.
The scene is laid in Bohemia, shortly after the Seven Years' War. The story of the opera is founded on a tradition among the German followers of Nimrod, that whoever chooses to seek the aid of Zamiel, the demon huntsman, might by selling his soul to him, receive seven magic bullets which would hit the desired mark with unerring accuracy. If he succeeded in gaining another victim for Zamiel, his own time of life would be extended but if he failed in this, his life was forfeited.
When the story opens, Cuno, the head ranger to Ottokar, a Bohemian Prince, has promised his daughter Agnes to Max, one of his subordinates, on condition that he win in an approaching contest of marksmanship. Caspar, a second forester who has made the fatal bargain with the fiend, causes Max. who always has been a skilled marksman, to shoot poorly at a preliminary trial. Jeered at by his companions and hopeless of winning his adored Agnes, the lover is in despair and believes himself deserted by heaven. Caspar has a double motive in wishing Max's downfall. He must bring a new victim to the fiend and, furthermore, he is in love with Agnes, whom he hopes to win. To tempt his rival, he gives him his rifle and bids him fire at an eagle soaring so far above them that it is but a speck in the sky. To the youth's astonishment, the huge bird falls dead at his feet, while demon laughter echoes about him. Casper plucks a feather and puts it in Max's cap, telling him to think of Agnes' delight in his prowess. Max, however, recoils when he learns the nature of the bullet, but Caspar pictures to him the sorrow of the maiden if he (Max) fails to win her and, with consummate hypocrisy, tries to convince him that it is his duty to take advantage of every means within his power. Finally, Max promises to meet Caspar in the Wolf's Glen at midnight to secure a new supply of bullets. The exultant Caspar believes that he has not only accomplished the down-fall of Max but has gained for himself respite from the fiend.
The second act opens in Cuno's house, where Agnes and Anna, her lively cousin, are found, the former lamenting the fall of an ancestral portrait from the wall, which she fears to be an evil omen. Only a few hours previously, she has met a peasant in the wood who has warned her of some clanger and has given her a magic rose-wreath with which to ward it off. Max comes but he, too, is filled with forebodings and his heart almost stops beating when he learns that the portrait fell just at seven o'clock, the time he shot the eagle. At a late hour, Max goes to keep his tryst in the Wolf's Glen, though implored by the maidens to remain with them. Before his arrival, Caspar has bargained with the Demon and has bought the young hunter's destruction, in return for which he, himself, may have three years more of life. Six of the bullets shall do Max's bidding but the seventh shall kill his bride. When Max approaches, the chorus of invisible spirits is heard no more. Zamiel vanishes to the sound of low thunder and, as Caspar blows the fire which rises out of the ground, the birds of night flutter weirdly about his head.
Suddenly, Max discerns on an opposite rock his mother's wraith, raising a ghostly hand in warning. Fearing that he may yet lose his victim, Caspar calls on Zamiel for help and, in place of his mother's form is seen that of Agnes, who appears distracted and is about to throw herself down the cascade. This silent argument settles the matter with Max and he hastens to assist Caspar in melting over the fire in a crucible a weird decoction out of which the bullets are to be formed. At the casting of the seventh, a frightful storm throws Max to the ground and Zamiel seizes his hand.
The last act opens like its predecessors in Cuno's house, where Agnes is dressing for her wedding. She still is distraught and tells Anna of a dream in which she fancied herself a white dove and was fired at by her lover. As the dove fell she was herself again and a great bird of prey lay dying at her feet. Her cousin attempts to divert her thoughts and is assisted in this by the arrival of the brides-maids. But all is undone when the newcomers open the box which is to contain the bride's garland, and find that by mistake a funeral wreath has been sent. Sadly Agnes bethinks her of the peasant's consecrated roses and, wearing them, she goes away with her attendants to the Prince's camp, where the shooting contest is to be held and where Max is to win her. Only the seventh bullet remains to Max, for three of them Caspar has beguiled from him and three others he has used in the morning. The Prince, who has witnessed his three marvelous feats of marksmanship, bids him to be of good cheer and confidence and, pointing out a white dove, gives him the signal to fire. The shot goes wild and Caspar and Agnes both sink to the ground. The girl, however, is unhurt. The holy roses have saved her but the bullet flying past her has buried itself in Caspar's heart instead.
When they have borne the body away, Max confesses that his three shots of the morning were of malign origin. The indignant sovereign pronounces upon him sentence of banishment but moved by the pleas of Agnes and Cuno, he leaves the matter to the decision of a hermit, who justly proposes that in view of his past uprightness he be granted a year of trial and, if he passes it successfully, that Agnes then shall become his bride.
"Der Freischütz " is epoch-making in that it was the opera which completed the establishing of the romantic school, and which gave Germany a distinctively national opera. All Germany rose to acclaim the merit and charm of the work, delighted with its freshness and with the note of romance and mystery which echoed through its music. There is displayed in it that fine imaginative power which Weber possessed in high degree. The great scenes are treated with a dramatic understanding and sympathy not before equaled. The music of the Incantation scene is of a weirdness and daring musical power until then unknown and throughout the score may be noticed unmistakable evidence of the leit-motif used later with notable effect by Weber's great successor, admirer and, in a certain measure, disciple, 'Wagner.
Remarkable passages in its score are the overture, which is one of the masterpieces of its kind and is known and admired the world over; the stirring hunting choruses; Max's lovely solos, in the first act, "Durch die Wälder, durch die Auen" (" Thro' the forests, thro' the meadows ") ; " Jetzt ist wohl ihr Fenster offen" (" Now. methinks, beside her lattice"); Caspar's demoniac aria, " Triumph ! die Rache gelingt" ("Revenge! my triumph is nigh ") ; Agatha's merry "Kommt ein schlanker Bursch" (" Let a gallant youth ") ; Agatha's beautiful recitative and aria, "Leise, leise, frome Weise" (" Softly sighing"); the Incantation scene ; the Bridesmaids' chorus ; the Hunter's chorus and the finale.
