My wife Finola and I attended the Opera, “Silent Night”, at the Wexford Opera Festival this week. This Opera, composed by Kevin Puts, won the 2012 Pulitzer Price for Opera, and its European premiere in Wexford during the centenary of the event it recalls is timely
It is set on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1914, when, for a day or so, there was in informal truce on parts on the Western front, and soldiers from the German and Allied armies mingled with one another in No Man’s land, sang Christmas hymns together, played soccer, exchanged drinks, and buried their dead.
The message of the Opera is that war in unnatural, and that, given an opportunity, people prefer to be reconciled to another, as the soldiers were, all too briefly, 100 years ago. It also brings out the pain of separation from family that is part of modern war.
It was a thought provoking, and beautifully staged event.
1 comment:
The history of humankind, the barbarities of the 20th century, and the continuing conflicts today suggest that warfare is a not “unnatural” but in fact a part of the human condition. I think it is to the credit of Puts’ work that he does not shy away from this. The opera of course is principally concerned with the attempts of the men to find some humanity through everyday things and personal contact in the midst of the carnage. But we know, as they depart for Neuve Chapelle, Verdun and the Eastern Front, that these same men will fight and kill again. And although Puts seems to put the blame principally on militarism he does point to more complex origins and purposes for the War, particularly in Sprink’s speech before he seeks release by surrendering to the French. At the time socialists and internationalists were dismayed that people of good will could not find common cause against what they saw as imperialist folly. Nationalism trumped international solidarity. I think there is some danger in assuming that if only people could be brought to think right, to discover their common humanity and their true nature war would disappear. The period of peace in North America and Western Europe is unusual, although it does suggest that democracy, personal freedoms, high standards of living, and international cooperation have a critical role in maintaining stability. Yet it is also true that these same areas have the highest expenditure on the military and invest most in arms research and development. The realist in me suggests that, in a world of nation states, the best way to preserve the peace is the balance of power. Unfortunately World War 1 shows how difficult it is to find that balance and how easily we can sleepwalk into disaster. Ted Barrington
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