Jeanne d'Arc

Libretto by Kristine Tornquist (G)

M,A,Bar; 2trebles; mixed chorus(with 2soli);
2(I=picc,II=afl,bfl).2.corA.2(II=Ebcl).bcl.dbcl.2.dbn-4.3.2.1-perc(3)-harp-sampler(=cel)-org-strings

Already the neologism “movie-church-opera” as generic name gives a hint of the scope of the project: the layers of the “silent” movie pictures from Carl Theodor Dreyer’s La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (1928), a continuative dramaturgy, and a newly composed and live-performed “soundtrack” require a well-thought-out interlinking. The new concept of a contemporary film music to classic silent movies represents a focus in Kalitzke’s oeuvre of the second decade of the twenty-first century: his scores to the movies Die Weber (The Weavers, 1927), Orlacs Hände (Orlac’s Hands, 1924), and Schatten (Shadows, 1923) employ a modern tonal palette and establish self-assured idiosyncratic focal points, but also work out the masterful aspects of the film pictures from the early phase of cinematic art. In the music, the composer thus always reflects the artistic intention of the movie maker and the applied cinematic stylistic devices, including experimental cutting techniques and unusual perspectives.
Besides three soloists, a full symphony orchestra, and choirboys, in Jeanne d’Arc the composer also takes recourse to electro-acoustic sounds for the depiction of the inner world of the figures. This musical opulence requires two sub-conductors alongside the main conductor, who has to maintain the synchronisation with the film. With an additional dramaturgy – the librettist Kristine Tornquist is responsible for the extra scenes – a cross-genre work with psychological profundity comes into being.

Dramatic, Tragic