Verklärte Nacht

Photo: Tony van Muyden
On this photo: Jeanne Solan, Jon Benoit, Nils Christe

Choreographer: Jiří Kylián

Based on a late Romantic lyric by Richard Dehmel, Schönberg's composition opus 4 (completed in 1899), was first performed in Vienna in 1903. The original score for string sextet was later transcribed for string orchestra (1917 and 1943) by the composer himself. Richard Dehmel is brilliantly interpreted by the composer in a powerful multilayered composition, in which emotional and psychological statements play a leading role.

Jiří Kylián's choreography is based on the latter version and reacts on the late Romantic musical score with its lyrical, passionate content. A woman confesses to her lover that she is expecting a child from her former husband. Passion makes them accept the unborn as a token of their own love.