Abstract

　　The French opera Werther by Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was adapted from the work “The Sorrows of Young Werther” (Die Leiden des jungen Werther) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), the most distinguished German figure of the time, who was a politician, philosopher, scientist as well as a poet. Goethe’s poems are often favored by musicians, a great amount of work have been set to music, such as “West-Eastern Diwan” (West-ostlicher Divan), the widely-known “Faust” which is considered the greatest literature, later became Charles-Francois Gounod''s (1818-1893) operatic master piece. “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, which raised big issue in the zeuropean society of that time, also inspired J. Massenet to write this beautiful Franch Opera “Werther”. Goethe had relationships with various women throughout his life time, but these fruitless relationships became the sources of many of his works. For example, the poem “Rose on the Heath” (Heidenroslein) was created for the daughter of the priest in Strasburg when he bids farewell to her, and the novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther” was completed when the relationships between Goethe and Charlotte Buff (1753-1828) ended during his law internship in Reichsgericht, which is located in Wetzlar.

　　Massenet’s “Werther” was a creative work of Franch lyric opera (opera lyrique). During the mid 19th century, the prevailing operas in Europe were the Italian opera of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) and the German opera of Wilhelm Richard Wagner (1813-1883). French opera was not very popular at that time, and even in the capital city Paris the predominant opera genre was foreign operas, which had French ballet parts in them. French composers sought to change this situation and to develop true French opera style, Gounod’s “Faust” attempted and succeeded by fusing together comic opera (opera comique), ballet, Italian opera, and Gothic literature. This fusion of multiple genres into an opera was a big success, and the unique genre of French lyric opera came to the scene. “Werther” was a breakthrough in French lyric opera in terms of its orchestration, adding new instruments such as saxophone and English horn; using simple melodic line balanced with dramatic tension; as well as emphosis of female characters.

　　Looking at Massenet’s life, it is not hard to understand why he could depict female characters in such a way. Massenet’s father passed away when he was a child, apart from supporting the family, Massenet’s mother also taught him piano. It was evidently clear that Massenet regarded his mother as a great parent. Under the difficult circumstances of that time, Massenet still was able to become a pupil at Paris Conservatory (Conservatoire de Paris). He worked extremely hard to study composition, then he was awarded the Prix de Rome, which was then a great honor for French composers. After winning the prize, Massenet went to study in Italy. During his study in Italy, he met Franz Liszt (1811-1886), and Liszt introduced him to a clever and brilliant woman who later became his wife. They all inspired the romanticism and feminism in his operas.

　　In writing this paper, I hope to gain deeper understanding of the artistic value of the literrature, so one day I may sing Werther with genuine feelings and great inspiration.