The First Performance of the Ninth Symphony in Japan – 1 June 1918 – Bandō Prisoner‑of‑War Camp
Article taken from Il romanzo popolare del pentagramma e della tavolozza by Beniamino Cuomo
Allow me to dedicate the final pages to Lodovico Van, 250 years after his birth, in this dramatic 2020 (the year in which the book was essentially written), which saw all the events planned for this anniversary cancelled. “Waving in the internet as the dolphins in the wavy sea” (see the quoted thought by Ginsburg), I came across this marvellous story that connects well with what I have written earlier. On 1 June 1918, the German soldiers and sailors imprisoned in the Bandō prisoner‑of‑war camp (today the municipality of Naruto‑Daiku) performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the first time in Japan, with orchestra, choir, and four male soloists! It may sound like fake news, but that is exactly how it happened, and you can read about it on these two excellent websites:
https://bando.dijtokyo.org — curated by the “Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien” (in German)
https://www.city.naruto.tokushima.jp/contents/daiku/english/about.html — website managed by the Municipality of Naruto‑Daiku
The story was also fictionalized in the 2006 film Baruto no dakuen (German title Ode an die Freude); below you can see a still from the trailer. The Ninth is deeply loved in Japan and, as you can read in the “Manifest” published on the Naruto‑Daiku website, this profound bond has its roots precisely in that first wartime performance, almost as if to exorcise it forever. I reproduce it here almost in full:
To everyone loving the “Ninth” in our country. For many years we have been singing the “Ninth”, on our own, in cities or communities, born out of very specific or local traditions and reasons. Today, more than 200 performances and concerts of the “Ninth” open every year in all of Japan, and those large-scale cultural events have become known all around the world. The origins of the love towards the “Ninth” in our country can be found in the first performance in 1918 by German POWs incarcerated in the Bando POW camp in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture. This legacy of the “Ninth”, handed down to Naruto City, was brought back to life by Naruto’s citizens and their enthusiasm and effort. Since this revival, other choirs singing the “Ninth” joined the performance in Naruto and in 1989 a joint group was formed and has since then been an important part in promoting the “Ninth”… Our beloved “Ninth” has, hidden among its high level of musical perfection, a message of peace, friendship and humanity. Friedrich Schiller’s words are, in a global world still filled with lots of hardship and suffering, an encouragement to pursue dreams. They are, in other words, a song of praise towards humanity.
There were about thirty prisoner‑of‑war camps in Japan, some of which were visited by representatives of the Red Cross. Among them, Bandō distinguished itself for the initiatives implemented by its commander, T. Matsue, to make the loss of freedom more bearable for the German prisoners. Thus, the German sailors and soldiers were given the opportunity to cultivate plots of land, raise livestock, produce cheese, sweets and other goods; to practise sports and physical exercise; to organize art exhibitions; to publish a newspaper; and to form theatre groups, chamber‑music ensembles, and orchestras that even performed concerts outside the camp. There were in fact two orchestras, even competing with one another, conducted by Hermann Hansen and Paul Engel.
Film Ode an die Freude – 2006
Paul Engel
Orchestra, Choir, and Soloists Conducted by Hermann Hansen
Physical Exercises in the Detention Camp
Original Poster of the Ninth Symphony at the Bandō Camp
Christmas Concert of 1917
Concert on 18 August 1918
26 May 1917 – Mandolin Orchestra Evening. Featuring a piece by Gaetano Braga, noted Italian cellist and composer.
Doktor Faust, Puppet Show
Chamber‑Music Program, Lieder, and Sonata for Piano and Violin
Everyone knows the Ninth Symphony – it is not even necessary to add who wrote it – whereas two gems (or rather, in my view, two masterpieces) by Lodovico Van remain almost unknown, both marked by verses of high moral significance. “From the heart may it reach the heart,” Beethoven wrote on the title page of the Missa Solemnis; likewise, I hope that those who choose to listen to these two pieces in reverent silence may feel a sincere and moving empathy toward the men and women who endured abuse and deprivation, or who lost their lives in the name of ideals or because of reckless decisions.
The first is the canon for six voices Edel sei der Mensch, WoO 185: while the singers intone the verse “Let man be noble and generous” from Goethe’s poem Das Göttliche, the clarinet repeats the melody, projecting the listener toward infinite spaces.
The second is the lied WoO 150, Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel, of which I reproduce almost all the stanzas (text by Heinrich Goeble):
Abendlied unterm gestirnten Himmel
Wenn die Sonne niedersinket,
Und der Tag zur Ruh sich neigt,
Luna freundlich leise winket,
Und die Nacht herniedersteigt;
Wenn die Sterne prächtig schimmern,
Tausend Sonnenstrassen flimmern:
Fühlt die Seele sich so gross,
Windet sich vom Staube los.
Schaut so gern nach jenen Sternen,
Wie zurück ins Vaterland,
Hin nach jenen lichten Fernen,
Und vergisst der Erde Tand;
Will nur ringen, will nur streben,
Ihre Hülle zu entschweben:
Erde ist ihr eng und klein,
Auf den Sternen möcht sie sein.
Ob der Erde Stürme toben,
Falsches Glück den Bösen lohnt:
Hoffend blicket sie nach oben,
Wo der Sternenrichter thront.
Keine Furcht kann sie mehr quälen,
Keine Macht kann ihr befehlen;
Mit verklärtem Angesicht,
Schwingt sie sich zum Himmelslicht.
Eine leise Ahnung schauert
Mich aus jenen Welten an;
Lange, lange nicht mehr dauert
Meine Erdenpilgerbahn,
Bald hab ich das Ziel errungen,
Bald zu euch mich aufgeschwungen,
Ernte bald an Gottes Thron
Meiner Leiden schönen Lohn.
Beethoven anf friends, Albert Graefle (1807-1899)
