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A Consideration of Marc Blitzstein’s Choral Opera, The Condemned (1932)

was complete, news came that the conductor desired Conclusion
to meet Blitzstein. After meeting Coates and his wife, Given this history, does The Condemned deserve a hear-
Blitzstein sent word to Eva: “Triumph. Coates says ing today? Yes. To be sure, musicians approaching the

utterly original. Russia will invite me to demonstrate. score for the first time would probably agree with Cop-
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Meyerhold probable regisseur.” Blitzstein took ex- land’s assessment: Blitzstein’s musical craft is exempla-
tensive notes of his meeting, and Coates’s comments ry, particularly his contrapuntal writing, but it is a hard
seemed to all but guarantee a Soviet performance of work to embrace. The uncompromising theme and
The Condemned: “I will tell them in Moscow that this is singularly dark musical character throughout would
a very, very important work, and one which should ap- surely make this choral opera a challenge for both the
peal to all of us…. utterly original” (although he added audience and the performers. And, to Boulanger’s con-
that the texture seemed “monotonous” at times, and cern (“pour la justesse”), the lack of support from the
the opera could use “a bit of variety”). Coates thought orchestra would require a large group of very skilled,
the Soviet Union would pay for Blitzstein’s living ex- independent choral singers. But a sensitive reading and
penses and his return fare. Overjoyed, the composer a sympathetic audience would find more: the score

felt this moment to be “a turning point in the business exudes an earnestness and a sincerity that speaks to
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of ‘career.’” Blitzstein’s own political and social convictions, and

It was not to be. Blitzstein planned for his trip and today’s listeners might find the themes unexpectedly
contacted Coates again after finishing the opera, but resonant and timely. As indicated by the enthusiasm of

he received no response. He would learn disturbing Boulanger and Eisler, The Condemned contains several

news in a conversation with Prokofiev: Albert Coates moments of high drama and musical inspiration, many
had broken his association with the Russians. Blitzstein, of the key scenes and staging concepts impossible to
in desperation, attempted to reach Coates again, to no visualize without seeing them performed onstage. And,
avail. After briefly considering making a trip to Russia as mentioned at the outset, it is possibly the most exten-

anyway, he wrote to Eva in January 1933 that he had sive choral work on the topic of political persecution
given up all hopes for a Soviet performance of The Con- from the Great Depression—the very idea of a “choral
demned. opera,” particularly on such charged political and so-
The harshness of the work, with its dissonance and cial themes, is unique and enigmatic.
lack of conventional beauty (the chorus receives almost The Condemned occupies a singular historical place
no harmonic support from the orchestra), along with in Blitzstein’s output, immediately preceding his most

the forces required to pull it off, proved insurmount- enduring work, The Cradle Will Rock. Eva Goldbeck,
able obstacles in Blitzstein’s last attempts to perform always an ardent supporter of this choral opera, ob-
the composition, as evidenced by a rejection letter sent served that the “characteristic greatness of Blitzstein’s
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from the BBC early in 1935. Of course, the cost to music” had here reached its zenith, noting “its uni-
mount even a single production of the work would have versally available combination of monumentality and
been substantial, requiring hundreds of performers for drama; its individual statement of human elements;
only thirty-five minutes of music—diffi cult under any its purity, depth, and concentration of spirit; above

circumstances, but especially during the extreme eco- all, its complete musicality.” Most presciently, she felt
nomic turmoil of the Great Depression. Shards of the sure that Blitzstein’s best work lay ahead: “it suggests…
composition would appear in later compositions, but that at some time Blitzstein will write a great com-
no audience would ever hear Blitzstein’s choral opera. ic work in music stemming directly out of this great
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tragic work.” After having plumbed enormous depths
in this abstract, psychological drama, exhausting his
inspiration in the process, Blitzstein’s next stage work
would do just that, providing him with the success and
fame he had wished for The Condemned. In fact, one

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2021 Volume 61 Number 11 47