Pied Piper, The

Full title	The Pied Piper of Hamelin op. 24 / Der Rattenfänger von Hameln op. 24
Date composed	1932/1934
Details	Märchenspiel in vier Bildern / Children’s Play in four scenes; libretto by Helene Scheu-Riesz; arranged for musical setting and supplied with song texts by Rudolf Stephan Hoffmann; all texts later translated into English by Sylvia Spencer Welch.  1. Vorspiel / Prelude Bild 1 / Scene 1 2. Chor der Ratten / Rat's Chorus 3. Lied des Rattenfängers / Song of the Pied Piper Bild 2 / Scene 2 4. Der Rattenzauber / The Rat's Enchantment 5. Choral (Nun danket alle Gott) / Chorale 6. Rattenfänger und Kinderchor / Pied Piper and Children's Chorus 7. Zwischenspiel / Interlude Bild 3 / Scene 3 8. Die Kinder im Berge / The Children in the Mountain 9. Die Kinder verlassen den Berg / The Children Leave the Mountain Bild 4 / Scene 4 10. Die Kinder kehren heim / The Children Return Home 11. Finale Orchestration: tenor, children’s chorus, speaking parts, 1,1,1,1,/horn/timp. (2 players)/perc./piano, harmonium/strings. Most of the work was completed in 1932, but Weigl composed three additional sections in the two years following; the last of these additions bears the conclusion date 17 October 1934. See also Weigl's arrangement of the work as an orchestral suite. No. 3, Lied des Rattenfängers / Song of the Piper, can be performed separately by voice and piano; vocal range D4–A5. Performance duration: ca. 90 min.
Manuscript sources	NYPL JOB 73-141, holograph of full score (7 folded folios [25 numbered and some unnumbered pages]), with composer’s datings at the ends of all sections. Most of the work—nos. 1 and 3–10—was completed in February and March 1932, the dates clustering between 2./III. [or possibly 2./II.] 1932 at the end of the Prelude to 6./III at the end of the Finale. A newly inserted no. 7, the Interlude, bears the date 20./IX. 1932. Three additional new sections—nos. 2a (which possibly replaced a discarded original no. 2), 4a, and 7a (Ballet)—were completed in October 1934; 4a, the last of these three new sections to be completed, is an extended 19-page section ending with the indication “Attaca No. 5 (Choral)” and the date and signature 17./X. 1934 / KW.
Publication details	1932, Universal Edition: U.E. 10.425, piano-vocal score, arr. Ernst Simon; U.E. 10.436, chorus score); and U.E. 10.430, libretto, German and English.
Availabiity	Piano reduction and orchestral score and parts available from ACA; orchestral score and parts for the numbers that make up the suite, piano reduction, choral score, and libretto available from KWF.
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