The Flight Across the Ocean

The Flight across the Ocean (Der Ozeanflug) is a Lehrstück by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, inspired by We, Charles Lindbergh's 1927 account of his transatlantic flight. Written for the Baden-Baden Music Festival, it was originally entitled Lindbergh's Flight (Der Lindberghflug) and premiered in 1929 with music by Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith^[1] in a broadcast by the Southwest German Radio Orchestra under the direction of Hermann Scherchen.^[2]

Shortly afterwards, Weill replaced the Hindemith sections with his own music and this new version (described as a 'cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra') opened at Berlin's Kroll Theatre on 5 December 1929, conducted by Otto Klemperer. The play was enlarged as Der Flug der Lindbergh in 1930, but the new portion was not set to music.

In 1950, Brecht removed Lindbergh's name for a production by the Südwestrundfunk, adding a preface denouncing Lindbergh's contributions to the technology of terror bombing as well as his wartime anti-interventionism and alleged Nazi sympathies. The original line "My name is Charles Lindbergh" became "My name is of no account". ^[3]

Recording

Hindemith, Weill: Der Lindberghflug – Berlin Radio Orchestra and chorus (1930), Cologne Radio Orchestra and Pro Musica Vocal Ensemble (1987)

Conductor: Hermann Scherchen (1930), Jan Latham-Koenig (1987)
Principal singers: Ernest Ginsberg (narrator), Erik Wirl (tenor), Fritz Duttbernd (tenor), Gerhard Pechner (voice), Betty Mergler (soprano) (1930), Wolfgang Schmidt, Herbert Feckler, Lorenz Minth, Christoph Scheeben (1987)
Recording location & date: 18 March 1930 (Berlin) and 1987
Label: Capriccio – C60012-1 (CD)

References

↑ Squiers, Anthony (2014). An Introduction to the Social and Political Philosophy of Bertolt Brecht. Amsterdam: Rodopi. p. 186. ISBN 9789042038998.
↑ Classical net review by Steve Schwartz of Capriccio recording (1999)
↑ German Wikipedia article (note: there are 2 German Wikipedia articles corresponding to this one; this information is from Der Ozeanflug. The other article is "Der Flug der Lindberghs". As of August 2015 they may, but have not, been merged.)

Bertolt Brecht

Plays	Baal Drums in the Night A Wedding Driving Out a Devil Lux in Tenebris Mysteries of a Barbershop In the Jungle of Cities Edward II Man Equals Man Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer The Elephant Calf Little Mahagonny The Threepenny Opera The Flight Across the Ocean The Baden-Baden Lesson on Consent Happy End Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny Der Jasager / Der Neinsager The Decision Saint Joan of the Stockyards The Exception and the Rule The Mother Kuhle Wampe The Seven Deadly Sins Round Heads and Pointed Heads The Horatians and the Curiatians Fear and Misery of the Third Reich Señora Carrar's Rifles Life of Galileo How Much Is Your Iron? Dansen Mother Courage and Her Children The Trial of Lucullus Mr Puntila and his Man Matti The Good Person of Szechwan The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Hangmen Also Die! The Visions of Simone Machard The Duchess of Malfi Schweyk in the Second World War The Caucasian Chalk Circle Antigone The Days of the Commune The Tutor Die Verurteilung des Lukullus Report from Herrnburg Coriolanus Joan of Arc Turandot Don Juan Trumpets and Drums

Theories and techniques	Epic theatre Non-Aristotelian drama Lehrstücke Fabel Gestus Defamiliarization Demonstration Not / But Historicization Refunctioning Separation of the elements Interruptions Complex seeing The Modern Theatre Is the Epic Theatre The Street Scene A Short Organum for the Theatre Messingkauf Dialogues

Works for the stage by Kurt Weill

Der Protagonist (1926)
Mahagonny-Songspiel (1927)
Der Zar lässt sich photographieren (1928)
The Threepenny Opera (1928)
Happy End (1929)
Der Lindberghflug (1929)
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1930)
Der Jasager (1930)
Die Bürgschaft (1932)
Der Silbersee (1933)
The Seven Deadly Sins (1933)
Der Kuhhandel (1935)
Johnny Johnson (1936)
The Eternal Road (1937)
Knickerbocker Holiday (1938)
Lady in the Dark (1940)
One Touch of Venus (1943)
The Firebrand of Florence (1945)
Street Scene (1946)
Down in the Valley (1948)
Love Life (1948)
Lost in the Stars (1949)

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