The Kreutzer Sonata
LC Class PG3366 .K7 | | |
Original text | Крейцерова соната at Russian Wikisource | |
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Translation | The Kreutzer Sonata at Wikisource |
The Kreutzer Sonata (Russian: Крейцерова соната, Kreitzerova Sonata) is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, named after Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata. The novella was published in 1889, and was promptly censored by the Russian authorities. The work is an argument for the ideal of sexual abstinence and an in-depth first-person description of jealous rage. The main character, Pozdnyshev, relates the events leading up to his killing of his wife: in his analysis, the root causes for the deed were the "animal excesses" and "swinish connection" governing the relation between the sexes.[1][2]
Summary
During a train ride, Pozdnyshev overhears a conversation concerning marriage, divorce and love. When a woman argues that marriage should not be arranged but based on true love, he asks "what is love?" and points out that, if understood as an exclusive preference for one person, it often passes quickly. Convention dictates that two married people stay together, and initial love can quickly turn into hatred. He then relates how he used to visit prostitutes when he was young, and complains that women's dresses are designed to arouse men's desires. He further states that women will never enjoy equal rights to men as long as men view them as objects of desire, yet describes their situation as a form of power over men, mentioning how much of society is geared towards their pleasure and well-being and how much sway they have over men's actions.
Pozdnyshev relates that after he meets and marries his wife, periods of passionate love and vicious fights alternate. She bears five children, and then receives
Censorship
Due to the unusual and scandalous nature of the work for that time, the publication of the Kreutzer Sonata in a magazine or in a separate publication was prohibited by censorship. Only after a conversation between Countess Alexandra Andreevna Tolstoy (Leo Tolstoy's great-aunt, the famous Alexandrine (a girl, chambermaid, tutor of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna) with Emperor Alexander III, did the emperor allow the story to be published as part of the next volume of Tolstoy's collected works.[3][4] However, the censorship ban only increased the attractiveness of the story, which long before publication began to be distributed in lists and read in private homes.
In 1890, the
President Theodore Roosevelt called Tolstoy a "sexual moral pervert."[8]
Epilogue
In the Epilogue To The Kreutzer Sonata, published in 1890, Tolstoy clarifies the intended message of the novella, writing:
Let us stop believing that carnal love is high and noble and understand that any end worth our pursuit – in service of humanity, our homeland, science, art, let alone God – any end, so long as we may count it worth our pursuit, is not attained by joining ourselves to the objects of our carnal love in marriage or outside it; that, in fact, infatuation and conjunction with the object of our carnal love (whatever the authors of romances and love poems claim to the contrary) will never help our worthwhile pursuits but only hinder them.[citation needed]
Countering the argument that widespread abstinence would lead to a cessation of the human race, he describes chastity as an ideal that provides guidance and direction, not as a firm rule. Writing from a position of deep religiosity (that he had explained in his
During the international celebration of Tolstoy's 80th birthday in 1908,
Adaptations
Plays
- The novella was adapted into a Yiddish play in 1902 by Russian-Jewish playwright Langdon Mitchell later adapted Gordin's version into English, which debuted on Broadway on September 10, 1906.[citation needed]
- In 2007 in Wellington, New Zealand, a newly devised theatrical work, The Kreutzer, was premiered, combining dance, music, theatre and multimedia projections with both pieces of music (Beethoven and Janáček) played live. Sara Brodie provided the adaptation, direction and choreography. A reworked version was presented in Auckland during March 2009 at the Auckland Arts Festival.
- The novella was adapted for the stage by Darko Spasov in 2008, and produced as a one-act play in 2009 for the National Theatre in Štip, Republic of Macedonia, directed by Ljupco Bresliski, performed by Milorad Angelov.[9]
- Laura Wade's Kreutzer vs. Kreutzer is also inspired by Tolstoy.[10]
- The novella was adapted for the stage by Soulpepper TheatreCompany in 2011.
- La MaMain New York City.
- The novella was adapted by Sue Smith for the State Theatre Company of South Australia as part of the 2013 Adelaide Festival. It was directed by Geordie Brookman and featured Renato Musolino (who stepped into the role at the last minute, as a replacement for Barry Otto, who had taken ill).[11]
- A one-act adaptationEric Samuelson was produced by Plan-B Theatre Company and the NOVA Chamber Music Series in 2015. It ran from 18 October to 9 November at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was directed by Jerry Rapier, and featured Robert Scott Smith, Kathryn Eberle, and Jason Hardnik. Eberle and Hardnik were musicians in the Utah Symphony at the time.[13]
Films
The Kreutzer Sonata has been adapted for film well over a dozen times. Some of these include:[citation needed]
- The Kreutzer Sonata (1911, Russian Empire), directed by Pyotr Chardynin
- The Kreutzer Sonata (1914, Russian Empire), directed by Vladimir Gardin
- The Kreutzer Sonata (1915, USA), directed by Herbert Brenon
- Kreutzerova sonáta (1927, Czechoslovakia), directed by Gustav Machatý
- Kreutzersonate (1937, Germany), directed by Veit Harlan
- Celos (Jealousy, 1946, Argentina), directed by Mario Soffici and starring Pedro López Lagar and Zully Moreno
- Prelude to Madness (1948, Italy), directed by Gianni Franciolini
- La Sonate à Kreutzer (1956, France), short film directed by Éric Rohmer[14]
- Locura pasional (Passionate Madness, 1956, Mexico), directed by Tulio Demicheli and starring Silvia Pinal and Carlos López Moctezuma
- Kreitserova sonata (1969, TV, Yugoslavia) directed by Jovan Konjović
- Mikhail Shveytser
- Quale amore (2006, Italy), directed by Maurizio Sciarra
- The Kreutzer Sonata (2008, UK), directed by Bernard Rose and starring Elisabeth Röhm
- Sonata (2013, Spain), directed by Jon Ander Tomás
Music
- The novella, inspired by Beethoven's music, in turn gave rise to Leoš Janáček's First String Quartet.[15]
- In Frederic Rzewski's piece Marriage for speaking pianist the performer recites Pozdnyshev's words while playing the instrument.
Ballet
In 2000, the Carolina Ballet, with original choreography by Robert Weiss and combining the music of Beethoven, Janáček, and J. Mark Scearce, mounted an innovative production combining dance and drama, with a narrator/actor telling the story and flashbacks leading into the ballet segments.[16]
Painting
The novella inspired the 1901 painting The Kreutzer Sonata by René François Xavier Prinet, which shows a passionate kiss between the violinist and the pianist. The painting was used for years in Tabu perfume ads.[citation needed]
Novels
Arab Israeli author
The Dutch author Margriet de Moor wrote a book called Kreutzersonate after Janáček's string quartet, which was inspired by the novella and Beethoven.
See also
References
- JSTOR 40549117.
- JSTOR 26194816.
- ISBN 978-5-17-077185-1.
- ^ "Saint against the Lion. John of Kronstadt and Leo Tolstoy: A Story of the feud - Basinski, P. V. - 978-5-17-077185-1 - Art. Culture - Books - Olymp Handels GMBH".
- ISSN 2541-7738. Archived from the originalon 2018-12-21.
- ^ "Count Tolstoi Not Obscene", The New York Times, September 25, 1890
- ^ "'Kreutzer Sonata' in Court", The New York Times, August 8, 1890
- ^ The Everything Theodore Roosevelt Book: The extraordinary life of an American icon, Arthur G Sharp, MA
- ^ www.culture.in.mk Archived 2013-02-21 at archive.today
- ^ "What's On". Sydney Opera House.
- ^ Walsh, Liz (31 May 2013). "The one-man show must go on". The Advertiser. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
- ^ The playwright described his work as "a conduit to the story" rather than a full adaptation.
- ^ "The Salt Lake Tribune, 18 October 2015, p. D1".
- ^ "The Kreutzer Sonata" – via mubi.com.
- Prague National Theatre, Jaroslav Krombholc) (CD). Leoš Janáček. Prague: Supraphon. p. 6. 108016-2612.)
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link - ^ Carolina Ballet takes on Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Chris Baysden, Triangle Business Journal, 23 February 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2018. (subscription required)
- ^ "Hebrew Fiction / An Escape Route". Haaretz.
External links
Complete work online
- Complete Text in English
- "The Kreutzer Sonata", from RevoltLib
- "The Kreutzer Sonata", from Marxists.org
- Complete Audio in English
- The Kreutzer Sonata public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- Complete Text in Russian
- Full text of The Kreutzer Sonata in the original Russian, from Ilibrary.ru
Reviews
- "Tolstoy and the Kreutzer Sonata", by Infidels.org