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{{Infobox opera
| name = {{lang|de|Der Mond}}
| composer = [[Carl Orff]]
| image = Carl Orff um 1970.jpg
| caption = Orff, c. 1970
| image_upright =
| translated_name = 
| description = ''Ein kleines Welttheater'' ("{{nowrap|A little world theatre"}})
| librettist = Carl Orff
| language = German
| based_on = a [[Grimms' Fairy Tales|Grimms' fairy tale]]
| premiere_date = {{Start date|1939|02|05|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Bavarian State Opera]]
}}
'''''{{lang|de|Der Mond}}''''' (''The Moon'') is an [[opera]] in one act by [[Carl Orff]] based on a [[Grimms' Fairy Tales|Grimm's fairy tale]] with a [[libretto]] by the composer. It was first performed on 5 February 1939 by the [[Bavarian State Opera]] in Munich under the direction of [[Clemens Krauss]]. The composer describes it not as an opera but as ''Ein kleines Welttheater'' ("A little world theatre"); the performance lasts for about one hour and is often paired with Orff's ''[[Die Kluge]]''.

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
!Role!![[Voice type]]!!Première cast, 5 February 1939<br>[[Conducting|Conductor]]: [[Clemens Krauss]]
|-
|The [[Storytelling|storyteller]]||[[tenor]]||[[Julius Patzak]]
|-
|[[Saint Peter]]||[[bass (voice type)|bass]]||[[Paul Bender (bass)|Paul Bender]]
|-
|A farmer||[[baritone]]||&nbsp;
|-
|First Rascal||baritone||Franz Theo Reuter
|-
|Second Rascal||baritone||Emil Graf
|-
|Third Rascal||tenor||Karl Ostertag
|-
|Fourth Rascal||bass||[[Georg Wieter]]
|-
|Landlord||spoken||Ambros Witt
|}

==Synopsis==
[[File:Videodesign Carl Orff "The Moon" Andechs 2015.JPG|thumb|Video Design at the Carl-Orff Festival 2015]]
The story involves characters who steal the Moon for their country which does not have a Moon. They take the Moon to their graves upon their deaths<ref group=N>The ''[[Intermezzo|interlude]]'' which marks the death of the four rascals is [[Musical notation|notated]] in the unusual [[Key (music)|key]] of [[C-flat major]].</ref> and St. Peter goes to the underworld to retrieve it and hang it again in the sky. Two speaking roles include that of a child and a landlord. Singing roles include the four rascals who steal the Moon, St. Peter, a farmer and the narrator.

==[[instrumentation (music)|Instrumentation]]==
* [[Woodwind instrument|Woodwind]]: 3 [[flute]]s (2 doubling [[piccolo]]s), 3 [[oboe]]s (1 doubling [[English horn]]), 3 [[clarinet]]s (1 doubling [[bass clarinet]]), 2 [[bassoon]]s (1 doubling [[double bassoon]])
* [[Brass instrument|Brass]]: 4 [[French horn|horns]], 3 [[trumpet]]s, 3 [[trombone]]s, [[tuba]]
* [[Percussion instrument|Percussion]] (5 percussionists): [[bass drum]], [[snare drum]], field drum, [[tambourine]], [[triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]], [[xylophone]], [[cymbal]]s, [[castanets]], various [[Turkey|Turkish]] [[cymbal]]s, big [[Gong|tamtam]], [[ratchet (instrument)|ratchet]], stick, [[sleigh bell]]s, hour bell, [[tubular bells]], [[glass harmonica]], [[metallophone]], [[glockenspiel]]
* Other instruments: [[harp]], [[celesta]], [[piano]], [[Pump organ|harmonium]], [[accordion]], [[zither]], [[string orchestra|strings]]
* [[Stage (theatre)|Stage]] [[orchestra]]: mixed [[choir]], [[natural horn]] ([[tuba]]), [[organ (music)|organ]], bells, 3 field drums, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, wind machine, thunder machine, thunder & lighting (''Blitz, Einschlag'')

==Selected recordings==
*''Die Kluge'', ''Der Mond'', conductor: [[Kurt Eichhorn]], 1970, RCA Classic, {{ASIN|B000025QHU}}
*''Die Kluge'', ''Der Mond'', [[Elisabeth Schwarzkopf]], [[Gottlob Frick]], [[Marcel Cordes]], [[Benno Kusche]], [[Hermann Prey]], [[Gustav Neidlinger]], [[Hans Hotter]], [[Karl Schmitt-Walter]], conductor: [[Wolfgang Sawallisch]], 1990, [[EMI Classics]] 0777763712 2 1

==References==
<references group=N />
*{{Almanacco|dmy=05-02-1939|match=Der Mond}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070906015331/http://www.orff.de/Biopgraphy.1624.0.html?&L=1 Carl Orff: Biography]
*Erik Levi. [http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/O903117 "Mond, Der."] In ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', edited by [[Stanley Sadie]]. Grove Music Online. [[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Oxford Music Online]] {{Subscription required}}
*{{Allmusic|class=work|id=c112872|label=''Der Mond''}}

==External links==
*[[s:de:Der Mond (1857)|Text of Grimm's fairy tale]] {{in lang|de}}

{{Carl Orff|state=collapsed}}{{Authority control}}
{{Portal bar|Opera}}
{{Use DMY dates|date=August 2014}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mond, Der}}
[[Category:Operas by Carl Orff]]
[[Category:German-language operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:1939 operas]]
[[Category:One-act operas]]
[[Category:Moon in culture]]
[[Category:Opera world premieres at the Bavarian State Opera]]