View source for Paradise and the Peri

{{nofootnotes|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name              = ''{{Lang|de|Das Paradies und die Peri}}''
| type              = [[Oratorio]]
| composer          = [[Robert Schumann]]
| image             = Robert Schumann 1839.jpg
| image_upright     = 1.2
| caption           = The composer in 1839
| key               = 
| opus              = 50
| translation       = ''Paradise and the Peri''
| related           = 
| dedication        = 
| text              = translation by Schumann and Emil Flechsig
| language          = German
| based_on          = {{based on|''[[Lalla-Rookh]]''|[[Thomas Moore]]}}
| composed          = {{start date|1843}}
| performed         = 
| movements         = 23 in three parts 
| scoring           = {{hlist | soloists | choir | orchestra }}
| published         = 
}}
'''''Paradise and the Peri''''', in German '''''Das Paradies und die Peri''''', is a secular [[oratorio]] for [[Solo (music)|soloists]], [[choir]], and [[orchestra]] by [[Robert Schumann]]. Completed in 1843, the work was published as Schumann's [[Opus number|Op]]. 50.

The work is based on a German translation (by Schumann and his friend Emil Flechsig) of a tale from ''[[Lalla-Rookh]]'' by Irish poet and lyricist [[Thomas Moore]]. The [[peri]], a creature from [[Persian mythology]], is the focus of the story, having been expelled from [[Paradise]] and trying to regain entrance by giving the gift that is most dear to [[heaven]]. Eventually the peri is admitted after bringing a tear from the cheek of a repentant old sinner who has seen a child praying.

Peter Ostwald in his biography ''Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius'' records that Schumann "confided to a friend that 'while writing ''Paradise and the Peri'' a voice occasionally whispered to me "what you are doing is not done completely in vain,"'" and that even [[Richard Wagner]] praised this work. The cantata is generally held to be a significant achievement by Schumann, and it perhaps appeals less than it might otherwise to modern audiences due to the flowery, Eastern-inspired verbiage of the libretto, which represents a vogue for orientalism that was in full swing in the 19th century but has receded considerably today.  This oratorio premiered under the composer's baton on 4 December 1843 in [[Leipzig]]. It was well received, and performances in [[Dresden]] and Berlin followed.

The first English performance took place under difficult conditions at the [[Hanover Square Rooms]] in London at the invitation of the [[Philharmonic Society]] conducted by [[William Sterndale Bennett]] with [[Jenny Lind]] taking the leading soprano part.

''Paradise and the Peri'' was the vehicle for [[Gabrielle Krauss]]'s first important appearance, in Vienna in 1858, when she was not yet 16 years old.

== Sources ==
* [https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/erin/2017/05/31/robert-schumanns-das-paradies-und-die-peri-and-its-early-performances/ Robert Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri and its early Performances]  Thomas Moore in Europe, 31 May 2017 
* [https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/291/das-paradies-und-die-peri-op-50-part-one-part-two Das Paradies und die Peri, Op. 50 (Part One, Part Two), Robert Schumann] [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]]
* {{IMSLP2|work=Das Paradies und die Peri, Op.50 (Schumann, Robert)|cname=Das Paradies und die Peri, Op.50}}
* Peter Ostwald, ''Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius'' (Boston: Northeast University Press, 1985). {{ISBN|1-55553-014-1}}. pp.&nbsp;182–3.
* John Daverio, "Expressing The Highest Through Chorus and Orchestra"—Liner notes to the recording ''Das Paradies und die Peri'' as performed by the [[Monteverdi Choir]] and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantiques under the direction of [[John Eliot Gardiner]] (Archiv Production 289 457 660-2, released in 1999).

{{Robert Schumann}}
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[[Category:Compositions by Robert Schumann]]
[[Category:1843 oratorios]]
[[Category:Oratorios]]
[[Category:German-language oratorios]]