Lulu (opera)

Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist (1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora (1903) by Berg himself.

Structure

The large-scale structure of Lulu is often said to be like a mirror - Lulu's popularity in the first act is mirrored by the squalor she lives in in Act III, and this is emphasised by Lulu's husbands in Act I being played by the same singers as her clients in Act III.

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This mirror-like structure is further emphasised by the film interlude at Act II at the very centre of the work. The events shown in the film are a miniature version of the mirror structure of the opera as a whole (Lulu enters prison and then leaves again) and the music accompanying the film is an exact palindrome - it reads the same forwards as backwards. The centre-point of this palindrome is indicated by an arpeggio played on the celesta, first rising, then falling (shown here on the top staff):

Related Topics:
Palindrome - Arpeggio - Celesta - Staff

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